Feb. 21, 2011
Final Stats
SALISBURY, NC - The Fayetteville State Broncos were 84 seconds away from beating Livingstone on the road.
But when those final 84 seconds ticked away, it was Livingstone left standing with a 58-56 win.
Seth Hawkins, who enjoyed a coming out party when the Broncos knocked off the then-ranked Blue Bears at Felton J. Capel Arena, put Fayetteville State on top 56-55 with a leaning runner in the lane with 1:24 remaining in the game.
But the Broncos came up perhaps one rebound short. Or two.
After misfiring on their ensuing possession, the Blue Bears (13-11, 8-8, 4-5) held onto the ball after the rebound went out of bounds off a Broncos player. Twenty seconds later, Livingstone's Tyrone Jackson made a leaner of his own, giving the Blue Bears a 57-56 lead with 34.1 seconds to go.
The Broncos (13-12, 8-8, 4-5) then turned the ball over on their next possession, and with 8 seconds left, were forced to foul Darius Cox, who had scored a career-high 32 points during Fayetteville State's 92-78 win on Feb. 12.
But Cox missed both foul shots, only to grab his own rebound, even though it appeared that he climbed the back of Hawkins (So., Greensboro, NC). He was quickly fouled again, and missed the front end of the two free throws. He made the second, though, giving Livingstone a 58-56 lead with 6.2 ticks left.
After a timeout, the Broncos inbounded the ball to Hawkins. After he crossed halfcourt, he passed it off to Travis Marcus (Fr., Washington, DC), who got the start in the place of Tim Plummer (Jr., Apex, NC), who did not play Monday night after suffering a minor injury in Saturday's loss to Shaw. Marcus misfired on a 3-point attempt, and the victory was Livingstone's.
The outcome muddles the CIAA's Southern Division standings, with any of four teams in play for as high as a No. 3 seed out of the division. (Winston-Salem State's win Monday night over Shaw - tying the two atop the divisional standings -- means Fayetteville State can spoil the Rams' pursuit of first place when the teams meet on Saturday at Felton J. Capel Arena.)
Marcus led the Broncos with 10 points, matching the career-high he set in Fayetteville State's recent win over Johnson & Wales. Tyrell Tate (Fr., Raleigh, NC) added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds while Hawkins, who scored 13 points to go with four steals and four assists in the earlier victory over Livingstone, had eight points and four steals.
Quintin Redfern, who had six points in a critical 11-2 run that gave Livingstone a 49-45 lead with 7:10 remaining, led the Blue Bears with 13 points and four assists. Cox was held to nine points.
The game was a series of runs, with Livingstone jumping out to a 17-8 lead early and a 27-16 lead with 5 minutes remaining in the first half.
But Fayetteville State got itself back into the game before the break, and after Andre Best (So., Raleigh, NC) buried a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, the Broncos entered the half down just 28-26 after a 10-1 run.
The Broncos took their biggest lead midway through the half, using a 13-1 run in which Hawkins scored four points as Fayetteville State used solid balance in its offense to build a 43-38 lead with 10 minutes left.
But Redfern and the Blue Bears responded with the 11-2 spurt, setting up the final minutes.
