JCSU men fall to Augusta State

Observer Staff Reports

The moral victory didn’t soothe Johnson C. Smith sophomore forward Jerry Hollis.
Still, Golden Bulls coach Steve Stephen Joyner Sr. wanted his team to remember what they accomplished this season after a 58-54 first-round Division II tournament loss Saturday to No. 10 Augusta State.
"This game indicates to us how much we have improved," Joyner said. "I asked them to please not let this game take away from the things they’ve done this year."
CIAA tournament champion J.C. Smith, a No. 7 seed, almost upset the second-seeded Jaguars on their home court. The Golden Bulls nearly overcame an 11-point halftime deficit, falling just short.
Hollis scored on a layup to pull J.C. Smith (21-10) within one with two minutes remaining.
The Golden Bulls trailed by two before Augusta State All-American senior forward Tyrekus Bowman, who scored a game-high 22, drained two free throws with 12 seconds left to seal the victory.
"We just needed one stop," Hollis said. "We just couldn’t get over the hump. "As a team, we were looking forward to make a deep run in the regionals. It’s bittersweet."

Augusta State (23-6), which will advance to play Wingate in the semifinals at 5 p.m. today, handed J.C. ohnson C Smith its worst loss of the season – a 23-point defeat – Nov. 24 here at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Hollis scored 14 points with 11 rebounds and four assists to lead J.C. ohnson C Smith. Ryan Scott added 14 points and Edmund Rainey had 11.

J.C. Smith women lose to Wingate

From Observer News Services

Wingate University sophomore forward/center Erica Crumlin (Irmo, S.C.) missed a triple-double by one block as the Bulldogs defeated Johnson C. Smith University 61-50 in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional tournament Friday afternoon. The NCAA contest was held in the Smith University Center on the campus of Francis Marion University.

With the victory, Wingate improves to 24-7 overall. The Bulldogs will play Augusta State University Saturday night at 6 p.m. in the regional semi-finals. The Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls conclude the 2007-08 campaign 21-10 overall.

Crumlin posted 14 points, 15 rebounds and a career-high nine blocked shots in 28 minutes of playing time. She hit seven-of-12 field goals and added three assists and two steals to her statistics ledger. Wingate senior guard Kate Edwards (Laurinburg, N.C.) added 10 points and seven rebounds for the victors.

For Johnson C. Smith, sophomore guard/forward Kyria Buford (Charlotte, N.C.) posted a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds. In addition to her game-high point and rebound totals, the Florida State University transfer snatched a game-best five steals. Buford was the only JCSU player to hit double figures Friday.

Wingate led 23-17 following a cold-shooting first half for both teams. The Bulldogs started the second half with a 9-2 flurry to take a 32-19 lead on a short jumper by sophomore center Stacie Rhodes (Raleigh, N.C.) with 15:05 to play in the contest. The 13-point bulge was Wingate's biggest lead of the afternoon.

A hoop by freshman forward Jessy Keitt (Charlotte, N.C.) put the Bulldogs up 36-26 at the 12:55 mark. The JCSU Golden Bulls made their move, answering with a 9-2 run of their own to cut the deficit to 38-35 on a three-pointer by Buford with 8:19 to go. Buford had five points during the run.

Johnson C. Smith would get no closer than the three-point deficit down the stretch. The Golden Bulls had the ball only one time with a chance to tie the game. Bulldog junior point guard Anna Atkinson (Marion, N.C.) stepped up and made a steal to end the aforementioned JCSU possession. The 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® first team member was fouled on the play and converted a one-and-one opportunity to give Wingate a 42-37 lead with 5:56 remaining.

Wingate worked the lead back to 13 in the waning moments. Two Atkinson charity tosses put the Bulldogs up 58-45 with 1:02 to go. Wingate hit five-of-six free throws in the final 1:02 to keep JCSU at bay. The Golden Bulls hit two field goals and one free throw in the final 47 seconds to settle the final margin.

Atkinson dished out double-figure assists for the 11th time this season with her game-high 11 helpers. On the afternoon, Wingate made 25 turnovers that JCSU converted into 16 points. The Bulldogs shot 40.4 percent from the floor (23-of-57) for the day. The Golden Bulls managed only 27 percent shooting Friday (20-of-74). Thanks to Buford's efforts, the JCSU bench outscored the Wingate bench 30-16.

Wingate hit six-of-seven field goals (85.7 percent) out of the starting blocks, taking a 12-4 lead on a Crumlin jumper at the 16:11 mark. Wingate scored on its first six possessions. The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 19-10 on a transition basket by senior forward/guard Kasey Gillis (Indian Trail, N.C.) with 10:03 remaining in the opening frame.

The Golden Bulls cut the margin to 19-14 on a long jumper by Buford at the 9:13 plateau. Following the Buford basket, neither team would hit paydirt for six-plus minutes. Edwards broke the scoring drought with a follow shot at the 3:07 mark. The Edwards jumper gave the Bulldogs a 21-14 advantage.

Wingate outrebounded JCSU 28-16 in the first half. The Bulldogs hit 39.3 percent of their first-half field goals (11-of-28), while the Golden Bulls hit only 22.6 percent in the opening frame (seven-of-31). In the first 20 minutes, Gillis and Crumlin led Wingate with six points each. Buford posted seven markers for the JCSU in the first half.

Special day for J.C. Smith and Dr. Yancy

You just knew this CIAA Tournament was going to be special.
Not just the parties and reunions. Those always hold a special place in our hearts til we meet again.

I'm talking about on the court, the venue that gave birth to this extravaganza 63 years ago.

From Virginia State's 30-foot bank-shot buzzer-beater against St. Paul's to Shaw University's first tournament win in six years.
Something was in the air.

Then both Johnson C. Smith's teams made the finals - and the men won the crown, a grand send-off for University President Dorothy Cowser Yancy, who's stepping down after 13 years.

Yancy, her alma mater's first female president, played a huge role in bringing the CIAA to Charlotte. She's also the school's biggest hoops fan.

If you haven't seen her run onto the court to congratulate or console her players at each tournament, you've missed something really special.

Congrats, Dr. Yancy.
And we'll see you next year.

R. Kelly wasn't at the club

So I paid $60 at the Backstage Nite Club Friday night to see R. Kelly.
Problem is he wasn’t there.
I don’t know if I should be outraged that I got ripped off, or if I should be kicking myself for being so gullible.
Here’s what the party listing said: "R. Kelly Official CIAA Best of Both Worlds Kickoff Party hosted by Fat Joe."
In my mind, that means R. Kelly is suppose to be at the club. It would be great if he were actually performing, too. But I’d settle for his mere presence if his name is what’s selling it. Oh, and there was no Fat Joe sighting either, as far as I could tell.
Now correct me if I’m wrong. There were hundreds of people there, so one or both of them could’ve been chillin’ in a back room somewhere, but I doubt it.
Or maybe they made an appearance and left before I arrived. I got there about 11:45, and there was a huge line of people waiting to get in, two lines actually. One was for people who had the laminated flier (or invitation) announcing the party. They could go right in.
The other line was for people paying cash.
I should’ve known something was amiss when I couldn’t get a straight answer from the bouncers organizing the lines.
Is R. Kelly in there? I asked.
One bouncer said yeah in a tone that I now realize was sarcasm. Everybody doesn’t do sarcasm well.
That’s OK. I’ll just stay in line and find out for myself when I get inside.
While in line, every now and then I would turn to somebody in line and say: "R. Kelly’s suppose to be in here, right?"
They weren’t very engaging.
The only guy who gave me a definitive ‘yes’ was the dude who walked up selling invitations for $60. Why wait in this line when you can walk right in with this invitation, he asked.
"It’ll cost you $100 at the door," he said, obviously lying.
Just then, another patron in line said "I don’t like R. Kelly that much."
Ah ha, so at least there’s one other person who thought R. Kelly was suppose to be there.
Anyway, once I got in and looked around I could tell no one else cared.
Maybe they know the code words, like party "hosted by" means the host isn’t necessarily there.
As I shot some photos and mingled, I asked various people had they seen R. Kelly. The guys stared at me like I was an idiot. The girls thought that was my pickup line. All the girls looked so young (insert R. Kelly joke here).
One girl who I photographed was doing a nasty dance on a pole near the dance floor. I started to ask her, but she interrupted me.
"You better not put this on YouTube," she said. She’s concerned about the YouTube audience, but not the 300 people watching her in person.
"I’m serious. I know how to find you," she said.
Hmm, maybe she can find R. Kelly.

Did anybody else think R. Kelly was going to be at Backstage Nite Club? And were there other no-shows at other clubs? Was Keith Sweat at the Woods on South Blvd? Post your comments in the section below.