Box Score
CHARLOTTE, NC – The Livingstone men's basketball team defeated the St. Paul's College Tigers 77-61 Wednesday in the opening round of the 2011 CIAA Men's Basketball Tournament hosted at Time Warner Cable Arena.
With the victory the Blue Bears advance to take on the Virginia Union Panthers Thursday at 3 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The Blue Bears were led by Greg Henry who finished with 20 points and seven rebounds and Nasir Austin who added 18 points and also grabbed seven boards. Also in double figures was Trone Jackson who finished with 11 points.
Livingstone came out of the gates on absolute fire on both ends of the court. In the first 7:45 of the contest the Blue Bears had built a 15-0 lead. After the quick 15-point outburst, the Tigers quickly made their way back into the game. St. Paul's went on an 11-2 run to get within 17-11 with 9:16 to play in the first half.
The Tigers were within four with 8:13 remaining, but five-straight points by Nasir Austin got Livingstone's lead back to 24-15 with 6:25 left. St. Paul's made another run to get back within four with 5:46 left, but a 7-2 run by the Blue Bears pushed Livingstone's lead to 31-22 with 2:34 remaining into the half. In the final two minutes of the half, St. Paul's dominated as the Tigers closed the half on a 10-0 run which included a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give St. Paul's a 32-31 lead at the break.
To start the second half St. Paul's picked up where it left off, knocking down a three-pointer just 33 seconds into the half, but then Livingstone came on strong. Livingstone went on a 6-2 run to tie the game at 35-35 with 17:33 left. St. Paul's regained a 39-37 lead with 16:19 left, but the Blue Bears tied the game only 17 seconds later and took a 42-39 lead on a three-pointer by Omar Ford-Bey with 13:54 remaining.
Mostly via the free-throw line, the Blue Bears went on a 13-2 run to take a commanding 57-45 lead with 6:35 left in the contest. St. Paul's made a quick 4-0 run to get within four, but Livingstone held strong and didn't allow the Tigers to make any substantial comeback and took home the victory 77-61.
“Tonight was big for us,” head coach and 2011 CIAA Coach of the Year James Stinson said. “St. Paul's did a great job of turning up the intensity on us, but Nasir (Austin) and Greg (Henry) did a great job settling us down, helping us get some inside buckets and getting to the free-throw line.”
Livingstone shot 41.3 percent from the field for the game including 27.3 percent from three-point range and hit 71 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe. The Blue Bears dominated in the paint, outscoring St. Paul's 38-26 and also capitalizing on offensive boards, scoring 24 second-chance points.
The Blue Bears and the Panthers will meet Wednesday for the second time this season. Virginia Union defeated Livingstone 79-73 on February 16.
