SALISBURY, NC – Two weeks ago, the Livingstone men's basketball team had just one divisional win and sat at the bottom of the CIAA Southern Division. Now, with a win Saturday against Johnson C. Smith, the Blue Bears can secure a bye through the first two rounds of the CIAA Tournament held next week at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC.
Despite the disappointing 9-15 overall record, 5-10 conference mark and 4-5 divisional record, the Blue Bears, winners of three straight divisional games, can put themselves in a position to have to win only three games in three days in the CIAA Tournament for a title.
Livingstone will be looking to avenge a loss to Johnson C. Smith earlier this season when the Golden Bulls defeated the Blue Bears 74-69 in Salisbury. On January 21, Livingstone led for a large part of the game, but went without a field goal for more than seven minutes in the second half, which allowed the Golden Bulls to grab the victory.
The Blue Bears have gotten more consistent performances from senior Greg Henry and junior Nasir Austin over the past few games and another strong game from each of them could lead Livingstone to a big victory over its rival.
Last season, the Blue Bears picked up a crucial victory over Johnson C. Smith in the regular-season finale to secure the third seed out of the Southern Division and Livingstone will hope for another big win this year.
There are a number of different scenarios for the Blue Bears win or lose on Saturday that can place the team anywhere from second to fifth in the Southern Division going into the tournament.
The official announcement of pairings and times for the tournament will be made by the CIAA office on Sunday, but the scenarios for the Livingstone's tournament seeding are:
Livingstone win + Winston-Salem State loss (vs. Fayetteville State) = #2 seed, Southern Division
*If LC is 2nd seed, they will play the #3 Northern seed (TBD) on Thursday
Livingstone win + Winston-Salem State win (vs. Fayetteville State) = #3 seed, Southern Division
*If LC is 3rd seed, they will play Virginia Union (#2 Northern Division) on Thursday
Livingstone loss + Fayetteville State loss (at Winston-Salem State) = #4 seed, Southern Division
*If LC is 4th seed, they will play Wednesday against a TBD opponent
Livingstone loss + Fayetteville State win (at Winston-Salem State) = #5 seed, Southern Division
*If LC is the 5th seed, they will play Chowan (#6 Northern Division) on Tuesday
