ST. THOMAS – Two newcomers to the YES U.S. Virgin Islands HBCU Classic will contend for the tournament’s championship after winning their semifinal games Sunday.
West Virginia State and Tusculum — both NCAA Division II programs — advanced to today’s final at Antilles School’s Mark C. Marin Center in their first-ever appearance in the USVI HBCU Classic.
The 16th-ranked Yellow Jackets (11-1 overall, 6-1 Mountain East) won twice over the weekend to earn their championship berth. They beat Clinton College 74-70 in Saturday’s opening game, then routed Kentucky State 110-80 in Sunday’s semifinal.
The Pioneers (6-4, 2-2 South Atlantic) only had to win once after getting a first-round bye, beating Virginia State 67-59 in Sunday’s second semifinal. The Trojans had advanced to the semifinals by beating Edward Waters 93-70 on Saturday.
In Sunday’s third game, Clinton (4-2) downed short-handed Edward Waters (2-8, 2-5 Southern Intercollegiate) 105-80 in a consolation-round game.
Two games are on the schedule today — the consolation final between Kentucky State (6-2, 5-1 Southern Intercollegiate) and Virginia State (10-3, 3-0 Central Intercollegiate) at 9 a.m., followed by the championship game at 11:15 a.m.
West Virginia State 110, Kentucky State 80: The Yellow Jackets pulled away early over the Thorobreds to win their semifinal game.
Five players finished in double figures for the Yellow Jackets, led by Noah Jordan with 20 points. Malik Whitaker added 18 points, Samier Kinsler came off the bench to score 14 points, Anthony Pittman had 12 points and Taveon Horton put in 10 points.
Jay Murrell led four players in double figures for Kentucky State with 20 points. Montrell Jacobs added 17 points, and reserves Aziel Blackwell and Elijiah Lockhart scored 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Tusculum 67, Virginia State 59: The Pioneers snapped a three-game losing streak by opening 2023 with a semifinal victory over the Trojans.
Inady Legiste scored 14 points to lead three players in double figures for Tusculum, which led 32-22 at the half. Justin Mitchell added 13 points and Jalen Crowder hit three 3-pointers and had 12 points.
Francis Fitzgerald had 15 points and Terrence Hunter-Whitfield added 11 points for Virginia State, which saw its five-game winning streak snapped.
Clinton College 105, Edward Waters 80: The Golden Bears snapped a five-game losing streak — most of those in exhibition games against NCAA D-II opponents — by winning their first-ever meeting against the short-handed Tigers. No other information was available on the game.
More on Saturday’s games:
Virginia State 93, Edward Waters 70: Four players finished in double figures for the Trojans as they led by double digits early in winning their fifth straight game.
Terrence Hunter-Whitfield scored a game-high 26 points to lead Virginia State. Dajour Rucker added 16 points, Tremere Brown had 10 points and B.J. Fitzgerald finished with a double-double (11 points and 10 rebounds).
Tavares Oliver led the Tigers — who only had seven players make the trip to the USVI; the rest were stuck stateside due to the rash of weather-related travel delays — with 18 points. Ca’Darrius Crumb added 14 points and 11 rebounds, Byron Abrams had 12 points and Chalib Edwards scored 10 points.
West Virginia State 74, Clinton College 70: The Yellow Jackets improved to 4-0 against nonconference opponents this season by edging past the Golden Bears. No other information was available on the game.
— Contact Sports Editor Bill Kiser at 340-714-9117, or email bkiser@dailynews.vi.
