North Richmond Today

hereWinston-Salem State Upsets VUU in CIAA Tournament

With little rest after its previous game ended near midnight, No. 5 seed Winston-Salem State found enough energy to pull out a 45-44 men's semifinal victory over top seed and Northern Division champ Virginia Union in the CIAA Tournament at CFG Bank Arena on Friday.

The win snapped the Rams' four-game losing streak to the Panthers, including last year's semifinal matchup in the CIAA Tournament. The Panthers advanced to the finals where they lost to Fayetteville State.

This time, the Rams ousted the Panthers in the semifinals.

Osborne, as he has done all year, led the Panthers in scoring. He tallied 18 points and Tahj Harding added 17 points for VUU. The duo scored all but nine of the Panthers' points and Wright pulled down 12 rebounds.

Both teams were frigid from the floor. The Rams shot 34.9 percent and the Panthers made 32.7 percent of their shots. The Rams controlled the boards, however, as they won the rebounding battle 35-28.

"Winston-Salem played a great game," said VUU Head Men's Basketball Coach Jay Butler.  "I thought it was a hard-fought game, but they made one more play down the stretch.  I thought we struggled offensively today, but I thought we played really well on defense.  We just needed to make one more stop than we did, and that was the key."

Despite being eliminated, the Panthers' season may not be over. They are currently ranked fourth in the Atlantic Region and have a shot at making the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Selection Show is set for 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 5. 

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