A week of basketball is hours away from concluding as Lane College prepares to face Miles College in the women’s championship game and Tuskegee and Morehouse prepare to extend their historic football rivalry to the court.
How Did They Get Here
Top-seeded Miles defeated second-seeded Clark Atlanta in overtime to make it back to the SIAC Championship game. The Bears are quite familiar with the trappings as they prepare to make their fourth consecutive appearance in the game since 2023. They won two titles in a row, including the program’s first, since suffering a 65-72 loss to Tuskegee.
It has been seven years since Lane last played in the championship game. They didn’t squander it, defeating Kentucky State 44-42. The Dragons were unlikely champions that year after finishing the regular season 10-17 overall and 9-9 in the conference.
This time around, the Dragons are in the midst of a historic 20-win season. They beat fifth-seeded Albany State in a topsy-turvy game of runs that included 11 lead changes and 13 ties. Junior Dyani Bernstine led the Dragons’ scoring effort with 17 points and yanked down an impressive 9 rebounds from her point guard position. Bigs take note.
Men’s Semifinals
In the men’s bracket, Tuskegee put belt to ass in their 70-53 semifinal win over Clark Atlanta. It was further proof, at least on the DII level, that building a team made up almost entirely of transfer players doesn’t automatically translate into rings. Fourteen of head coach Alfred Jordan’s players transferred in, compared to the five on Tuskegee’s roster.
The camaraderie was evident as the Golden Tigers’ effort to play team-oriented basketball surpassed that of the individualized style played by the Panthers. The Panthers’ guards overlooked 6’11 Kharye Cayne in favor of dribbling into traffic and flinging up prayers. Several times, Tuskegee defenders drifted away from guarding Cayne even while he stood no more than a step away from the basket without a thought of a pass to the rim for an easy alley oop.
Cayne finished with two points, and those resulted from an alley-oop. See, it could be done. Of course, they didn’t do it enough. The tallest player and first team all-conference center finished with TWO -count them 1-2 points. Fellow all-conference big Jadyn Shider had more rebounds 9 than points 4. Let that marinate.
More importantly, without involving Cayne, the Panthers were unable to put pressure on Tuskegee’s center and leading scorer, Kusamae Draper. The senior finished with 20 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 6 rebounds, and 4 fouls. When Draper left the game with his fourth foul at the 14:25 mark of the second half, CAU did not take advantage of the mismatch during the six minutes the senior from nearby Conyers, GA, sat watching.
Clark Atlanta’s success this season depended on their guards being able to penetrate and score, and the wings being able to knock down big shots from beyond the arc. Tuskegee shut down the paint, and the Panthers’ wings shot a dismal 6-25 from beyond the arc.
Side Note: Tuskegee, please update Draper’s bio. He is heavier than the 210 lbs he carried in his freshman year.
Tuskegee did everything right for the most part. They shared the basketball, kept their hands active on defense, and played a far more physical game than the Panthers. Deserving to win had nothing to do with it. The Golden Tigers took the win and the spot in the championship game by force.
They will need every ounce of energy they can muster when they meetup with Morehouse tonight. The Maroon Tigers today look significantly different than the team that lost to Tuskegee 69-77 on Dec. 1. This Morehouse team looks more formidable than the team that defeated the Golden Tigers 77-69 35 days ago.
Morehouse advanced after defeating a game but out-matched Miles College. The Maroon Tigers built a 15-point (29-14) lead with six minutes to play in the first half. They were cooking on high until the Golden Bears decided they had had just about enough. What happened over the next six minutes was a master class for new coaches. Long-time SIAC head coach Fred Watson rallied his squad to an 18-5 run to close out the first half, trailing 33-32.
Miles kept the game close in the second half until Sincere Moore warmed up. The junior guard knocked down all four of his three-point shots after returning to the game with 11 minutes left to play. His back-to-back threes opened up the Maroon Tigers’ lead from five to 12 points with 13 minutes gone in the fourth. Miles was never able to close the gap the rest of the way, as Morehouse’s defense and ability to finish at the rim did the rest.
Championship Saturday in the SIAC begins at 4:00 pm, 10 minutes south of Hartsfield-Jackson Airport at the brand spanking new Clayton County Convocation Center in Morrow, GA.