WRAL Sports Fan

College Basketball

Virginia Union beats St. Aug's in CIAA semifinal thriller

Feb 28, 2009

CHARLOTTE - Virginia Union outlasted Saint Augustine's 57-54 in the CIAA Tournament men's basketball semifinals on Friday at Time Warner Cable Arena but not until a 3-point shot past midcourt from Hayward Fain of the Falcons hit the rim as time expired.

The Falcons (19-10) fought back from a 53-49 deficit when Will Gill swished a 3-pointer and hit two free throws for a 54-53 lead with 57 seconds left. The Panthers missed on their next possession, but stole the inbound pass which led to a Lemoyne Williams dunk for a one-point lead with 36.6 seconds remaining. The Panthers added two free throws in the final 14 seconds for the win.

The Panthers (20-6) will face Johnson C. Smith in the finals Saturday at 8 p.m.

Gill drained 14 points, Fain added 11 points and 11 rebounds and Kalvin Patterson scored 10 points for the Falcons, who shot 31 percent from the floor. Brandon Byerson led all scorers with 21 points and Gregg Thondique added 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Panthers, who shot 30 percent from the floor.

But the Panthers won the game at the free-throw line, making 18 of 31 free throws compared to 8 of 15 for the Falcons.

The Falcons rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to lead by four with 11:29 left in a game which had 7 ties and 6 lead changes.