MEAC MEN
Howard 70, North Carolina Central 63
NORFOLK, VA – Top seed Howard had four players score in double digits and its starters score all but six points in downing third-seed North Carolina Central 70-63 for its third men’s MEAC Basketball Tournament title in the last four years under head coach Kenneth Blakeney.
Junior point guard Cam Gillis, grad senior Bryce Harris and senior Ose Okojie each tallied 14 points while junior Cedric Taylor III had 13 in the title game. Fifth starter, junior forward Alex Cotton, had 9 points.
Howard trailed early but built a 26-23 halftime lead. That lead stretched to as much as 17 in the second half as the Bison opened the second half on a 15-1 run over the first four minutes to lead 41-24.
NCCU (14-18), playing its third game in three days, continued to fight and rallied late getting the lead below double-digits several times in the final seven minutes. But each time Howard got timely plays and converted timely crucial baskets to keep the Eagles at bay. The closest NCCU got was at six points twice in the final two minutes.
NCCU was led by 14 points from Dionte Johnson, 12 from Gage Lattimore and 11 from Kelechi Okwonrogwo before he fouled out.
Harris was named the tourney’s most outstanding player with teammates Gillis and Taylor joining Lattimore and Johnson on the all tournament team.
SWAC WOMEN
Southern 66, Alabama State 56
COLLEGE PARK, GA – Fifth-seed Southern ran out to a 41-19 halftime lead before settling for a 73-56 win over 3rd-seed Alabama State to repeat as women’s champion of the SWAC Basketball Tournament here Saturday afternoon. The win is the third tournament title in four years for head coach Carlos Funchess and fourth overall.
ASU (17-15) cut into the lead, opening the third quarter on a 12-2 run capped by Caylee Simpson’s traditional 3-point play to pull within 43-31 with just under six minutes left in the quarter. Southern (19-13) however was able to keep the lead in double-digits for the rest of the game.
Tournament MVP Jocelyn Tate had 10 points in the final, one of four Lady Jaguars to score in double-digits with Zaria Hurston leading the way with 13, Olivia Delancey getting 12 and D’Shantae Edwards 11. Tate had 13 points and 8 rebounds in the quarterfinal win over Jackson State and 10 points including the game winning basket with :01 second remaining in a 51-49 takedown of top-seed Alabama A&M in the semifinals.
MEAC WOMEN
Howard 53, Norfolk State 46
NORFOLK, VA – Top-seed Howard used a balanced scoring attack and a big advantage in second-chance points to pull away to a 53-46 win over third-seed Norfolk State in the women’s championship game of the 2026 MEAC Tournament.
Following a closely-contested first half, the two teams entered the break deadlocked at 27-all. Howard took control in the third quarter as the Lady Bison (26-7) outscored NSU, 15-6. For the game, Howard had a 24-6 advantage in second-chance points.
The Bison, who last won the MEAC title and an NCAA automatic berth to “March Madness” in 2022, were led by MEAC Player of the Year and tournament MVP Zennia Thomas with 15 points and eight rebounds. Nile Miller chipped in 12 points and a game-high 13 boards, while Ariella Henigan, the league’s Rookie of the Year, added 11 points. Thomas, Miller and Sa’lah Hemingway each had five rebounds off the offensive glass.
Jasha Clinton had 11 points and Anjanae Richardson had 10 to lead NSU (18-14).
SWAC MEN
Prairie View A&M 72, Southern 66
COLLEGE PARK, GA – Eighth-seed Prairie View A&M calmly worked its way to the SWAC Tournament title, winning four games in five days, beating Alcorn State 65-56 in Tuesday’s second round, knocking off top seed Bethune-Cookman 71-67 in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, dispatching 5th-seed Alabama A&M 74-55 in Friday’s semifinals before surviving a late charge by third-seed Southern to prevail 72-66 in Saturday’s championship game.
In the title game, the Panthers ran out to a 41-28 lead at the half and saw that lead balloon to as much as 22 points, at 59-37 with 12:30 left, before a furious Jaguar comeback. Southern went on an 18-2 run to pull within 61-55 and got as close as 68-66 in the final minute before PV got two baskets from tournament MVP Dontae Horne to pull out the victory. Lance Williams led the way for PV with 18 points with Cory Wells getting 16 and Horne 15. They each had two 3-pointers and were a combined 6 of 11 from beyond the arc in the title game. Southern (17-17) was led by 19 points from Michael Jacobs and 18 from A. J. Barnes.
That same trio of 6-4 senior guard Horne, 6-1 grad point guard Williams and 6-7 grad forward Wells took turns torching the competition with the three scoring in double-digits, with one exception, in each of the Panthers’ (18-17) tournament wins.
Horne had 26 points, Williams 17 and Wells 8 points and 7 rebounds vs. Alcorn State. Horne had 30 points (3 of 5 3-pointers) in the takedown of B-CU. Wells added 22 points (4 of 5 3-pointers) and also pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds while Williams had 12 points. In the win over Alabama A&M, Horne had 25 points, Williams 18 including sinking 12 of 13 at the charity stripe and Wells had 17.
The all-tournament team included Williams, Horne, Jacobs, Koron Davis (ALA&M), Tyler Shirley (FAMU) with Wells somehow left off.
