BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —The No. 7 seed Golden Lions of Arkansas Pine-Bluff celebrate their first tournament victory since entering the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 1997. The Lions defeated defending champs No. 2 seed Alabama A&M 64-54 in the quarterfinals of the SWAC Tournament.
“It’s a win, it puts us in the semi-finals,” said head coach Van Holt. “We won a lot of big games, but this ranks the highest in any conference win.”
Arkansas Pine-Bluff held Alabama A&M to an 11-point margin when junior forward Williams Byrd made a lay-up moving the score to 20-9 with 7:47 remaining. The Bulldogs trying to stay in the game, senior guard Joe Martin goes up for a lay-up then turns around and blocks a shot by the Lions. A missed 3-pointer by senior guard Obie Trotter to move the score within three falls through but coming to the rescue was sophomore guard Marcus Jones for a jumper moving the score to 22-16. The Lions, as the Bulldogs missed shots, still controlled the lead as Byrd’s final two gave the victory.
Trotter finished with 20 points, junior guard Michael Ford contributed 10 and Martin nine.
“We never got on track,” said Alabama A&M head coach Vann Pettaway. “The game was played like we were in another zone. We ended up playing the style of ball they like to play.”
The Lions controlled the first half shooting 35 percent of their field goals and 41.7 percent from behind the arc. A lay-up by Martin reduced the score to a one-point margin of 8-7 with 14:13 remaining. A 3-point shot by senior guard Martese Coleman and dunk by Byrd moved the score to 15-7. Byrd rebounded for a loose ball, and made a lay-up moving the score to 20-9.
Even the two free throws by A&M’s Marcus Jones couldn’t match junior guard V’Angelo Smith’s 3-pointer moving the score 30-20. Another missed three by Trotter and Byrd’s lay-up brought the game to 33-23 before going into the half.
Byrd finished with 21 points, Smith contributed 16; sophomore guard Larry Williams had 11 and Coleman with 10.
Celebrating his birthday two days ago, Coleman’s wish was to have a SWAC win his senior year and attributes the win to his team.
“It feels real good,” Coleman said. “I just wanted my team to come out and play hard.”
