Virginia State did something that no one has been able to do in the CIAA Tournament this year: Beat Bluefield State at its own game.

The Trojans rallied from a five-point deficit with a little under six minutes left to defeat the Big Blue, 71-64, and win the CIAA men’s basketball championship at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.

Bluefield State (20-9, 13-3), in only its second year in the conference after a long absence, has made a living of playing near the rim. This time, that’s the formula that the Trojans used.

Virginia State (20-10, 10-6) won the rebounding battle 52-38 and outscored the Big Blue 38-30 in the paint. The Trojans also outscored Bluefield State 20-8 on second-chance points.

The Trojans were led by Jared White’s 11 points. Terrell Williams led the Big Blue with 16 points.

The championship is the seventh CIAA title for the Trojans and the first since 2019.

“Just to be sitting here right now after winning this championship is extremely special,” Virginia State coach Lonnie Blow Jr. said. “I thought we were really good defensively most of the night. I knew they’d make a run, and they did. Once we put a couple of stops together, we were able to run in transition.”

The teams played an even game for the entire first half. Bluefield State ran out to a 21-14 lead, its largest of the game, on a basket by Terrell Williams. Gradually, Virginia State started to chip away. The Trojans retook the lead with 6:42 left in the half on a layup by Dajour Rucker.

Virginia State managed to keep the lead for the rest of the half, with Jordan Hinds hitting a shot at the buzzer to account for a 36-35 margin at the break.

No team had more than a three-point lead in the early part of the second half, with the Trojans on top by the slimmest of margins.

“I told them the game had been at a one-to-three [point] mark,” Bluefield State coach Devin Hoehn said. “I told them we got to get over this hump. The longer we let them stay in this game, they’re going to feed off of their crowd and have life. That’s when you have to put the pedal to the metal, and we just fell short.”

Bluefield State finally caught up with a layup by Hinds with 7:46 remaining to take a 54-53 lead. The Big Blue managed to hold the lead and even extended it when Larry Howell scored with 5:24 left to make it 62-57.

Then it was Virginia State’s turn. The Trojans caught fire, getting 3-pointers from White and Clint Wright Jr. and a thunderous dunk by Jaedan Jefferson to take a 69-62 lead.

Bluefield State’s only other basket after that was by Shainen Carter with 2:03 left.

“They just went on a run,” Hoehn said. “Basketball is a game of runs. They had a couple of steals, and the crowd got behind them and they fed off of it. That’s just as simple as it gets.”

Fayetteville State women repeat as champs: Fayetteville State has a reputation for its toughness and confidence. That reputation served it well Saturday.

The Broncos never trailed and dominated the run of play to defeat Virginia State, 64-56, and win the 50th CIAA women’s basketball tournament at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.

Fayetteville State was led by Keayna McLaughlin and Talia Trotter, who both had 15 points. Virginia State was led by Amesha Miller with 19 points.

The title is the sixth in program history for Fayetteville State, and the Broncos become the first back-to-back champions since Virginia Union achieved the feat in 2018 and 2019.

“To win this tournament is tough, and to go back-to-back is special,” Fayetteville State coach Tyreece Brown said. “Especially with it being the 50th year of this tournament.”

Both teams played tentative early, but the Broncos (21-7, 13-3) finally started to get going offensively at the end of the first quarter. Fayetteville State got baskets by Nyah Wilkins and Trotter (Marriotts Ridge) to take an 11-8 advantage after the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Virginia State (23-6, 14-3) had trouble getting going offensively. The Trojans shot just 16.7% from the field in the first quarter and were 0-for-6 from 3-point range.

Brown said the fast start is what the Broncos have been doing all year.

“We just come out and jab, jab, jab. Then in the second quarter we really pick it up,” he said.

Fayetteville State began to gradually widen the lead in the second quarter. Leading 20-14 with 3:20 left in the half, the Broncos began raining 3-pointers on the Trojans’ defense. On four consecutive trips, Alivia Evans, McLaughlin (twice) and Daziyahna Wilson hit 3s as the Broncos pushed their lead to 32-17 at the break.

After the half, the Trojans began to play better on offense. Virginia State was able to cut the margin to nine, 41-32, on a layup by Skylar White, but Fayetteville State went on an 8-3 run after that to go up 48-32 with 2:22 left in the third quarter.

“You either win or you learn, so we learned today,” Virginia State coach Nadine Domond said. “Full credit to Fayetteville. They are a well-coached team, and they made shots when they had to. We just ran out of time.”

The Broncos had the CIAA Player of the Year last season in Aniylah Bryant and she provided much of the offense. This team was more balanced and relied on its defense. Brown said that’s the Broncos’ calling card.

“It’s our mentality,” he said. “We try and get those types of players. We take pride in our defense, and our team loves to play defense.”

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