By BRYAN GRISHAM

CSCC Sports Information Director

   It was semifinal Saturday on the campus of Cleveland State Community College as the final four teams on both the women's and men's side of the bracket hit the hardwood in day five of the TCCAA/NJCAA Basketball Tournament. In the first women's semifinal matchup, the top seeded and third ranked Walters State Lady Senators had little trouble advancing to the Finals on Sunday with a big 65-49 win over the Roane State Raiderettes. In the other women's semifinal game, Volunteer State ran past Chattanooga State by a final score of 89-69. Cleveland State staged a dramatic comeback to take a 71-66 win over the Motlow State Bucks and will play the winner of the Southwest Tennessee and Chattanooga State game for the men's title.

                          CLEVELAND STATE 71  MOTLOW STATE 66

   The Bucks hit Cleveland State with a 10-3 run to start the game and would hold a double digit lead throughout much of the first half. The Cougars shot only 28 percent in the first half while Motlow shot 42 percent. The Bucks would lead by 10, 35-25 at the break.

   The Cougars started the second half on fire as they hit the Bucks with a 16-2 run to turn a 10 point deficit into a four point lead. Ryan Westbrooks hit a pair of threes and a runner in the lane to give the Cougars their first lead of the game at 38-37. The Cougars then built as much as an eight point lead before the Bucks began to mount a comeback.

   Channing Coffey nailed a 3-pointer with just under nine minutes to go in the game to put Motlow back on top, but the Cougars responded moments later as layup from Willie Smith put Cleveland State back on top for good with 2:25 left in the contest.

   The game was far from over though as the Bucks cut the lead to a single point several times over the final minutes. Chauncey Thompson hit a pair of crucial layups and the Cougars converted seven of nine free tosses down the stretch to secure the win and a spot in the finals on Sunday at 4:00.

   "We played hard in the first half, but just couldn't get many shots to fall," stated Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "We had a great run to start the second half, but I knew that they would make a run at us and they did. They are really good and really athletic and we went big in the second half to help off set that. When we had a small lead in the final minute, we just were not going to let them shoot the three and it worked out well."

   Westbrooks led all scorers with 34 points for the Cougars (20-8) while Thompson finished with 18. Tim Williams paced the Bucks (20-8) with 15 points while Dominique Shellman added 13.

                              WALTERS STATE 65  ROANE STATE 49

   The Roane State Raiderettes gave the undefeated and top seeded Lady Senators all they wanted and then some for about 30 of the 40 minutes of the game. Walters scored the last four points of the first half to take a 32- 25 lead at the break.

   Holli Daily hit a 3-pointer for the Raiderettes midway through the second half to cut the Walters lead to a single point at 40-39, but the upset attempt would end right there as the Lady Senators received the wake up call and responded with a 15-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, secure the win and a spot in the title game on Sunday at 2:00

   The Walters State Defense was a big factor in the win as they forced 27 Raiderette turnovers. LaKrystle Goss led the Lady Senators (29-0) with 14 points while Shy Marsh added 12. Abby Jackson paced the Raiderettes (21-8) with 14 points while Taylor Hall added 13.

                            VOLUNTEER STATE 89  CHATTANOOGA STATE 69

   Ayla Young hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the game to give the Lady Pioneers a quick 10-4 lead. After the Lady Tigers had cut the lead to 10-9, Volunteer took off and hid with a 22-5 run to lead at one point 42-18. Chattanooga State sliced the lead to 46-30 by halftime with a small 12-4 run of their own.

   The Lady Tigers sliced the lead to 12 points on a couple of occasions during the second half, but each time the Lady Pioneers answered to win going away and at the same time secure a spot in the title game on Sunday.

   Shaniqua Gray paced the Lady Pioneers (27-3) with 29 points while Ayla Young added 14. Jaqualia Wynn led Chattanooga State (18-8) with 19 points while Samantha Avery added 13.

   Friday was quarterfinal day on the men's side of the bracket as the TCCAA/NJCAA Region Basketball Tournament rolled into day four with four more games. The Motlow State Bucks got things off an rolling in the first game of the day with a heart-stopping 74-67 win over the Volunteer State Pioneers in overtime. The homestanding Cleveland State Cougars punched their ticket into the semifinal round on Saturday with an impressive win over the Jackson State Generals by a final score of 74-66. The top seeded and fourth ranked Southwest Tennessee Saluqis sailed into the semifinals with a big win over Walters State by a final score of 92-63 while the Chattanooga State Tigers capped off a long day of basketball with a win over the Columbia State Chargers by a final score of 87-82.     

                  CLEVELAND STATE  74 JACKSON STATE 66

   The Cougars opened the game quickly with an 11-4 run and would never trail in the contest. The Generals sliced the Cougar lead to five points midway through the first half, but Dario Pratt came off the Cleveland State bench and provided instant offense with a pair of long 3-pointers, helping the Cougars build an 11 point halftime lead at 42-31.

   "I thought Dario coming off the bench in the first half was big for us" said Cougar coach Lee Cigliano. "His threes helped us stop their run and rebuild the halftime lead. We got off to a good start as well and that really helped."

   The Generals opened the second half with a 10-2 run to cut the lead to only three points. But, the Cougars responded as Chauncey Thompson converted four straight buckets in the paint and Ryan Westbrooks nailed a pair of long 3-pointers as Cleveland State slowly rebuilt their double digit lead with just under eight minutes to go in the game. The Cougars hit seven of eight free tosses down the stretch to secure the win.

   "We had nice balance throughout the game," explained Cigliano. "Chauncey had a good game and Ryan hit some really big shots for us and really stepped up in the second half. We made them work on defense and we got the ball inside some on offense. It was a good win for us. Anytime you can get a win in the tournament it is big because they are hard to come by."

   Thompson paced the Cougars with 23 points and 12 rebounds, Westbrooks finished with 18 points while Willie Smith and Pratt added 12 and 11 respectively. Mike Williams led the Generals with 26 points while Stanley McNeil added 15.

                                MOTLOW STATE 74  VOLUNTEER STATE 67

   The Pioneers won the first half 28-22 and the Bucks won the second half 40-34, thus forcing an overtime period. It was all Bucks in the extra frame as they moved into the semifinals. Tim Williams paced Motlow with 29 points and Ryan Allen added 14. Creshaun Holt led the Pioneers 17 points and 13 rebounds while Robert Riley added 16 points.

                     SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE 92  WALTERS STATE 63

   The top seeded Saluqis wasted no time in securing themselves a spot in the semifinals as they hit the Senators with a 25-4 run to start the game and put it on cruise control the rest of the way. The Senators led 49-28 at halftime and cruised to the 29 point win. Reginald Owens led five Saluqis in double digit scoring with 17 points while DeAngelo Riley added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Michael Jenkins paced the Senators with 15 points and 14 boards.

                  CHATTANOOGA STATE 87  COLUMBIA STATE 82

   The Tigers and the Chargers went back and forth in the first half before Jaffarious Wade hit a shot at the first buzzer to tie the game for the Columbia at 37 all at halftime.

   P.J. Meyers, Eric Atkins and Marcus Jefferson hit a long 3-pointer each early in the second half as the Tigers took a lead that they would never give up. The lead grew to 71-59 with just under seven minutes to go before Columbia came charging back to make it interesting at the end, cutting the lead to three points with 22 seconds left. The Tigers hit just enough free tosses down the stretch to hold on for the win and secure a spot in the semifinals on Saturday. Meyers paced the Tigers with 21 points and seven assists while Jefferson finished with 17.

    The All-Conference teams were announced on Friday. On the women's side, Kelly Warden and Kanita Holloway represented Cleveland State, LaKrystle Goss, Rhon 'Neisha Taylor, Melanie Hemphill and Shy Marsha from Walters, Jaqualia Wynn from Chattanooga State, Kiera Nelson from Motlow, Abby Jackson and Taylor Hall from Roane State were the All-Eastern Division team.

   Shaniqua Gray, Katie Richardson and Vee Young from Volunteer, Rakelle Riley, Taylor Fayette, Jasmine Perry and Simona Newman from Columbia State, Victoria McLin and Becky Caldwell from Dyersburg and Raquel Brigham Kiana James from Southwest rounded out the All-Western Division team.

   Goss, Wynn, Nelson, Holloway, Taylor, Gray, Riley, Richardson, Young and Fayette were named to the All-TCCAA team. Dave Kragel of Walters State was named the Eastern Conference coach of the year while LaKrystle Goss and Jaqualia Wynn tied for player of the year honors. Jason Montgomery from Volunteer State was the Western coach of the year while Shaniqua Gray of Volunteer was the Western player of the year.

  On the men's side, Ryan Westbrooks, Chauncey Thompson and Willie Smith represented Cleveland State, P.J. Meyers and Eric Atkins from Chattanooga State, Tim Williams, Ryan Allen and Justin Johnson from Motlow, Michael Jenkins from Walters and Larriques Cunningham were named to the All-Eastern Division team.

   Myron Strong, Reginald Owens, DeAngelo Riley, Jeremy Williams and James Justice represented Southwest Tennessee, Mike Williams and Stanley McNeil from Jackson, O'Neil Braden and Dontavious Merriweather from Columbia and Maurice Taylor from Dyersburg rounded out the All-Western Division team. The Eastern coach of the year was Chattanooga State's Jay Price while Vertie Sails of Southwest took the honor in the West. The player of the year in the east was Tim Williams while Myron Strong took the honor in the west.

   Tim Williams, Westbrooks, Willie Smith, Jenkins, Meyers, Strong, McNeil, Merriweather, Owens and Mike Williams composed the All-TCCAA team.