Charlotte, N.C. (March 2, 2018) – Turnovers plagued the No. 1 Northern Division seed Virginia State University (24-4) as the No. 3 Northern Division seed Virginia Union University Panthers (17-14) upset the Trojans, 67-52 during the semi-finals of the 2018 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament.

With the victory, Union advances to the 2018 Championship game against the winner of the Bowie State University/Johnson C. Smith University contest Saturday, March 3 at 7:00 p.m. in the Spectrum Center.

Kory Cooley and William Jenkins added the opening points knocking down jumpers within the first 1:50 to give the Panthers a quick 4-0 lead. Virginia State closed the gap as Trey Brown's three-pointer found the bottom of the net at the 16:54 mark. The game saw its first tie at the 14:28 mark of the contest after a three-pointer off the finger-tips of the VSU's Walter Williams, 6-6.

VUU led by as much as six points, but couldn't maintain momentum as the Trojans fought back to close the gap, taking a 22-21 lead in the half. Virginia State was outscored 12-6 points in the paint, 7-4 points off turnovers, 6-3 second chance points, 2-0 fast break points, 4-0 bench points.

Both teams struggled to knock down baskets as Virginia Union went into the half shooting 32 percent (8-of-25) from the floor and 75 percent (6-of-8) from the candy stripe; while VSU closed out the half shooting 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from the field, 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from downtown, and 50 percent (1-of-2) from the line.  

Although, Virginia State outscored the Panthers (10-2) with points in the paint, (6-5) points off turnovers, and (3-0) in second chance points; VUU held the edge (2-0) in fast break points and (2-0) in bench points.

A back-and-forth contest, the game saw four ties; which three came within the first 4:25 of the second half and knotting the game at 32-all. VUU's James Paige jumper at the 15:04 mark gave the Panthers its final lead of the night, 34-32 as they closed out the 67-52 contest.

Virginia Union led by as much as 17 during the second half; while outscoring the Trojans (36-22) points in the paint, (17-11) points off turnovers, (14-9) second chance points, (8-2) fast break points, and (16-13) bench points. VUU also out-rebounded VSU, 41-34.   

Virginia State was held to 41.4 percent (12-of-29) shooting from the floor, 18.2 percent (2-of-11) shooting from downtown, and 100 percent (5-of-5) from the foul line during the second half; while shooting 35.1 percent (20-of-57) from the field, 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from behind the arc, and 85.7 percent (6-of-7) from the candy stripe for the game.

The Panthers shot 46.7 percent (14-of-30) from the field, 14.3 percent (1-of-7) from downtown, and 88.9 percent (16-18) shooting from the line during the half; while shooting 40 percent (22-of-55) from the floor, 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from behind the arc, and 80.8 percent (21-of-26) from the line for the game.

Kory Cooley led Virginia Union with 29 points off 10-of-20 shooting from the floor and 9-of-10 shooting from the candy stripe. James Paige added nine boards in the victory. Richard Granberry led the Trojans adding a double-double, 14 points off 7-of-12 shooting and 13 boards. Trey Brown chipped in 11 points in the effort.  

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