The University of the Virgin Islands Women’s basketball team won their first two games of the season while the Men’s basketball team suffered two defeats when the teams traveled to Sumter, South Carolina to play two games each against Morris College this weekend.
UVI 52 Morris 48
The team’s battled back and forth in the first half with neither team leading by more than five points in the first two quarters. UVI led 30-26 at halftime after trailing 17-12 with just over seven minutes to go in the first half.
In the third quarter UVI built an 8 point lead in the third quarter and led by six, 40-34, heading into the fourth quarter.
With just over nine minutes left in the game Kaya Evans knocked down a three-pointer that gave the Bucs a ten point, 45-35, lead. This lead grew to twelve, 48-36, when Kierra Neal hit a three pointer with 5:05 remaining in the game.
Morris came storming back and cut the deficit down to two, 50-48, with 24 seconds left in the game but Mia Davis hit a jump shot on the next possession for the Bucs to secure the victory.
Ms. Evans led the Bucs with 24 points and Ms. Neal had 15 points. Diamond Stewart had 16 points and Jada Dickson had 11 points in a losing effort.
UVI 52 Morris 31
UVI led 10-5 after the first quarter and extended their lead to 22-13 at halftime.
With the score 29-19 and just over three minutes left in the third quarter, UVI went on a 9-2 run that gave them a 38-21 lead heading into the final quarter.
UVI gave up just three points over the first seven and a half minutes of the fourth quarter to build a twenty three point, 47-24, lead and complete the rout.
UVI had three players record double digits in the win. Ms. Davis had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Kaeani Berry had 14 points and 17 rebounds and Ms. Neal had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
A'Doshia Graves was Morris’s leading scorer with 8 points.
Morris 60 UVI 51
In the Men’s first game against Morris, UVI were up 4-2 before Morris went on a 15-1 scoring run that gave them a 17-5 lead with about twelve and half minutes left in the first half.
The Bucs spent the remainder of the half clawing their way back into the game and cut the deficit to four, 22-18, with about four and half minutes to go in the first half.
Morris’s defense locked down the Bucs for the rest of the half and scored eight points which gave them a 30-18 at halftime.
Morris scored the first two points of the second half giving them a fourteen point lead before UVI once again made a strong comeback effort by scoring the game’s next twelve points which made the score 32-30 with just under 15 minutes left in the game.
With just under ten minutes left Morris held a three point, 41-38, lead before scoring nine straight points which gave them a 50-38 lead with just under seven minutes left in the game. Morris were up by double digits for most of the rest of the game until a late UVI free throw made the final score 60-51 with 18 seconds left.
Jamal Norris led the Bucs in scoring with 18 points and Will Boyd had 12 points for UVI. Morris’s leading scorer was Chris Morris had 19 points and Armani Thomas had 14 points.
Morris 68 UVI 62
The second game of the weekend started slow for both teams as there were just two points scored by Morris in the first 4:27 of the game. A Denny Gonzales jump shot made the score 2-2 with just over fifteen minutes left in the first half.
Morris then scored nine unanswered points and held a 11-2 lead with about thirteen minutes left in the first half.
A Mr. Norris three-pointer cut the deficit to four, 12-8, with just over nine minutes to go in the first half. The rest of the half was dominated by Morris who built a half-high 17 point lead with about four minutes to go in the half. Morris led 33-18 at halftime.
With just over 12 minutes to go in the game Morris’s lead ballooned to 20, 55-35. UVI then scored seven straight points to make the score 55-42 with about eight minutes left in the game.
The Bucs were able to cut the margin down to single digits after a Mr. Gonzales' lay-up with 3:11 left in the game made the score 61-52. A Jaren Johnson three-pointer made the score 68-62 with :59 seconds left but the Bucs comeback effort fell short as no more points were scored in the game.
Mr. Boyd led UVI in scoring with 12 points and had a game-high 22 rebounds. Alazawishes Kelly had a game high 25 points and Mr. Morris had 19 points for Morris in this game.
The Bucs will return to the Virgin Islands and host their first HBCU classic from November 3-5. UVI will match up against Arkansas Baptist College, Warner University, Huston-Tillotson University and Wilberforce University during the HBCU Classic.
The UVI men’s team will play Wilberforce on Nov. 3, Warner on Nov. 4 and Huston-Tillotson on Nov. 5 with all three games tipping off at 8:30 p.m.
The UVI women’s team will play Arkansas Baptist on Nov. 3 at 6:00 p.m., Wilberforce on Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. and Huston-Tillotson on Nov. 5 at 6:30 p.m.
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