The Livingstone College men’s basketball team suffered an 85-74 loss to Virginia State University in Salisbury, North Carolina. Mark Thomasled the Blue Bears with 18 points and seven assists.The Trojans bench played a major factor in defeating the Blue Bears by scoring 48 points. The Trojans hit 10-of-19 shots behind the three point line while the Blue Bears hit a dismal six-of-23 shots from behind the arc.  Livingstone’s Jody Hill, Jr., however, made four-of-nine three point shots and had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Tyler Johnson played aggressively on both ends of the court for the Blue Bears. Johnson had 14 points and eight rebounds.  Anthony Welch added 10 points to the Blue Bears score, but it wasn’t enough.

The Blue Bears shot 39.7 percent from the field versus the Trojans 45 percent.  The Blue Bears did outplay Virginia State in the paint and scored 30 points to the Trojans’ 22 points.

The loss drops the Blue Bears to 11-3 overall and 3-2 in the league.

Livingstone will return to action Monday, January 14 as they face Chowan University in a CIAA crossover competition. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Livingstone College defeated Virginia State University 83-79 in an overtime competition in Trent Gymnasium. The Lady Blue Bears had four players to score double figures, and was led by Cierra York‘s 19 points and seven rebounds.The Lady Blue Bears capitalized on the Lady Trojans poor shooting in the first half and went on a 15 point lead with York’s jumper off of a fast break at the 6:22 minute mark. Livingstone scored 20 points off of fast breaks compared to Virginia State’s six points.

Virginia State was able to cut the lead to just three points and ended the half down, 33-30.
Both teams had issues with protecting the basketball, but Livingstone was more successful in converting Virginia State’s turnovers to points on the scoreboard. The Lady Blue Bears scored 25 points off turnovers while VSU scored 19 points.

The Lady Blue Bears controlled much of the second half, but the Lady Trojans played a very close game. VSU tied the game twice with less than four minutes left in regulation, and took the lead.

Kelycn Manurs paced the Lady Blue Bears late in the game and made eight of the 10 points the Lady Blue Bears needed to take the game into overtime. Manurs finished with 14 points.

In overtime, the Lady Blue Bears outscored the Lady Trojans 11-7 and took the victory.

Tyesha Tharpe and Jasmine Murray each grabbed six rebounds and scored 12 and 11 points respectively.
Livingstone improves their record to 6-8 overall and 2-3 in the CIAA.

The Lady Blue Bears return to action Monday, January 14 as they face Chowan University in a CIAA crossover competition. Game time is slated for 5:30 p.m.