| LIVINGSTONE’S MEN AIM FOR A TITLE REPEAT |
 Livingstone’s men aim for a title repeat: The Blue Bears won the school’s first men’s championship last year and earned a second straight trip to the NCAA Division II tournament. The key to a repeat is whether Livingstone, the South’s No. 2 seed, can muster the defense to accompany its league-leading offense. If the Blue Bears bring both, another title is possible.
The Blue Bears lost the CIAA’s best backcourt from last year’s championship squad yet earned the South Division’s No. 2 seed. The CIAA seeds its tournament based on divisional records but has always used conference records as the next tiebreaker when divisional records are identical and teams split head-to-head. Not this time. Livingstone and Winston-Salem State tied for the Southern Division championship and split their games. Livingstone has the superior conference record, and in past years, would have been a No. 1 seed. But the CIAA is using points differential this year — you read that correctly, points differential — in the games between the two teams as a tiebreaker before it considers conference record. Winston-Salem State won 89-80. Livingstone won 86-83. Advantage: Winston-Salem State. As the No. 2 seed in the Southern Division, Livingstone opens play in a Thursday quarterfinal at 7 p.m. against Northern Division No. 3 seed Lincoln. Semifinals are Friday and championship games are set for Saturday. Livingstone will have to win the CIAA tournament to make the Division II playoffs. www.salisburypost.com |
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