Staff report

FAYETTEVILLE — Livingstone was outscored, 14-8, during the final four minutes and lost a tough CIAA men’s basketball game to Fayetteville State, 84-78, here Wednesday night.

The Blue Bears lost for the fifth time in six games and saw their record fall to 8-11 overall and 3-4 in the CIAA. Fayetteville State improves to 8-9 overall and 3-5 in the conference.

Livingstone’s Juwan Cole sank two free throws with 3:56 remaining to knot the score at 70-70. However, FSU’s Isaiah Vinson immediately knocked down a 3-point field goal to put the Broncos back on top, 73-70.

Ty Newman scored a layup for the Blue Bears at the 3:19 mark, but Michael Tyson answered for the home team seconds later. Newman then misfired on Livingstone’s next possession and William Tibbs made two foul shots for FSU with two minutes left, padding the lead to 77-72.

Livingstone later cut the deficit to two points again at 80-78 when Jimmy Wilson hit two free throws with 39 seconds left. But Tibbs made four foul shots down the stretch to put the final margin at six points.

Coach James Stinson’s Blue Bears led at halftime, 36-33, and enjoyed 11-point second half leads on two different occasions — the last time with 12:46 left in the game when Wilson made a layup for a 55-44 advantage.

Behind Tibbs and Vinson, the Broncos started chipping away at the deficit and FSU pulled to within two points at 57-55 at the 10:39 mark.

The Broncos regained the lead for the first time since the first half when Joshua Dawson’s jumper made it 62-61, with 8:22 remaining to be played. Livingstone had a brief, 66-65 lead on two free throws from Cole.

Newman and Daryl Traynham led Livingstone with 16 points each, while Wilson followed with nine points. Three Blue Bears added eight points each — Nasir Austin, Eric Dubose and Cole.

Newman also led the Livingstone rebounding, although FSU won the overall battle on the boards, 39-34.

The Broncos were paced by Dawson’s 18 points and 16 from Tyson. Tibbs followed with 13 points and Vinson added 12. Tyson grabbed 11 rebounds for the Broncos.

Livingstone returns to action on Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest at J.C. Smith in Charlotte.

 

LIVINGSTONE (78) — Newman 16, Traynham 16, Wilson 9, Cole 8, Dubose 8, Austin 8, Holt 6, Flint 3, Harris 2, Langley 2, Johnson, King.

FAYETTEVILLE STATE (84) — Dawson 18, Tyson 16, Tibbs 13, Lee 9, McCray 8, Vinson 12, Haggie 6, Raynor 2, Robinson, Addison.

Livingstone                36     42  — 78

Fayetteville State      33     51  — 84