From staff reports

WINSTON-SALEM — Livingstone senior Roger Ray poured in 31 points here Saturday afternoon but the Blue Bears fell to Winston-Salem State in overtime, 82-76.

It was the regular-season finale for both teams, as the CIAA Tournament begins Monday in Charlotte. The Rams finished 13-4 in conference games and are 16-10 overall. Livingstone is 12-16 and 5-12.

The Blue Bears led by eight points at halftime (36-28), but couldn’t hold the advantage. WSSU’s Jaylen Alston scored on a layup, tying the game at 66-all, with 11 seconds remaining in regulation. Ray then missed a jumper with two seconds left.

LC never led in overtime, and the Rams salted the win away at the foul line. Jonathan Hicklin and Xavier Fennell made four straight free throws in the final seven seconds.

After Ray, Malik Smith scored 14 points for the Blue Bears and Cameron Carpenter added 13. Smith also grabbed 10 rebounds. Lydell Elmore had 10 points and eight boards.

Alston led WSSU with 23 points, making 7-of-10 shots from the floor.

LIVINGSTONE (76) — N. Elmore 2, Ray 31, L. Elmore 10, Carpenter 13, Smith 14, Lewis 4, Fykes 2, McCrae, Tate, Patterson, Dupree, Parker.

WINSTON-SALEM STATE (82) — Colon 6, Harrell 4, Barnes 15, Caldwell 3, Hicklin 12, Kithcart 10, Alston 23, Fennell 7, Campbell, Jackson, Huntley.

Livingstone   36    30    10 — 76

W-S State       28    38    16 — 82

LC women

WINSTON-SALEM — Livingstone lost a close 59-55 decision to Winston-Salem State, here Saturday afternoon at Gaines Center.

The Blue Bears ended the regular season with a 13-14 overall record (7-10 CIAA), while the Rams moved to 13-15 and 8-9. The CIAA Tournament begins on Monday in Charlotte.

Livingstone led at halftime, 26-25, and after three quarters, 42-38. However, WSSU rallied for the win, due to a 21-13 advantage in the fourth period.

Darra Walker connected for five 3-pointers and led Livingstone with 16 points. Adel Allen followed with 14 points and Daisa Harris added 12 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

Livingstone      9   17   16   13 — 55

W-S State      13   12   13   21 — 59

Catawba men

SALISBURY — Lincoln Memorial’s men’s basketball team is ranked second nationally for a reason and  beat Catawba 105-88 on Senior Day at Goodman Gym.

It was the 27th straight  win for the Railsplitters (27-1, 20-0) since an opening-night overtime loss.

Catawba (18-8, 13-7) stayed close in the first half, but LMU moved out to a 52-43 at the break.

LMU’s lead was just 63-59 with 14 minutes left, but that lead swelled to 78-61 over the next three minutes.

LMU got 27 points from Devin Whitfield and 26 points from Courvoisier McCauley.

Catawba was led by Marcell Haskett with 22; Terrence Whitfield with 18; Malik Constantine with 17, and Devin Cooper with 14.

Catawba shot 44 percent and made 10 3-pointers.

LMU shot 54 percent and made 12 3-pointers. LMU was 25-for-29 from the foul line.

It was Senior Day for Catawba’s Cooper, Haskett,  Constantine, Daquan Lilly, R.J. Robinson and Zaqwuan Matthews.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL (105) — D. Whitfield 27, McCauley 26, Henry 16, J. Brown 12,  Calhoun 8, Hackett 6, Dahling 6, A. Brown 4.

CATAWBA (88) — Haskett 22, T. Whitfield 18, Constantine 17, Cooper 14, Robinson 5, Lilly 4, Carter 3, McLeod 3, Matthews 2, Zemonek, Johnson, Bowen.

Lincoln Memorial   52    53      — 105

Catawba                    43    45       — 88

YVC girls

DENTON — North Rowan’s girls lost to Gray Stone 61-52 in Saturday’s Yadkin Valley Conference Tournament championship game.

The second-seeded Cavaliers (19-8) had handed top-seeded Gray Stone (22-1) its only loss of the season recently.

Gray Stone finished the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 25-19 lead.

Gray Stone expanded its lead to 14 points early in the fourth quarter.

Freshman Kamora Cannie led the Cavaliers with 15 points. Hannah Wilkerson scored 14. Natavia Taborn added nine, and Chloee Stoner had eight.

Also scoring for North were Makiya McDaniel (5 points) and Kimya Lynch (1).

N. Rowan      11  8  11  22  — 52

Gray Stone  11 14  11  25  — 61

CCC boys

LEXINGTON — Top-seeded North Davidson won the Central Carolina Conference boys tournament on Friday with a 64-48 win against sixth-seeded Ledford.

Tedric Jenkins scored 26 for the Black Knights (23-4), while Jamarien Dalton had 19.

JJ Barker had 12 for the Panthers (15-11), while Tyler Partee scored nine.

N. Davidson 64, Ledford 48

LEDFORD (48) — Barker 12, Partee 9, Reece 8, Compton 6, White 4, Tate 3, Mattox 2, Finley 2, Carr 2.

N. DAVIDSON (64) — Jenkins 26, Dalton 21, McNeair 6, Moore 4, Everhart 3, Luper 2, Michalak 2.

Ledford                       5  18    4     21 —    48

North Davidson      14 16   17  17  —    64

SPC girls

CONCORD — Central Cabarrus’ girls edged Cox Mill 50-48 in the South Piedmont Conference Tournament championship game on Saturday.

SPC Player of the Year Ja’el Miller led the top-seeded Vikings (21-5) with 22 points and four assists.

Second-seeded Cox Mill (14-12) was led by Nya Tillery with 13 points.

Cox Mill led 12-5 after a quarter and 20-14 at the half, but Central came back.

Hickory Ridge girls

The Hickory Ridge girls won the Southwestern 4A conference tournament on Saturday, beating Independence, 43-36.

Kennedy Calhoun led the Bulls with 14 points.

Trinity Thompson had 18 for the Patriots.

SPC boys

CONCORD — Top-seeded Cox Mill (23-3) edged A.L. Brown 74-70 on Saturday in the South Piedmont Conference Tournament championship game at Concord.

Kheni Briggs led the second-seeded Wonders (17-8) with 28 points. Mi’Keim Moore scored 20, and Amari Grier added 11.

Catawba softball

YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. —  Catawba lost two on Saturday, 2-1 game to top-ranked Young Harris (11-0) and 9-3 to Columbus State (6-6).

Riley Tucker homered for the only run for Catawba (6-4) against Young Harris. Kayla Pedersen had two hits.

Preston Ellenberg (2-1) pitched well in the loss, allowing five hits over six and two-thirds innings. She struck out 12.

•  Columbus State erupted for six runs in the fourth inning to grab an 8-0 lead in the second game.

Tucker doubled home two runs in the fifth. Pedersen and Taylor Martin had two hits. Brooke Walser (1-1) took the loss in the circle.

Beach volleyball

CONWAY, S.C. —  Catawba made its debut in beach volleyball on Friday afternoon against Coastal Carolina at the CCU Beach Volleyball Complex.

The Chanticleers took both matches by 5-0 scores.

Catawba will be at home for its next match, hosting the Catawba  Beach Classic on March 13-14.

Catawba baseball

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Catawba (10-2, 2-0) opened South Atlantic Conference play with a doubleheader sweep at Tusculum on Saturday.

In a 3-2, 10-innng victory, Jackson Raper, Cameron Morrison and Bryce Butler got two hits apiece.

Lee Poteat scored the deciding run on a passed ball.

Greg Brown had a strong  start. Tyrese Hearst got the win in relief.  Robbie Cowie got his third save.

• Catawba won 7-4 in the second game. Hunter Shepherd had a big two-run double in the seventh. Luke Spiva and Joe Butts had two hits each.

  

Catawba tennis

Mount Olive grabbed a 6-1 win over Catawba in men’s tennis.

• Mount Olive’s women topped Catawba 5-2.

  

Hurley Y programs

The J.F. Hurley YMCA is registering for spring soccer, flag football and girls volleyball.

Cost is $45 for members and $75 for potential members.

Soccer is for boys and girls 3-14. Flag football is for ages 5-13. Volleyball is for ages 10-14.

Registration lasts until March 1.

  Register at the J.F. Hurley YMCA or online at www.rowanymca.org. Contact Jesse Byrd at 704-636-0111 or Jbyrd@rowanymca.org.