With a division title on the line, Saint Augustine’s College had the untimely misfortune to enter Brayboy Gym without one of its young gunners. An ankle injury forced Antonio Fitzgerald, the CIAA’s leading scorer at 22.5 points per game, to sit out against Johnson C. Smith. Despite the absence of one of the league’s brightest stars, the Falcons showed championship mettle on the road in one of the CIAA’s toughest arenas to play. Unfortunately, they couldn’t overcome 24 percent shooting in the second half of an 81-67 loss to the Golden Bulls. Though a victory would have clinched the CIAA’s Western Division, the Falcons (16-6 overall, 10-5 CIAA) still lead the division at 7-2 while the Golden Bulls (19-5 overall, 11-2 CIAA) improved to 6-2. The Falcons can still win the division outright if they beat Livingstone Saturday in their final CIAA regular-season game and the Golden Bulls drop one of their remaining two division games.

Without Fitzgerald, several players picked up the slack. Junior forward Nicholas King, the CIAA’s No. 2 scorer, led the way with 24 points on slick perimeter shooting and junior forward Claude Neeley, the league’s No. 3 scorer and top rebounder, performed on both ends of the floor as usual with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Junior guard Barry Jones came through with 13 points on long-range shooting, 4 assists and 2 steals. Overall, the Falcons connected on 10 three-pointers.

It was Jones whose three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Falcons momentum at halftime with a 43-37 lead. Smith regained the lead, however, in the second half and led by as many as 4 points before a Derrick Green layup and a King three-pointer gave the Falcons a 62-61 lead with 7 minutes remaining in the game. It would be the Falcons’ last lead as Smith went on a 20-5 run to end the game.

With the loss behind them, the Falcons can look forward to ending a fabulous CIAA regular season on a successful note against Livingstone. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. in Salisbury.