The Falcons of St. Augustine's College have yet to be grounded. St. Aug's has won eight straight games, including last Saturday's 63-53 win over cross-city rival North Carolina Central. St. Aug's win, coupled with Winston-Salem State's loss to Johnson C. Smith, have the Falcons (14-3, 8-2 in the CIAA) in sole possession of first place in the West.

St. Aug's is still the top-scoring team in the conference, averaging 88 points per game, with the top three scorers in the league: Antonio Fitzgerald (22.6 ppg), Nicholas King (19.4ppg) and Claude Neeley (19.1 ppg).

The Falcons' nemesis remains its lackadaisical defense, although the team has moved up from last to 10th in defense, but right now it doesn't seem to matter. They are out shooting everybody in their path. Whether that can get them a championship remains to be seen.

Shaw Women Still Streaking

No team - male or female - is hotter than the Lady Bears who won their 12th in a row after an 84-56 win over Livingstone last Saturday. Shaw (15-4, 9-0) has also won 66 straight conference games.

The Lady Bears are out scoring their opponents by 13 points and lead the league in 3-pointers.

Union Takes Top Spot in East

Division II National Champion Virginia Union is tops in the East. The Panthers (14-2, 7-1) are undefeated in the conference after their 69-57 win over Elizabeth City State Jan. 28.

Union is outscoring its opponent by 21 points, yet has the No. 1 defense, allowing only 56.4 points per game.

Hall of Fame Class

The CIAA has selected its 2006 John B. McLendon Hall of Fame inductees. The honorees will be formally introduced during CIAA tournament week. They are:

• Hal Jackson, former sports editor of the Afro-American Newspaper (D.C.) is being honored for his service to the CIAA basketball tournament dating back to its inaugural year at Turner Arena in Washington, D.C. Jackson was the radio promoter for the first tournament, and also served as announcer while it was in Washington. Jackson has been on the radio since the late 30s and currently serves as host and executive producer of "Sunday Classics" on New York's 107.5.

• Winston-Salem State William "Bill" English is the CIAA's single game scoring record holder with 77 points against Fayetteville State. This high scorer (2,113 points) ranks in WSSU's history books in scoring, free throws, field goals made and rebounding.

• Pro Football Hall of Fame's Art Shell of Maryland Eastern Shore, led the Oakland Raiders as head coach from 1989-94. Shell had an outstanding career with the Raiders as an offensive tackle from 1968-82. Since 2002, Shell has worked for the National Football League supervising all NFL football operations and development.

• Mike Davis was Union's all-time leading scorer with 2,758 points. Davis received all-conference honors each of his three years and was named the 1969 CIAA Player of the Year. He is the second all-time leading scorer in the CIAA, second only to Earl Monroe.

• Sandra Shuler, women's coordinator for NCCU from 1974-1980, was a pioneer by developing the championship format for CIAA volleyball. In 1973. She coordinated NCCU's transition from women's sports governed under the Women's Athletics Association to intercollegiate athletics. The following year she organized and coached the first NCCU intercollegiate volleyball team. She also did the same for softball.

Player of the Week: St. Aug's Fitzgerald averaged 23 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists as the Falcons posted wins over Smith and NCCU last week.

Game of the Week: The No. 1 offense battles the No. 1 defense this Saturday when St. Aug's travels to Virginia Union for a showdown of the two best teams in the conference.

About the Author:

Bonitta Best is the sports editor at The Triangle Tribune in Durham, N.C., and a regular contributor to Black Voices. Her column appears every Tuesday.