Archdeacon First Battle of Wilberforce one to remember for CSU forward

It was like a scene out of a Rocky movie.

Central State – which had trailed rival Wilberforce University most of the game, a situation that dismayed the high-decibel, low-sympathy Marauder crowd in the sold-out Beacom Lewis gym, Monday – was still down a point, 59-58, with just over two minutes left to play.

Battling for a rebound, CSU’s Quinton Glaspie caught an elbow to the mouth from Wilberforce’s Darrion Riddle that split open his bottom lip.

A foul was whistled and Marauder coach Joseph Price called a time out. But as Glaspie came to the sideline – his hand pressed to his bloody mouth – he was in need of a cut man, not a coaching session.

There was blood on his chin, teeth and uniform.

Marauders’ athletic trainer Dalyann Barnett promptly cleaned the sophomore forward’s face, put some gauze on the wound and had him put pressure on it.

She then went to work cleaning the blood splatters from his gold No. 22 jersey.

As Glaspie turned to go back onto the court, Barnett grabbed him by the arm and – just like they do in the ring corner with a battered boxer – applied a big dab of Vaseline to the cut.

That’s when one of the referees came over to check on the wounded Marauder.

“I’m OK,” Glaspie said, pulling away.

And he would be, though not at first.

He stepped to the free throw line and missed his initial attempt and the exasperation bubbled up from the crowd.

This was the annual Battle of Wilberforce, the most intense, most stirring college basketball rivalry being played in the Miami Valley now.

The two fabled, historically black colleges are just across the street from each other in rural Greene County and the most anticipated gatherings between the schools each year happens on the basketball court. The men’s teams play once or twice a year and the women’s teams usually play as well.

That the showdown now happens on Martin Luther King Day makes the stage that much grander and more prestigious.

Although the schools played each other some after CSU split off from Wilberforce University in 1947, the rivalry was mothballed in the mid-1980s when the Bulldogs athletic programs were disbanded for financial reasons. They weren’t reinstated until the early 1990s and slowly the rivalry game began to take shape again.

Since then, Wilberforce – an NAIA Division II school – has beaten CSU, now an NCAA Division II school, just four times, including once last season.

The game was never played on one specific date until 2015 when it became a centerpiece event of Martin Luther King festivities for the two schools.

Dr. King had been no stranger to the area. He spoke at the Wilberforce commencement in 1965 and two weeks later did the same at nearby Antioch University from which is wife graduated.

At the inaugural MLK game four years ago, CSU president Dr. Cynthia Jackson Hammond walked to midcourt and, microphone in hand, summed the moment up perfectly for the overflow crowd.

She spoke about celebrating the vison of the late civil rights leader and said “these two institutions represent his dream, his tomorrow.”

Intense rivalry

Of all the Miami Valley events that honor Dr. Martin Luther King each year, there’s none that‘s more intense, more in your face, more drenched in sweat, noise and pure joy than this game.

Monday was no exception.

The gym was jammed with people. The outside doors were locked by tip off and a crowd of latecomers lingered outside hoping to catch snatches of the score and the dance party atmosphere inside.

Each school’s followers sat on opposite sides of the gym, separated by the invincible Marching Marauders band which tried to blow the roof off the place. The crowd was so close to the court that players sometimes slapped palms with fans – and other times endured trash talk — as they ran past.

Team records in this game – even with CSU coming in 3-16 and Wilberforce, 4-11 – don’t matter.

Neither do excuses.

Last year when CSU lost the first of its two meetings with Wilberforce, Martin Oliver, the Marauders 6-foot-2 guard, said “it was painful on campus. We didn’t want to be seen. We didn’t even want to go to the (cafeteria.) We pretty much got the cold shoulder.”

This time, because of weather changes to its schedule, CSU had played a league game against Spring Hill on Sunday night at Beacom Lewis. But nobody in the crowd wanted to hear about tired legs.

And so when Glaspie missed his first free throw at the 2:10 mark, the crowd moaned. When he made the second to knot the score, 59-59, you could see the relief on his face.

This was the first time he’d ever played in this rivalry game.

He grew up in Detroit, played at De LaSalle Collegiate High School and then went to the University of St. Francis, an NAIA school in Fort. Wayne. He said he redshirted his first year there and then decided to leave.

He ended up at CSU last season bit did not play.

“He was a student here but he didn’t come out for the team,” Price said. “He had to work. At first we didn’t even know he was on campus.”

Glaspie said he didn’t come to Marauder games because he didn’t want to endure watching and not playing.

Price said Glaspie began to email him this year hoping to join the team. Price did some research, found out the 6-foot-4 forward also had a 3.7 GPA and invited him to a tryout.

Glaspie joined the team as a walk-on and has had a couple of memorable games this season, including 17 points against IUPI of the D-I Horizon League. Coming into Monday’s game he was averaging 4.8 points.

Even so, he said he still didn’t quite comprehend the intensity of the Wilberforce game:

“I’d heard all the stories about games against the WU (pronounced Woo). They said they were very intense, but I’d never been in something like this.“

When he was returned to the free throw line 20 seconds after his first trip, he again made one of two.

Eight seconds later he was fouled again and went one for two, yet again.

Tom Johnson, the Marauders spark-plug point guard, said he approached him with one question:

“I just said, ‘What’s your name?’ That was just to get him to realize who he was and that he could do it.”

Oliver, who would play the best game of his CSU career and finish with 18 points and 14 rebounds, talked to Glaspie, as well:

“We told him, ‘Don’t worry about anything else. The crowd is tough, but we got your back. You played well against Division I teams this year. You’ll do fine down the stretch now.’”

And Glaspie did just that.

He was fouled with 23 seconds left and made both free throws to break a 60-60 tie.

Fouled again with 4.7 seconds left, he made both shots – finishing each attempt with a frozen-in-the-air follow through – to cement the 65-60 victory.

And when the buzzer sounded, the crowd rushed the court and engulfed him – he finished with 15 points and nine rebounds – and his teammates.

‘A special moment’

“The community should be very, very proud about the great special event we have here,” Price said afterward. “We have two of the most storied HBCUs in the country coming together to play their hardest and to celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday. It’s awesome.”

Some of the players certainly understood.

“When I woke up this morning, knowing we were going to play on MLK Day, I was excited,” Oliver said. “I have admired him since I was little.”

Guard Isaiah Jones, who led Wilberforce with 20 points, agreed:

“Martin Luther King paved the way for guys like me to be athletes and play basketball in a game like this. It was a special moment. It’s hard losing, but we gave it our all.

“I can still hold my head high.”

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