By David Scott
dscott@charlotteobserver.com

Johnson C. Smith, getting 26 points from CIAA Player of the Year Trevin Parks, beat Chowan 67-60 in the first round of the CIAA tournament Wednesday at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Parks, a sophomore from Hickory, made seven-of-11 shots, including two-of-three 3-pointers for the Golden Bulls (16-10).

Up next for J.C. Smith, the Southern Division's fourth seed, is Bowie State tonight at 9. The Bulldogs are the Northern Division's top seed.

The Golden Bulls, who also got a double-double from forward Calvin Smith (10 points, 10 rebounds), led by just two points, 32-30, at halftime. The second half was another story, though, as J.C. Smith led by as many as 14.

"We weren't emotionally comfortable in the first half," said J.C. Smith coach Steve Joyner, whose team outrebounded Chowan 45-27. "Then we began to have a good understanding of what it takes to win the game."

Chowan, No. 5 from the Northern Division, got 21 points from guard Charles Rhodes and finishes 5-22.

"I thought we played harder than them early in the game," said Chowan coach Dan DeRose. "But we lost our edge. We needed to fight back to get into it and we couldn't do it."

"So far, so good," said Parks. "We got the 'W.' Hopefully we can get three more."

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