Virginia Union University's Tahj Harding, a junior from Lincoln Heights, Oh., who is majoring in Special Education, scored 18 points, but Emporia State University defeated VUU 72-59 on the second day of the Small College Basketball Classic on Sunday, November 5, in Lakeland, Fla.

VUU's Jakobe Williams, a junior from Jacksonville, Fla., added 15 points while teammate Jonathan Salazar, a junior from Panama who is majoring in Communications, grabbed 11 rebounds.

"This was another tough game for us, but it gave us an opportunity to see what we need to work on," said VUU Head Men's Basketball Coach Jay Butler.  "We got off to a good start defensively, but we need to put together a complete half of playing great defense.  We came out playing good defense in the second half, but then we couldn't answer on the offensive end.  It's just going to take some time with a new basketball team with only two guys returning from last year's team.  To come out here and play some of the top teams in the country is a good learning experience for us, but you also want to come out and do well, but it's tough when you have a brand new team."

Virginia Union will now travel to Millersville, Pa., to compete in the PSAC/CIAA Conference Challenge.  The Panthers will face Mansfield University at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 11, and will then face Millersville University at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 12.