CHARLOTTE — Livingstone’s All-CIAA backcourt debuted in the league tournament on Thursday with an another impressive performance.
CIAA Player of the Year Mark Thomas scored 28 points and backcourt mate Jody Hill had 19 in a 75-63 win against St. Augustine’s at Time Warner Cable Arena.
As the top seed from the Southern Division, Livingstone had a bye the first two days of the tournament.
Livingstone (19-7) returns to action today in the semifinals against Fayetteville State at 7 p.m.
The Blue Bears have reached the championship game two of the last three seasons.
Tashaun Stockdale and Joel Kindred scored 13 points apiece for the Falcons (13-16). Amere May added 10 points.
Thomas, named Food Lion MVP of the game, scored 18 points in the second half to ignite the Blue Bears.
Livingstone shot 49 percent in the final 20 minutes.The Blue Bears opened the second half with a 19-10 run for a 49-38 lead with 13:40 left in the game. Thomas scored eight points during the spurt.
“We didn’t get off to a great start, but Saint Augustine’s had something to do with that,” Livingstone c James Stinson said. “Once we started getting in transition, it started to loosen up for us.”
The Falcons climbed back within four points at 57-53 on Kindred’s layup with 6:22 remaining, but the Blue Bears pulled away with a 10-2 run for a 67-55 lead with 3:41 left. Thomas scored eight points during the run.
The Blue Bears shot 43 percent for the game, while the Falcons shot 33 percent. The Blue Bears had a 40-24 advantage in points in the paint.
Forwards Emmari Baileyand Anthony Welch combined for 16 rebounds for the Blue Bears.
St. Augustine’s, which lost an overtime game in the regular season to the Blue Bears, started fast and led 17-7 after a 15-2 run.
“The guys were ready to play,” St. Augustine’s coach Tony Sheals said. “We knew we could play them, and it would be a dogfight.”

MEN
ST. AUGUSTINE’S (63) — Kindred 13, Stockdale 13, May 10, Crawley 8, Gaskins 6, Joliffe 5, Saddler 4, Clark 4.
LIVINGSTONE (75) — Thomas 28, Hill 19, Mayo 8, Bailey 8, A. Welch 5, C. Johnson 4, D. Johnson 3, Okam, Dubose.
St. Augustine’s 28 35 — 63
Livingstone 30 45 — 75