Pirates Rebound with Win over Towson
Final Stats
HAMPTON, Va. - The Hampton University men's basketball team got back into the win column Monday night, defeating the Tigers of Towson University 78-67 at the HU Convocation Center.
The Pirates (8-2) controlled much of the second half, though Towson closed the gap to 61-55 with 6:52 to play when Dre Conner converted a 3-point play. The Pirates responded emphatically when senior forward Charles Funches threw down a one-handed dunk over Braxton Dupree, drawing the foul and converting the 3-point play at the 5:10 mark to give the Pirates a 68-57 lead.
Junior guard Christopher Tolson sank a trey with 2:01 to play to put Hampton up 76-63.
Four Pirates scored in double figures, led by a career-high 26 from Funches - who also pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Junior guard Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) added 14 points, while junior guard Kwame Morgan added 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting from behind the arc.
Junior forward Danny Agbelese (Lanham, Md.) scored a career-high 12 points, 10 in the first half, to go along with six rebounds and three blocked shots. Senior guard Brandon Tunnell (Wilmington, Del.) dished out a career-high 11 assists.
Read the complete story at HamptonPirates.com.
Sene's Tip-In Lifts Virginia over NSU, 50-49
Final Stats
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Assane Sene tipped in a missed free throw with 4.8 seconds left to help Virginia avoid a game upset bid by visiting Norfolk State on Monday night and give the Cavaliers a 50-49 victory at John Paul Jones Arena.
NSU (1-8) was poised to pull off one of the biggest wins in its Division I history and snap its six-game losing streak after Rob Hampton sank two free throws with 23.8 seconds remaining, giving the Spartans a 49-48 lead. At the other end, U.Va.'s Sammy Zeglinski missed a 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining and KT Harrell got the offensive rebound. Harrell was fouled by NSU's Aleek Pauline with 5.3 seconds left, but Harrell missed both free throws.
The second miss, however, hung up on the rim for a split second, causing Spartan post player Kyle O'Quinn to mistime his jump just slightly. The 7-foot Sene took advantage and tipped it in for his only points of the night.
The Spartans had one more chance to win, but Pauline missed a 3-pointer at the other end as time expired.
Read the entire story at NSUSpartans.com.
Bears Fall to No. 5 Syracuse, 97-55
Final Stats
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - No. 5/5 Syracuse (12-0) collected its second highest output of the season en route to a convincing, 97-55 victory against Morgan State (4-5), on Monday at the Carrier Dome.
James Southerland scored a career-high 18 points off the bench to help lead the Orange to their 12th straight victory of the season.
The 42-point loss is the largest margin of defeat during Coach Todd Bozeman's 5 years at the helm of the program.
Syracuse put on a very efficient performance. The Bears trailed 19-14 midway through the first half before the Orange started getting out on the fastbreak and knocking down shot after shot. They used a 14-2 run and held the Bears scoreless during a 4 minutes stretch to help build a 34-19 advantage. By halftime, the Bears trailed 44-29.
Syracuse shot 53 percent from the field (39-73), including 12-of-25 from 3-point territory (48 percent), while limiting Morgan State to 20-of-53 shooting (.377). Syracuse also had 34 assists -- four off the school record.
The Bears came alive in the opening moments of the second half and a basket by Kevin Thompson helped trim the Orange advantage to 47-36 with 13:54 remaining. The Orange answered with a 9-2 run behind the play of Southerland and Fab Melo extending the lead to 59-43.
Southerland was unconscious from long-range where he drained four three-pointers and scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
Read the entire story at MorganStateBears.com.