Bison Battle But Fall Short In Loss To Rider

Washington, DC-Mike Phillips poured in a career- and game-high 24 points and Dadrian Collins and Alphonso Leary added 14 and 13 respectively, but it was a not enough to offset the three-point shooting of Rider as the Bison fell, 78-64 to the Broncs in a non-conference men's game at Burr Gymnasium.

Rider (9-5) jumped out to an early 11-1 lead before Howard (2-9) countered with an 8-3 spurt to get within 14-9.  The Broncs, who came into the game ranked among the nation's top 3-point shooting teams at 42-percent as a team, kept the young Bison at bay connecting on 6-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.  Justin Robinson, who led all scorers in the first half with 11 points and Novar Gadson, who tallied eight, combined to hit on 4-of-5 3-pointers to help the visitors took a 39-28 lead at the half.

In the second half, the Broncs threatened to pull away, twice opening up 14-point leads, but each time Phillips, Collins and Leary would have an answer and get their team back to within striking distance.

Howard made a charge and reduced the deficit to nine at 71-62 with a little over four minutes left, but Gadson, Danny Stewart and Robinson teamed on a 7-2 run to put the game away.

Phillips connected on 8 of 16 from the floor while Collins contributed 14 points and six rebounds and Leary chipped in with a career-best 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting while also grabbing five rebounds.

Leading scorer Antoine Dickerson, who came into the game as the team's leading scorer at 12.2 per game, finished with one point on a late free throw.

The balanced Broncs got 22 from Robinson, 15 from Gadson, 14 from Stewart and 11 from Brandon Penn, all coming in the second half.  Rider connected on 47-percent from the 3-point line for the game, slightly above their season average.

For the complete story, visit www.howard-bison.com
 

Eagles Fall to 11th-Ranked Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Terrence Jones scored 18 points, Brandon Knight added 17 points and eight assists 11th-ranked Kentucky defeated Coppin State 91-61 Tuesday night in Rupp Arena.

Kentucky (10-2) shot 57 percent from the field, including 74 percent in the second half, to beat the Eagles.

Doron Lamb, fresh off a school freshman-record 32-point performance in a rout of Winthrop last week, scored 17 points and DeAndre Liggins added 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Kentucky.

Jordan Lee led Coppin State (4-6) with 11 points while Tony Gallo and Akeem Ellis added 10 points each but the Eagles couldn't keep up with the Wildcats, who played efficiently.

Kentucky dominated the undersized Eagles, outrebounding them 43-22 and outscoring them 46-26 in the paint. The Wildcats' outburst included 29 points by bench players.

The Eagles played without scoring leader Michael Harper, who had the flu. Coppin State certainly could have used him, particularly early on as it tried to gain its footing against the Wildcats. The Eagles missed their first 11 shots before Lee hit a layup in traffic.

By then Coppin State trailed 15-4, though the Eagles did show enough signs of life to force Calipari to call a frustrated timeout following a brief spurt that brought the them within 20-11.

DeAndre Liggins converted a difficult layup while drawing the foul before Lamb followed with a jumper from the corner. Jones dunked moments later, quickly followed by another basket by Lamb.

After Jones hit a nifty pullup just before the buzzer, the Wildcats led 40-19 at the break.

Kentucky's lead grew to as much as 39 in the second half before Calipari went deep to his bench, looking for candidates to crack his typically tight six-man rotation.

Kentucky finished with 21 assists on 35 field goals and players continued to hustle on both ends of the floor even with the game's outcome decided.

For the complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com