NORFOLK, Va. - Kyle O'Quinn tallied his 14th double-double of the year with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Norfolk State defense held Morgan State to 31 percent shooting in a 76-59 Spartans' win on Saturday night at Echols Hall.
One game after having their eight-game winning streak snapped by Morehead State's 54 percent shooting, NSU (16-6 overall, 8-0 MEAC) responded with one of its better nights of the season to remain perfect in MEAC play and beat the Bears (5-13, 3-4) for the fourth straight time. The Spartans led by as many as 23 points, 36-13, late in the first half and held the Bears to 23 percent shooting in the opening period.
NSU kept Morgan State without a field goal for a stretch of 9:35 of the first half. The Spartans used their pressure defense to ignite a 23-4 run, which O'Quinn capped with two free throws to make it 36-13 with 3:46 left in the first half. Seven different Spartans scored in the run.
O'Quinn had 10 points, while Pendarvis Williams and Brandon Wheeless scored nine apiece in the first half.
Read the complete story at NSUSpartans.com.
Gallo Leads Coppin State Past Hampton
HAMPTON, Va. - Senior Tony Gallo scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half helping Coppin State overcome an eight-point deficit on its way to a 73-70 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory over Hampton on Saturday in the Hampton Convocation Center.
Coppin State trailed 29-26 at halftime and twice trailed by eight points in the second half before rallying for the victory. It marked the first time all season the Eagles have won a game in which they trailed at the half after dropping all nine previous games in which they were behind.
Coppin State (10-11, 5-3 MEAC) also received 16 points from Michael Harper and 14 points from Logan Wiens.
Gallo made all three of his three-point baskets in the second half and made 10-of-13 free throw attempts after the intermission.
Read more at CoppinStateSports.com.
Free Throws Costly in NCCU's Third Straight Loss
DURHAM, N.C. - Missed opportunities were the name of the game in North Carolina Central's second home loss of the season as the Eagles missed a season-high 14 shots from the foul line despite Ray Willis's career-high 28 points falling to Delaware State 76-70 Saturday at McDougald-McLendon Gym in Durham, N.C.
NCCU came out strong through first six minutes grabbing an 11-5 lead after a Willis three-pointer with 13:39 remaining. In fact, NCCU led 17-10 after a Karamo Jawara layup to give the maroon and gray their largest lead of the first half.
Over the next seven minutes, the Hornets picked up the pace and went on a run themselves to take the lead for good thanks to a 19-3 spurt to snatch a 29-20 lead with 4:37 remaining.
During that span, the Eagles missed six shots, three free throws, and committed three turnovers to aid the hot-shooting Hornets.
Freshman guard Tahj Tate torched the nets for Delaware State to the tune of 14 first-half points on 4-for-8 shooting, while the Hornets turned the ball over just three times and collected five steals to take a 37-27 lead into the locker room.
Willis paced the Eagles with 14 points in the first frame on 5-of-7 shooting from the outside.
Read the full story at NCCUEaglePride.com.
Hassan, Louis Combine to Lead Savannah State to Win Over Howard
SAVANNAH, Ga. - Rashad Hassan scored a game-high 22 points and Arnold Louis came off the bench to record a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds to help Savannah State pull away to a 71-50 win over Howard University in a MEAC men's game the Tiger Arena.
The Tigers (11-10, 6-2 in the MEAC), who held a 32-29 lead at the half, used an 18-9 run during the first eight minutes of the second half to put the game away by taking a 50-38 lead. Hassan, Louis and Deric Rudolph led the charge by combining for 16 of the points during the spurt. Hassan and Louis teamed to hit on 14 of 21 shots from the field for the game.
The Bison (4-17, 1-7 in the MEAC) were unable to score during long stretches and hurt themselves further with untimely turnovers during their attempts to get back in the game.
Read more at Howard-Bison.com
Recaps to come:
North Carolina A&T 91, Maryland Eastern Shore 66
Florida A&M 66, Bethune-Cookman 62