McEachin's Career Night Lifts Spartans to Season Sweep of Hampton

NORFOLK, Va. - Chris McEachin scored a career-high 27 points and Kyle O'Quinn added 18 points and 18 rebounds as Norfolk State completed a season sweep of Hampton with a 70-62 victory on Saturday evening before a capacity crowd at Echols Hall.

McEachin hit 8-of-16 from the floor and 5-of-7 from behind the 3-point line for the Spartans (18-8, 10-2 MEAC). O'Quinn added four blocked shots for NSU, which swatted eight as a team.

Both teams shot under 40 percent in the physical, tightly-contested matchup between old rivals. NSU held the Pirates (8-16, 4-7) to 36 percent shooting and outrebounded them 48-35.

McEachin scored six straight early points to help NSU jump out in front 15-7. McEachin was fouled on a 3-pointer and hit all three foul shots, and then hit a 3-pointer to give the Spartans the eight-point lead.

Hampton responded with a 20-2 run over the next seven minutes to take its largest lead of the game, at 27-17. Christopher Tolson hit three straight 3-pointers to cap the outburst.

This time, it was NSU's turn in the see-saw first half, answering with a 10-0 run of its own. O'Quinn started it with an old-fashioned three-point play, then dunked to cut the lead in half. McEachin followed with a three-point play of his own and Marcos Tamares scored on a put-back to tie the game.

NSU took a 34-33 lead into the break after two Quasim Pugh free throws with one second left before the break.

Read more at NSUSpartans.com.

NCCU Falls Short Against Savannah State 

DURHAM, N.C. - The first tilt in the final homestand of the 2011-12 season began with loads of promise but ended in disappointment as North Carolina Central University dropped a 67-57 contest to the Tigers of Savannah State University on Saturday afternoon in McDougald-McLendon Gym.

The loss drops the Eagles to 6-5 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play and into a tie with arch-rival North Carolina A&T State University for sixth place in the league.

NCCU got off to a slow start offensively missing the first four layups of the contest.  The Eagles did not register a field goal until the 16:18 mark of the first frame when senior Nick Chasten hit a layup to make it 7-3 in favor of SSU.

With 12:20 left in the first half, the Tigers grabbed its largest lead of the frame at 15-5 following an Arnold Louis dunk forcing head coach LeVelle Moton to call a 30-second timeout to try and change the moment.

As this resilient team always does, the maroon and gray responded as they slowly but surely settled down outscoring Savannah State 20-10 over a ten-minute span to knot the game up at 25 on a Jeremy Ingram jumper with 2:29 remaining.

Seconds later, senior Dominique Sutton was whistled for his second foul, sending him to the bench, which allowed SSU to end the half on a 5-2 spurt and take a 30-27 lead and the momentum into the locker room.

Read more at NCCUEaglePride.com.

Howard Bench Comes Up Big in Win over Florida A&M

Washington, DC - Calvin Thompson and Tre Lee came off the bench to combine for 27 points to help Howard University edge Florida A&M University, 71-69 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's game at Burr Gymnasium.

The Bison (7-18, 4-8 in the MEAC) rallied from a 10-point deficit on the scoring of Thompson, a red-shirt junior guard  and sophomore guard/forward Lee, who teamed for 8 of Howard's last 10 points down the stretch. 

Thompson a perfect 4 for 4 and Lee 5 of 6 on free throws in the second half and the Bison needed all of them.

The Bison converted on 20 of 24 from the charity stripe for 83 percent.  It was the second straight win for Howard that came down to clutch free throw shooting.

The Bison took control early, shooting 55 percent (16 of 29) from the field in the first 20 minutes.  Freshman Prince Okoroh led all scorers with 10 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the floor as Howard led, 34-28 at the half.

Read more at Howard-Bison.com.

Eagles Fall to Hornets

BALTIMORE, MD - Marques Oliver scored a layup with 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation lifting Delaware State to an 84-81 MEAC victory over Coppin State on Saturday in the Physical Education Complex.

Coppin State's Akeem Ellis tied the game at 81-81 with a pair of free throws with 11.2 seconds to play.

After a Delaware State timeout, the Hornets worked for the last shot. Jay Threatt, who tied his season-high with 10 assists, found Oliver for the game-winning basket with 1.3 seconds left. Oliver then made the free throw to increase the lead to 84-81.

The Eagles threw the ball the length of the court and Ellis' jumper at the buzzer was off the mark.

Delaware State extended its winning streak to six straight with the victory. The Hornets shot 54.0 percent from the field and committed only eight turnovers.

Coppin State shot 52.8 percent from the floor, including 61.5 percent in the first half, but committed 17 turnovers which the Hornets turned into 23 points.

The Eagles were led by Tony Gallo who scored a team-high 23 points and Antonio Williams who had 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Read the complete story at CoppinStateSports.com.

Recaps to come:

N.C. A&T 85, S.C. State 55

Maryland E. Shore 68, Morgan State 56