Eagles Earn Hard Fought Sweep over Aggies
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Behind two double-doubles from Dominique Sutton and Ray Willis along with a 14-2 second half spurt, the Eagles of North Carolina Central took down arch-rival North Carolina A&T State 71-66 inside the sold out Corbett Sports Center in Greensboro, N.C. on Saturday evening and earned the season sweep over the Aggies.
Meeting no. 139 between these two programs lived up to the billing as the contest featured eight ties and three lead changes with the Aggies coming out strong in front of the home faithful with a 10-4 advantage following a layup by Austin Witter with 16:50 remaining first half.
A 9-2 run by NCCU cut a 10-point deficit to three at 16-13 following an Emanuel Chapman three-point basket with 14:22 left in the first frame.
NCCU took the first lead of the day following a Ray Willis steal and breakaway dunk making it 19-18 with 11:32 to go.
A&T quickly answered with a 7-0 rally to take the lead back at 25-19 and held that lead for the remainder of the first half.
Trailing by seven at 39-32 with 2:26 to go after a Witter steal and Nic Simpson dunk, NCCU scored the final five points of the frame including a Jeremy Ingram three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the margin to two at 39-37 heading into the locker room.
The drama picked up in the final 20 minutes answers as the teams went back-and-forth in the early portion of the stanza.
Read more at NCCUEaglePride.com.
DSU Streak Ends in Last Second Shot
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Donte Richards scored the game-winning points on two free throws with 10 seconds left to give Gardner-Webb a 57-56 win over Delaware State in an ESPN Bracketbuster contest at Paul Porter Arena this evening. The Hornets had a chance to win on their last possession, but Tyshawn Bell missed a shot with four seconds left and Gardner-Webb's Stefon Johnson grabbed the rebound to secure the win for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
The loss snapped Delaware State's eight-game win streak. The Hornets fell to 12-12 on the season. Gardner won for just the second time in the last seven games to improve to 12-17.
The Runnin' Bulldogs scored the last eight points of the game after trailing 56-49 following an offensive rebound and basket by Marques Oliver with 2:50 left to play.
The Hornets led 56-55 with the ball but committed a turnover with 10 seconds left. Richards was then fouled; and hit both free throws to give Gardner-Webb the lead.
DSU committed four turnovers and missed a free throw in the final 2:10 of the game.
Delaware State trailed 47-34 in the second half before embarking on a 20-2 run, including 17 straight points, to take the lead. The Hornets pulled ahead 49-47 on a three-pointer by Casey walker with 5:37 left in the game. After a steal by Jay Threatt on Gardner-Webb's next possession, Threatt fed Oliver for a dunk to give DSU a 51-47 lead.
Read more at DSUHornets.com.
Bethune-Cookman Stays in MEAC Title Hunt with 70-59 Win at SCSU
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - Bethune-Cookman pulled out a 70-59 victory over South Carolina State and remained in the thick of the chase for the MEAC championship Saturday night.
Anthony Breeze scored 20 points to lead yet another balanced scoring effort as the Wildcats (13-14 overall, 9-3 MEAC) stayed within a game of Savannah State, now in the conference lead at 10-2. Idle Norfolk State is 10-3, while Delaware State, who faced Gardner-Webb in the ESPN's Sears BracketBusters, is tied with B-CU in third at 9-3.
The Bulldogs were in B-CU's way Saturday, and the Wildcats came out sluggish, especially at the free throw line as S.C. State managed a 33-32 halftime lead.
B-CU finally took the lead for good when two Javoris Bryant free throws with 12:10 remaining made it 45-43. The Wildcats went on an 11-3 run to push the lead to ten when Adrien Coleman made a half court steal and finished with a slam for a 56-46 lead with 7:37 left.
Read more at B-CUAthletics.com.
Howard Reserves Key Victory over Coppin State
BALTIMORE, MD - Calvin Thompson and Glenn Andrews came off the bench to score 17 points each to lead Howard to a 70-66 win over Coppin State in a MEAC men's game at the Physical Education Complex.
A red-shirt junior guard, Thompson did most of his damage from the free-throw line, converting on 9 of 11 while Andrews, a senior guard, was effective from long range, connecting on 4 of 9 from beyond the arc.
Howard (8-19, 5-9 in the MEAC) got off to a fast start with Thompson (9 points) and freshman center Oliver Ellison (6 points) teaming for 15 of their team's points as the Bison led 30-20 at the intermission.
The Eagles (13-13, 8-5 in the MEAC), who had beaten Howard in January, mounted a second half comeback with a 13-7 run led by Antonio Williams' 20 second half points. Coppin State turned up the pressure and forced Bison turnovers to get back into the game.
Read more at Howard-Bison.com.
Pirates Fall to Delaware in BracketBuster Match-Up
NEWARK, Del. - The Hampton men's basketball team fell 68-64 to the Blue Hens of the University of Delaware on Saturday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center in the 2012 ESPN Sears BracketBusters.
The Pirates (9-17) have yet to win a game on the road this season and have lost four straight to Delaware.
Senior guard Darrion Pellum led four Pirates in double figures with a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds, while senior guard Christopher Tolson added 15 points. Sophomore forward David Bruce recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while senior point-guard Mike Tuitt scored 10 points for the Pirates.
With 15:28 to play in the first half, the score was tied at 9-9, but the Blue Hens went on a 15-2 run to take the largest lead of the half with the score 24-11 at the 9:20 mark. Tolson made a floater in the lane to end Delaware's run.
The Pirates went on a 10-2 run to pull within five points of the Blue Hens, 26-21, following two good free throws by Pellum at the 5:22 mark. Delaware went on to make five field goals, including a 3-pointer, to take a 38-27 lead at the half.
In the second half, the Pirates focused more on defense, as they battled back to take their first lead of the second half. With the score 48-46 with 9:50 to play, the Pirates took a 49-48 lead on a 3-pointer by Tolson.
From that point on, the two teams would go back-and-forth, but the Blue Hens used a 6-0 run to take a 58-52 lead with 4:47 left to play.
Read more at HamptonPirates.com.
Tigers Claw Rattlers, 76-57
SAVANNAH, Ga. - Savannah State completed their sweep of Florida A&M as the Tigers defeated the Rattlers, 76-57 Saturday afternoon at Tiger Arena.
FAMU (7-19, 5-7 MEAC) was led by Yannick Crowder with a team-high 12 points, while Amin Stevens led the Rattlers on the boards with 11.
SSU (17-10, 10-2) had a pair of Tigers to score in double figures including Rashad Hassan with a game-high 23 points, Deric Rudolph with 20 for SSU. Cedric Smith led the Tigers on the boards with eight rebounds.
FAMU grabbed a 13-7 lead with 14:58 to go in the first on a Chris Watson layup.
SSU would come roaring back as they went on an 11-0 run to take an 18-13 lead on a Hassan layup with 12:04 to go in the first.
A made field goal by Reggie Lewis cut the Tigers' lead to 33-29 with 4:13 to go in the first.
The Rattlers trailed heading into the break, 38-29 as they finished the first half shooting 43.3 percent (13-of-30), whereas the Tigers shot 50.0 percent (14-of-28).
Read the complete story at FAMUAthletics.com.
Additional Recaps to Come:
Morgan State 81, Liberty 69