UMES Falls to Howard

Princess Anne, Md. --Ronald Spencer scored a game-high 14 points and was a rebound short of finishing the night with a double-double performance for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Teammate Hillary Haley contributed 11 points in the Hawks 53-51 loss to Howard University Monday.

The Hawks did much of its first half scoring on fast breaks created by steals from Louis Bell and Percy Woods, as well as scores in the paint by Tyler Hines and Ronald Spencer. Bell and Woods each had three steals on the night. Bell finished the night with just four points in 13 minutes. Woods finished the night with seven points, three assists and four rebounds for the Hawks by intermission.

Entering halftime UMES held a seven-point (31-24) lead and had made 40 percent (11-of-27) of its shots from the field. Spencer scored just two points in the first half, but in a stretch of eight minutes he scored nine of the Hawks' 11 second half points.

Spencer was perfect at the line (4-of-4) and made 5-of-9 (.556) of his shots from the field. UMES held Howard scoreless at intermittent times, but allowed the Bison to control the rebounding battle in the first half (23-18). Eight of Spencer's nine rebounds came on the offensive glass, and would help close the rebounding gap to 39-37 in favor of Howard.

Notable statistics, UMES was 13-of-14 (.928) from the free-throw line, its best percentage this season with at least 10 attempts. The Hawks finished with 10 total assists by six different players, and the team shot 33.3 percent from the field for the game.

To Read more, visit www.umeshawks.com or www.howard-bison.com

Stevens Lift FAMU Over SC State 83-82

 ORANGEBURG, SC - Junior forward Amin Stevens driving layup with 0:01 seconds left, gave Florida A&M a, 83-82, victory over SC State Monday at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.
       

FAMU improves to 8-19 overall, 6-7 in the MEAC, while SC State falls to 5-22 overall, 0-13 in the league.

Stevens led the Rattlers with a team-high 18 points and 13 rebounds, while sophomore guard Avery Moore added 15 in the victory.
       

Senior guard Brandon Riley led the Bulldogs with a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds, while teammate senior forward Omar Sanders recorded his eighth double-double of the season with  14 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

The Bulldogs took complete control of the game when freshman guard Devin Joint stole the ball for a monster dunk to go ahead, 78-75, with 3:25 left in regulation. A layup by senior guard Chris Watson with 1:24 left gave the Rattlers a three point lead, 81-78.
      

Toombs hit one of two free-throws to give SC State an 82-81 lead with less than 00:51 seconds left. A missed 3-pointer by Moore with 00:05 seconds left, followed by a put back layup by Stevens sealed the 83-81 victory for the Rattlers.
      
The Bulldogs were also led by senior Joe Ikhinmwin with 11 points and six rebounds, while freshman guard Devin Joint chipped in 10 points and eight boards.
       

To Read more, visit www.scsuathletics.com or www.famuathletics.com

McEachin, Tamares Lead NSU to Senior Night Win over Longwood

NORFOLK, Va. - Chris McEachin and Marcos Tamares combined for 41 points in their last home game at Norfolk State to lead the Spartans to a 66-52 win over Longwood on Monday night at Echols Hall.

McEachin scored 21 points and Tamares 20 for NSU (19-9), which outscored the Lancers (9-18) 40-23 in the second half to pull away.

Antwan Carter scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Longwood.

NSU stormed out of the second half and went on an 18-0 run. McEachin hit three of his five treys in the spurt and Tamares hit three jumpers, the last of which gave NSU a 44-29 lead at the 14:41 mark.

NSU hit 53 percent from the floor in the second half (16-of-30) and held the Lancers to 36 percent accuracy for the game.

For the game, Tamares hit 9-of-14 from the floor en route to the second-highest point total of his career. McEachin hit 5-of-11 from behind the 3-point line and added four assists. Kyle O'Quinn, another of NSU's five seniors who were honored during pre-game ceremonies, scored just six points, but grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked two shots.

McEachin and Jamel Fuentes tied for team-high honors with four assists, while Fuentes tied his career-high with seven rebounds. NSU outrebounded Longwood, 43-35.

To Read more, visit www.nsuspartans.com

Hornets End Road Swing With 2OT Win At Hampton

Hampton, Va. - Delaware State ended a grueling five-game road swing with a thrilling 74-68 double OT win over Hampton at the HU Convocation Center tonight. The Hornets pulled ahead for good, 69-68, on a three-pointer by Tahj Tate with 2:01 left in the second overtime. Tate added another basket and DSU hit three of four free throws in the last 45 seconds to seal the win.

The Hornets tied a team record with their ninth straight MEAC win to improve to 13-12 overall and 10-3 in conference play. DSU pulled into second place in the MEAC standings, one game behind league leader Savannah State.

Delaware State was also 4-1 during the five-game, eight-day road swing, with game decided in the final seconds or overtime. This was the Hornets' second overtime in the last three games, and third this season. The double overtime was the team's first since the 1999-00 season.

Tate and Marques Oliver each tallied 20 points and 10 rebounds for DSU. Walker had 17 points, highlighted by four three-point field goals.

Hampton was 10-for-16 at the free throw line in the first half; while the Hornets missed their lone attempt at the stripe in the first 20 minutes.

Wesley Dunning was the high man for Hampton with 19 points. The Pirates have lost five of their last seven to fall to 9-18 and 5-8 in the MEAC.

To Read more, visit www.hamptonpirates.com or www.dsuhornets.com

Savannah State Rolls past Bethune-Cookman

Savannah, Ga.- Cedric Smith led four players in double figures with 17 points as Savannah State rolled to a 67-44 win over Bethune-Cookman in Tiger Arena.

For the game, the Tigers (18-10, 11-2) made 25 of 32 free throw attempts while B-CU was 7 of 15 from the charity stripe.

The victory was SSU's 10th consecutive win and improves the Tigers home record to 12-1.

The Tigers led by 17 early in the second half and increased their advantage to 48-27 at the halfway mark.

SSU made seven unanswered points, all from the free throw line to go ahead 56-29, their largest of the game, with 8:06 left. The Wildcats ( 13-15, 9-4) could get no closer than 22 the rest of the way.

The contest was revenge for SSU, who lost at Bethune-Cookman on January 16.

Rashad  Hassan and Arnold Louis each scored 11 points while Hassan added 8 rebounds and Louis grabbed 7. Jyles Smith chipped in 10 points and 6 blocks. Preston Blackmon did not score any points but his one assist made him the school record holder in assists made in a season with 143. Rashad Williams had 142 assists during the 1996-97 season.

SSU shot 45.5 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Wildcats 37-28. Bethune-Cookman shot 36.7 percent from the floor and 9.1 percent from 3-point range. 

Adrian Coleman led B-CU with 11 points.

To Read more, visit www.ssuathletics.com or www.b-cuathletics.com