Jackson and Dukes Lead Bethune-Cookman Past North Carolina A&T
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Malik Jackson scored a career-high 20 points, and Kevin Dukes had 19 points and nine assists as Bethune-Cookman defeated North Carolina A&T 72-60 Saturday in Moore Gymnasium.
The Wildcats (6-11 overall, 1-1 MEAC) snapped a three-game losing streak while extending two streaks involving the Aggies: This was the Wildcats fifth consecutive victory over North Carolina A&T (7-10,0-2) and 16th straight in Daytona Beach dating back to 1995.
The Aggies led 49-43 with 13:34 remaining, but B-CU came back to take leads of 51-49 on a Dukes three-pointer, 53-52 on an Alex Smith dunk and 56-54 on a Jackson three-pointer with 6:43 left.
Jackson, who had 14 first-half points, made six of his eight three-point attempts and also contributed six rebounds.
Dukes continued his success against North Carolina A&T with his season-high point total in addition to nine assists. The senior was 5-11 from 3-point range. In the first half, he scored the final five points to give the Wildcats a 39-34 halftime lead.
Javoris Bryant (11 rebounds) and Ricky Johnson each added nine points for the Wildcats, while leading scorer Adrien Coleman was limited to eight.
Lamont Middleton led the Aggies with 25 points, while Bruce Beckford and Jean Louisme scored 13 and 12, respectively.
For the complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com or www.ncataggies.com
Savannah State Rallies in Second Half to Top Coppin State
BALTIMORE - Arnold Louis scored 16 points and grabbed 19 rebounds and Savannah State outscored Coppin State 38-23 in the second half on its way to a 56-48 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory over the Eagles on Saturday in the Physical Education Complex.
The Eagles held a 25-18 lead in the first half, but it took Savannah State only slightly over two minutes to erase the lead.
The Tigers (7-9, 1-1 MEAC) opened the second half on a 17-2 run to take a 35-27 lead with 14:22 to play in the second half.
Taariq Cephas ended the drought with a three-pointer that cut the lead to 35-30, but a layup by Arnold and a free throw by Khiry White upped the lead to 38-30 at the 11:42 mark of the second half.
Coppin State (3-14, 0-2 MEAC) answered with a 7-1 run that cut the Tiger lead to 39-37 with 8:54 remaining in the game.
Preston Blackman drilled a 3-pointer for the Tigers that jump started a 6-0 run that pushed the lead to 45-37 with 6:20 remaining.
Two free throws and a dunk by Michael Murray brought the Eagles to within 45-41 with 5:19 left, but Jyles Smith answered with a dunk and Blackman added a free throw to extend the lead to 48-41 with 3:50 to play.
Andre Armstrong hit a three-pointer for the Eagles to cut the lead to 48-44, but a dunk and a layup by Arnold increased the lead to 52-44 with 1:30 left in the second half.
Murray led Coppin State with 10 points and six rebounds, while Patrick Cole had nine points. Armstrong finished with eight points and five rebounds for Coppin State.
Rashad Hassan added 10 points and five rebounds for the Tigers, while Blackman had 10 points and five assists.
For the complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com or www.ssuathletics.com
Pirates Comeback Results In Win Over Howard
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Despite trailing for much of the second half, Hampton staged a late comeback and took a 51-49 win over rival Howard on Saturday at Burr Gymnasium.
The Pirates (4-10, 2-0 MEAC) swept the season series over the Bison.
Freshman guard Deron Powers led the way with 14 points, while junior guard Ramon Mercado came off the bench to add 10 points. Junior guard/forward Du'Vaughn Maxwell grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
The Bison led 49-47 late, but sophomore center Emmanuel Okoroba converted a 3-point play with 34 seconds left to give the Pirates a 50-49 lead. Powers added a free throw with 27 seconds left to push the game to its final margin.
Howard committed two turnovers in the final 34 seconds, and only had 1.4 seconds to get off a shot before the buzzer; the Bison failed.
The Pirates shot 29.4 percent (15-for-51) from the floor and hit just three of their 19 3-pointers (15.8 percent). Hampton also went 18-for-27 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line and held a 44-30 edge on the glass.
Howard (4-13, 1-2 MEAC) shot 37.5 percent (18-for-48) from the floor, but hit just nine of their 21 free throws.
Simuel Frazier and Mike Phillips led Howard with 11 points each.
For the complete story, visit www.howard-bison.com or www.hamptonpirates.com
North Carolina Central Soars Past Rattlers, 85-62
Florida A&M had five Rattlers to score in double- figures, but it was not enough as North Carolina Central handed FAMU its first conference loss of the season, 85-62 Saturday night at the Al Lawson Center in MEAC action.
FAMU (4-12, 1-1 MEAC) had three Rattlers to finish with 12 points each in Jomari Crawford, Trey Kellum and Reggie Lewis, followed by both Jamie Adams and Muhammad Abdul-Aleem as they both finished with 10 points each. Abdul-Aleem led the Rattlers on the boards with eight.
NCCU (9-7, 2-0 MEAC) had a pair of Eagles to score 20-plus points as Jeremy Ingram scored a game high 26 points, followed by Stanton Kidd with 21 and Ray Willis with 12. Jay Copeland led NCCU on the boards with eight.
The Rattlers finished the game shooting 40.0 percent (22-of-55), whereas NCCU shot 53.6 percent (32-of-56). NCCU held the rebounding edge over FAMU 35-30.
For the complete story, visit www.nccueaglepride.com or www.famuathletics.com