Explosive Second Half Pushes NCCU To Fourth Straight Win
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - North Carolina Central University used a tremendous second half shooting effort, led by Ray Willis, who finished with a season-high 26 points. Willis went 5-for-5 from the field including a perfect 13-for-13 from the foul line as the maroon and gray turned a four point halftime deficit into a 75-66 victory over the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman University inside Moore Gymnasium in Daytona Beach, Fla.
In their seventh meeting, the Eagles threw one of its best punches first, bolting out to a 14-4 advantage with 14:46 to go behind eight quick points from Stanton Kidd that included two powerful dunks.
Bethune-Cookman scored the next seven points to bring the deficit down to three at 14-11 on a Malik Jackson three-pointer from the left corner with 12:13 left.
Both teams went back and forth until the Wildcats took their first lead of the night on a Kevin Dukes shot from-the-outside as B-CU led 27-26 with 3:04 remaining.
Ricky Johnson's three free throws capped the scoring in the first frame as Bethune-Cookman took a 32-38 lead taking a 10-2 momentum swinging run into the locker room.
Jeremy Ingram drilled a three-pointer to start the second half and got the Eagles rolling, cutting the margin to one at 32-31. Through the first two minutes of the second stanza, NCCU scored the first seven points to grab a 35-32 advantage.
With 13:40 remaining in the game, an Alex Smith dunk knotted the game up at 40-40, when Willis answered and gave the Eagles the lead right back at 43-40 with the shot clock winding down.
Bethune-Cookman's leading scorer, Adrien Coleman, drilled his second three-pointer of the season to put the score at 47-44 with 7:52 to and promptly received a technical foul for his repeated taunting which opened the door for NCCU and head coach LeVelle Moton's squad took full advantage.
Willis hit both technical foul free throws and dropped in another bucket on the following possession to give the Eagles a 51-44 lead with 7:30 to go.
The margin grew to 12 at 59-47 when BCU head coach Gravelle Craig received a technical foul and swelled to 14 with 4:39 to go and the Eagles held on from there winning the ballgame 75-66.
Not to be overshadowed by Willis's big second half, for the second straight ballgame Kidd eclipsed the 20-point mark with 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting that included 17 points in the first frame on 8-of-10 shooting.
Despite the early foul trouble, Ingram ended the night with 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists, while his teammate Alfonzo Houston stepped up with 10 points going 3-for-3 from the field with a block in 16 minutes of action.
BCU (6-12, 1-2 MEAC) was led by Coleman's 18 points, four rebounds, and two assists but the Eagles did just enough to frustrate the MEAC's top scorer. Javoris Bryant ended the night with 10 points as the only other Wildcat in double figures in the loss.
NCCU (10-7, 3-0 MEAC) saw another milestone surpassed in the victory as Emanuel Chapman piled up eight assists to move him into fourth place all-time on the career assists lists passing Kevin Thompson (316 assists, 1984-87). Chapman currently has 319 helpers and needs 41 more to tie Donald Sinclair (1979-81) for third all-time.
For the complete story, visit www.nccueaglepride.com.
Pirates Beat Quinnipiac For Third Straight Win
HAMPTON, Va. - The Hampton University men's basketball team picked up their third straight win on Monday, beating non-conference foe Quinnipiac 70-64 at the HU Convocation Center.
The Pirates (5-10) fell one point shy of their season high in scoring.
Emannuel Okoroba led the Pirates with 16 points, as did Deron Powers, the reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week. Powers also had 10 assists, tying his career high, for his second double-double of the season.
Jasper Williams added 15 points behind four 3-pointers. Du'Vaughn Maxwell added eight points and 10 rebounds.
The Pirates jumped out to an 8-0 lead after Williams hit a 3-pointer at the 17:45 mark of the first half. Williams then hit another trey - his third in the opening minutes - at the 16:08 mark to give the Pirates an 11-3 lead.
Quinnipiac clawed its way back, taking an 18-17 lead at the 8:21 mark after a 3-pointer from Shaq Shannon. But Dionte Adams hit a layup with 7:55 left in the half to give the Pirates a 19-18 lead.
Ike Azotam hit a layup with 5:44 left in the half to give the Bobcats a 20-19 lead, but a Williams 3-point play at the 5:05 mark to put Hampton up 22-20.
After Quinnipiac tied the game at 22-22 with 4:29 left in the half, the Pirates went on a 7-2 run to take a 29-24 lead after two free throws from Dwight Meikle with 2:11 left in the half.
The Bobcats scored the last four points of the half to go into the locker room down 29-28.
Okoroba gave Hampton a 34-28 lead with 18:51 left in the second half with a pair of free throws, before Quinnipiac scored the next five points to cut the lead to 34-33 with 17:11 left to play. The Bobcats then took a 39-38 lead with 16:10 to play after a Zaid Hearst 3-point play, before Powers answered with a 3-point play of his own at the 16:05 mark to put Hampton up 41-39.
The score was tied six times after that, before Hampton took the lead at the 6:46 mark, going up 56-53 after Maxwell slammed home a one-handed breakaway dunk. Maxwell added another soaring slam at the 4:33 mark to put the Pirates up 60-56.
Dave Johnson tied the game one last time with a jumper with 2:43 to play to make the score 60-60, but the Pirates went on a 5-0 run to take a 65-60 lead on a Powers 3-point play with 1:28 remaining.
From there, the Pirates hit seven free throws in the closing moments to clinch the win.
Azotam led the Bobcats with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
For the complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com.
Murray Leads Eagles Past South Carolina State
BALTIMORE - Michael Murray led four players in double figures with 19 points and Coppin State snapped a five game losing streak with a 79-58 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory over South Carolina State on Monday in the Physical Education Complex.
Coppin State (4-14, 1-2 MEAC) won for the first time since beating Towson on Dec. 19 and also notched its first MEAC victory of the season.
Murray finished the game 7-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the free throw line to reach double figures in scoring for the fourth consecutive game and the 13th time this season.
Andre Armstrong made 4-of-11 three-point attempts and made all five free throw attempts to finish with a career-high 17 points. Sterling Smith posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, while Taariq Cephas added 10 points for the Eagles.
South Carolina State (4-12, 0-3 MEAC) was paced by Matthew Hezekiah, who had a game-high 23 points and also had nine rebounds. Patrick Myers added nine points for the Bulldogs.
Coppin State shot 52.0 percent from the floor in the first half on its way to a 45-31 halftime lead.
A jumper by Zachary Burnham upped the CSU lead to 49-35 with 17:35 to play in the game, but the Bulldogs rallied with a 10-2 run to cut the margin to 51-45 with 13:24 remaining in the second period.
A jumper by Cephas ignited a 10-0 run that pushed the Coppin State lead to 61-45 with 9:26 to play in the second half.
For the complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com.
NSU Overcomes Own Mistakes in 54-49 Win at Howard
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Norfolk State survived some sloppy play and poor free throw shooting late in the game to come out of Burr Gymnasium with a 54-49 win over the Howard men Monday night in front of an ESPNU audience.
Neither team shot particularly well on national TV, but NSU's defense had the Spartans staked to a 13-point advantage with less than four minutes to go and seemingly in control of the contest. Howard, though, scored 16 points in the last three minutes of the game to force NSU to sweat out the win.
The Bison turned several Spartan mishandles into points down at the other end, and NSU shot just 8-of-16 from the charity stripe in the final four-plus minutes of the contest. Still, even with 20 seconds left, Howard had been unable to get any closer than seven points of NSU.
Prince Okoroh hit a 3-pointer with 17.6 on the clock and Tre Lee's layup with just 8.1 seconds left got Howard to within four, the closest margin of the second half. The Bison, though, did not have enough time left to score in two possessions after NSU went back to the line.
Despite making it closer than needed, the Spartans still came away with the victory, their third in a row. The win bumped up their record to 4-0 in MEAC play and kept NSU in first place in the conference. NSU improved its overall record to 9-10, while Howard fell to 4-14, 1-3.
NSU got all but two of its points from a quartet of players, including a game-high 17 from Pendarvis Williams. Brandon Goode and Rob Johnson each added 12, while Malcolm Hawkins scored 11. NSU received an 0-of-7 effort from its bench.
Okoroh and Lee posted 15 and 13 points, respectively, on a combined 11-of-24 shooting to lead Howard.
For the complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com.
Aggies Get Road Win Over FAMU, 68-40
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Although the lettering was in pink, the message on the dry erase board awaiting the North Carolina A&T men's basketball team as it walked in for breakfast Monday morning could not have been clearer and come across anymore masculine.
Before his men walked in, Alexander wrote: "Compete harder than FAMU. Play with upper Division I level intensity."
He got what he wanted Monday night as the Aggies came away with a convincing 68-40 win over Florida A&M at the Al Lawson Center. The win gave A&T (8-10, 1-2 MEAC) its first conference win of the season. It also marked just the second time since the shot clock era began (1985-86), the Aggies have held a conference opponent to 40 points or less. In victory, the Aggies also put together their largest blowout road win of a conference opponent since beating Delaware State in Dover, Del., 94-61 on Feb. 8, 1988.
The Aggies got themselves back into contention with defense. The Aggies held FAMU to 22.8 percent shooting, including a 1-for-16 showing from 3-point range. The Aggies remained stingy despite having to go to their bench early. Within the first 10 minutes of the game, four Aggies had two fouls and DaMetrius Upchurch picked us third with 8:45 remaining in the first half.
Alexander turned to players he hasn't played in multiple games such as Waylan Siverand, Shaun Stewart and Khalid King. The result remained the same. The Aggies gave the Rattlers the scoreless treatment.
FAMU's Jamari Bradshaw pulled the Rattlers to within five, 14-9, with 7:01 remaining in the first half. The Rattlers would go another six minutes without a field goal. When Muhammad Abdul-Aleem put back his own rebound at the buzzer the Aggies held a 23-13 halftime lead. It is the fewest points a MEAC school has scored against the Aggies in a half since Morgan State scored just eight points in Jan. 9, 1993.
As the Rattlers continued to struggle offensively in the second half, A&T grew its lead to 38-15 four minutes into the second half as Adrian Powell hit two free throws. The closest the Rattlers were able to close the lead was 17, 45-28, as Abdul-Aleem scored on a layup with 10:08 remaining.
Lamont Middleton led A&T with 18 points and seven rebounds. Powell added 14 points and four assists. Abdul-Aleem led the Rattlers (4-13, 1-2 MEAC) with nine.
For the complete story, visit www.ncataggies.com.
Tigers Win Third In A Row, Beat MSU 78-70
BALTIMORE, Md.- Savannah State won their third game in a row with a 78-70 double overtime win against Morgan State in Hill Field House. The Tigers (8-9, 2-1) out-scored MSU 11-3 in the second overtime period to earn the victory.
SSU held the Bears without a field goal in the second overtime while Preston Blackman scored nine of the Tigers 11 points. Blackman led SSU with a career-high 41 points. He ended the night making eight 3-pointers and going 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
Morgan State jumped out to the early lead but the Tigers bounced back to go tie the game at 19 and eventually take a 26-21 lead with 4:16 left in the first half.
The Bears tied the game at 26 but back to back baskets by Jyles Smith gave SSU a 30-26 edge with 12 seconds left. SSU led 30-28 at the half.
The second half was nip and tuck. The Tigers led most of the way but no lead was greater than five points. There were six ties in the second period. Trailing 51-46 with 5:37 on the clock, Morgan State rallied to tie the contest twice down the stretch.
The first tie came at 51 with 3:22 left. SSU led 54-52 but a pair of free throws by Ian Chiles tied the game with 1:43 remaining. A layup by Arnold Louis put the Tigers ahead but Chiles' layup with one second left forced overtime.
The Bears led 64-59 with 50 seconds remaining but two free throws by Rashad Hassan and a pair of 3-pointers by Blackman forced a second overtime.
In the second overtime, it was all Tigers. Blackman got things started with a 3-pointer which he followed by a layup. A jumper by Hassan topped a 7-0 SSU run and a 74-67 lead with four minutes left. Morgan State got within 74-70 but Blackman made 4 of 4 free throws in the last 27 seconds to seal the win.
Hassan added 19 points and 9 rebounds for SSU while Smith had 10 points and 7 rebounds. Louis contributed 12 rebounds.
MSU (4-9, 1-1) was led by DeWayne Jackson and Justin Black who had 18 points apiece.
For the complete story, visit www.ssuathletics.com.