Rattlers Snap Eight-Game Skid With 89-77 Win Over South Carolina State
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - The Florida A&M Men's Basketball team snapped an eight-game losing skid as they defeated South Carolina State, 89-77 Monday night at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Center.
FAMU (5-14, 2-3 MEAC) was led by Jamie Adams as he scored a game high 28 points. Behind him was Trey Kellum as he recorded a double-double scoring 18 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.
SCSU ( 4-14, 0-5) had a trio of Bulldogs to score in double figure as Matthew Hezekiah scored a team high 21 points, followed by Khalif Toombs with 17 and Darryl Palmer with 15.
FAMU grabbed the early 7-5 lead on an Adams three pointer with 17:30 to go in the first. SCSU used back-to-back field goals by Adams and Palmer, giving the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead with 15:45 to go in the first.
An Adams three pointer capped an 8-0 run by FAMU as they took a 15-10 lead with 12:32 to go in the first.
Hezekiah would give SCSU a 16-15 lead on dunk at the 10:38 mark, followed by back-to-back scores by Luka Radovic, giving the Bulldogs a 21-18 lead with 9:30 left in the half.
Adams would tie the contest at 25-25 on a made free thro at the 6:26 mark., sparking an 8-1 run as the Rattlers extended their lead to 33-26 on a D'Andre Bullard jumper with 4:02 left.
FAMU would go into the break leading SCSU 42-35 as they finished the first half shooting 40.5 percent (17-of-42), while the Bulldogs shot 36.7 percent (11-of-30).
In the second half, SCSU would take a 57-56 lead on Palmer putback at the 10:28 mark as they went on a 21-12 run to open up the second half.
The Rattlers regained the lead with a pair of free throws by Markee Teal with 10 minutes left in the game. Hezekiah cut FAMU's lead to 66-65 on a Hezekiah jumper with 6:50 to go in the contest as that would be closes that the Bulldogs would get as the Rattlers pulled away in the second half.
For the complete story, visit www.famuathletics.com.
Pirates Fall To Coppin State In Overtime, 67-65
HAMPTON, Va. - The Hampton University men's basketball team fought back in the second half to force overtime Monday night, but Coppin State emerged with a 67-65 win at the HU Convocation Center.
Ramon Mercado led the way with a career-high 24 points, while Du'Vaughn Maxwell added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Emmanuel Okoroba also had a double-double with 14 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.
Deron Powers had a career-high 11 assists.
Mercado got the overtime period started with a 3-pointer in the corner to put the Pirates (5-12, 2-2 MEAC) up 61-58, but Coppin State tied it at 61-61 with 3:47 left on a Patrick Cole 3-pointer. Maxwell hit a layup with 3:24 left to put Hampton back up 63-61.
Andre Armstrong tied the game at 63-63 with free throws, before Aaron Austin hit a jumper with under three minutes to play to give Hampton a 65-63 lead.
Cole hit two free throws with 51 seconds left to tie the game at 65-65, then he was fouled on his shot attempt with one second left. He hit both free throws to push the game to its final margin.
The Pirates took a 13-9 lead with 12:39 left in the first half following a pair of free throws from Mercado, then later took a 19-16 lead after Okoroba sank a jumper at the 8:56 mark. But Coppin State took a 27-22 lead with 6:37 left in the half after back-to-back 3-pointers.
An Okoroba layup with 3:13 left in the first half cut Coppin State's lead to 31-30, but the Eagles closed the half on a 7-0 run, taking a 37-30 lead into the locker room after Cole hit a layup with 1:01 left for the last basket of the half.
Mercado cut Coppin State's lead to 37-34 with a layup at the 16:27 mark of the second half, but the Eagles answered with a 12-3 run to take a 49-37 lead with 11:27 remaining after a layup from Taariq Cephas.
The Pirates answered with a 7-2 run, closing the gap to 51-44 with 8:38 to play after a stickback from Austin. Maxwell hit a stickback of his own with 7:41 to play to cut Coppin State's lead to 51-46.
Mercado hit two free throws with 6:07 to play, cutting the Eagles' lead to 53-50.
Cole gave the Eagles a 57-56 lead with two free throws with 2:03 to play, and Cephas added a free throw with 23 seconds left to give Coppin State a 58-56 lead. Maxwell answered with 11 seconds left, hitting both of his free throws to tie the game at 58-58 and force the extra session.
Cole led the way with 29 points.
For the complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com.
Defense Helps Eagles To 71-36 Victory Over The Bison
DURHAM, N.C. - It was lockdown defense that helped North Carolina Central University keep its record perfect in the MEAC as the Eagles held the Bison to 15 first half points and forced 17 turnovers en route to a 71-36 victory over Howard University Monday night in McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.
NCCU (11-7 overall, 4-0 MEAC) came out ready to play as an early Stanton Kidd highlight dunk helped push the maroon and gray out to an early 4-0 advantage.
The lead quickly increased on back-to-back Emanuel Chapman three pointers from the top of the key, putting the Eagles up 10-3, forcing Howard's head coach, Kevin Nickelberry, to take a quick timeout with 16:30 to go in the first half.
The next 8:12 of the ballgame belonged to the Eagles bench, as they went on to score 11 of the next 14 points. Highlighted by a Drimir Ferguson layup and a couple of Antonin Galaya shots from behind-the-arc.
Over the final six minutes of the first frame, NCCU outscored the Bison 16-to-4 taking a 40-15 lead into the locker room.
Coming out of the locker room the Eagles continued to dominate the Bison, adding to the margin by scoring their first eight points of the stanza in consecutive makes at the foul line, increasing the lead to 48-16 with 14:42 left.
Kidd led the Eagles in scoring with 12 points, shooting four-of-eight from the field while grabbing seven boards as Chapman shot a perfect 3-for-3 on the night including 2-for-2 from the outside and the foul line to finish with 10 points 5 assists and two steals. Ferguson chipped in 11 points along with five rebounds and four assists as Jay Copeland contributed 10 points along with four boards in the win.
With the win, NCCU head coach LeVelle Moton earned win No. 50 of his coaching tenure, and the Eagles extended their winning streak to five games for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign. One more victory will tie the longest win streak since that season.
For the complete story, visit www.NCCUEaglePride.com.