Pirates Open Season with Win over William & Mary
HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University men’s basketball team opened the 2013-14 season with a balanced scoring effort Friday night, withstanding a late run and defeating William & Mary 77-69 at the HU Convocation Center.
The Pirates (1-0) have won three of the last five meetings against the Tribe.
Sophomore guard Brian Darden led four Pirates in double figures with 18 points in his Pirates debut, going 5-for-8 from the floor and hitting four of his five 3-pointers. Junior forward Emmanuel Okoroba added 17 points, 15 of which came in the second half.
Senior Du’Vaughn Maxwell added 12 points, as well as a team-high eight rebounds and five blocks, while sophomore guard/forward Dwight Meikle added 10 points.
Sophomore guard Deron Powers had a team-high seven assists.
The Pirates jumped out to a 7-0 lead to open the game, the run starting on a Darden 3-pointer, and the Tribe didn’t hit their first shot until the 17:48 mark. Hampton followed that with a 12-0 run, taking a 19-3 lead after another trey from Darden.
Read more at HamptonPirates.com.
Daniel, Okoroh Combine to Lead Howard to Win In Opener
WASHINGTON, DC - James Daniel scored 15 of his game-high 28 points in the second half and Prince Okoroh added 11 of his 17 after intermission to help Howard University pull away to a 69-52 win over Washington College in the season opener at Burr Gymnasium.
A 5-11 freshman guard from Hampton, VA, Daniel scored eight of his points during a key two-minute stretch that saw Howard pull away after The Shoremen had mounted a comeback. The sharpshooter canned two three pointers and converted on two free throws during a two-minute stretch that gave his team the lead for good at 44-36.
Okoroh, the only returning starter for the young Bison, who feature 10 new players on the roster, kept the visitors at bay with some steals and breakaway dunks.
The Bison came out of the blocks applying full-court pressure and went to their bench early and often. But Washington College (0-1) was able to stay close on the three-point shooting of Sean Flanagan (team-high 18 points).
Howard was able to get some distance at the end of the first half as Marcel Boyd and Ausar Madison were able to contribute. The Bison led 32-25 at the half.
Read more at HUBison.com.
Cincinnati Holds On Against Resilient Eagles
CINCINNATI, OHIO – In the first game of the 2013 Global Sports Hoops Classic, North Carolina Central gave the University of Cincinnati all it could handle in the second half as the Bearcats held on for the 74-61 win, despite Jeremy Ingram’s explosive second half on Friday night at Fifth Third Bank Arena.
In the season opener for both teams, the Eagles came out of the gates strong quieting the announced crowd of 6,532 after a Ebuka Anyaorah three-pointer from the top of the key to take a 7-3 lead on the host Bearcats.
With 12:38 remaining in the first frame, a Jay Copeland slam off a Cincinnati turnover gave the maroon and gray a 14-6 lead and just two-and-a-half minutes later Copeland’s pair of free throws gave NCCU a 16-10 margin.
Over the next five minutes of the contest, the Eagles got cold from the field and UC went on an 18-2 run to take a 28-18 lead. In fact, the Bearcats outscored NCCU 30-10 over the final 10 minutes of the half to take a 40-26 lead into the locker room.
Despite trailing by double figures, the maroon and gray showed its patented resilience under fifth-year head coach LeVelle Moton as the Bearcats stretched the lead out to 15 at 60-45 with 11:11 to go on Sean Kilpatrick’s trifecta seemingly putting the Eagles away, but that was not the case.
Read the complete story at NCCUEaglePride.com.
Additional Recaps to come:
North Carolina A&T 91, Greensboro College 64
Marshall 85, S.C. State 69
Pittsburgh 88, Savannah State 55
Rutgers 92, Florida A&M 84