Pirates' Win Streak Snapped By Norfolk State
HAMPTON, Va. - The Hampton University men's basketball team saw its five-game winning streak snapped on Monday night by a 62-59 loss to rival Norfolk State at the HU Convocation Center in front of a national ESPNU audience.
Ramon Mercado and Du'Vaughn Maxwell each had a team-high 12 points for the Pirates (10-14, 7-4 MEAC), while Maxwell - the reigning MEAC Player of the Week - also had a team-high 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.
Deron Powers and Ke'Ron Brown each added 10 points.
Hampton found itself down 59-47 with 7:08 to play, but the Pirates responded with 11 straight points to cut the Spartans' lead to 59-58 with 2:47 to play after Maxwell hit a jumper in the paint. Pendarvis Williams put Norfolk State (17-10, 12-0 MEAC) up 60-58 with a free throw with 1:15 left, before Powers hit a free throw with 58 seconds left to cut the lead to 60-59.
Malcolm Hawkins came through for the Spartans, though, hitting a layup with 27 seconds left - and ending a nearly seven-minute drought - to put Norfolk State up 62-59.
The Pirates had several shots in the closing seconds, but could not convert.
Both teams struggled offensively to open the game, and the Pirates were up 5-0 at the 17:24 mark of the first half - and all of those points came at the free throw line. Maxwell converted the first field goal of the game at the 16:39 mark with a layup to put the Pirates up 7-2.
Mercado added a 3-pointer at the 13:43 mark to give Hampton a 12-7 lead, and Powers gave the Pirates a 21-15 lead at the 7:44 mark with a trey of his own. Maxwell hit a free throw with 5:51 left in the half to put the Pirates up 24-17, but the Spartans answered with an 11-2 run to take a 28-26 lead at the 2:52 mark on a Hawkins layup.
The teams went back-and-forth to close the half before heading into the locker rooms tied at 32-32.
The Spartans opened the second half on a 16-4 run, taking a 48-36 lead with 12:27 to play after two free throws from Brandon Goode. The Spartans' largest lead of the night came at the 11:12 mark, after Rashid Gaston slammed home a dunk to put Norfolk State up 51-37.
Hawkins led three Spartans in double figures with 18 points.
For the complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com or www.nsuspartans.com.
Hornets Storm Back To Defeat Morgan State 52-50
DOVER, Del. - Tahj Tate hit a three-point shot with 51 seconds left to play and Delaware State made two defensive stops in the closing moments of a thrilling 52-50 come-from-behind MEAC men's basketball win over Morgan State in Memorial Hall Monday evening.
The Hornets trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, and was behind 29-18 at the break. DSU outscored Morgan State 34-21 in the second half, holding the Bears to 6-for-24 shooting from the field in the final 20 minutes.
Tate led three Delaware State players in double figures with 12 points. He also had a team-high three assists. Marques Oliver had 11 points to give him 1000 for his career. He scored the milestone point on a lay-up with 10:10 left to play. Casey Walker chipped in with 10 points, while Kendall Gray led the Hornet defense with five blocks. Gray also had a team-high eight rebounds.
Dewayne Jackson and Justin Black led Morgan State with 10 points each.
Morgan State dominated the early stages of the game. The Bears opened up their biggest lead, 26-10, on a follow-up basket by Jackson with 5:26 left in the first half.
The Hornets needed a three-point shot by Oliver with two seconds left in the first half to pull to within 29-18 at intermission.
Walker capped off a 12-0 Hornet run with a dunk off a steal from Tate to tie the game at 36-36 with 11:49 left in the second half. Walker and Tate had four points each during the rally.
Morgan State quickly regained the lead when Black hit a three-point shot on the ensuing possession. The Bears also scored on their next two possessions, and opened up a 44-38 lead on a basket by Anthony Hubbard with 8:47 showing on the second half clock.
The Hornets outscored the Bears 8-1 over the next three-and-half minutes, and took their first lead of the game, 46-45, on a free throw by Tate with 5:00 remaining.
Morgan State answered with a 5-0 run, and opened up a 50-46 lead on two free throws by Black with 3:09 left.
Tate hit a short jumper in the lane before nailing the go-ahead three-point shot.
Morgan State had two possessions after the Tate three-pointer but Jackson missed a three-point attempt with 24 seconds left and Blake Bozeman missed a desperation heave from near mid-court as time expired.
Delaware State has won its last two games to improve to 12-13 overall and 7-4 in the MEAC.
For the complete story, visit www.dsuhornets.com or www.morganstatebears.com.
Eagles Return To Form, Earn Win No. 18 Of The Year
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - Jeremy Ingram's 26 points, along with Emanuel Chapman's 10 assists, and scoring 14 points off turnovers was all North Carolina Central University needed to get back on the victory train, taking down the Bulldogs of South Carolina State University 71-52 on Monday night from the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center in Orangeburg, S.C.
The maroon and gray stumbled out of the gates as the Eagles trailed the host Bulldogs 4-0 following a Shaquiell Mitchell layup with 17:44 left. It took NCCU nearly four-and-a-half minutes, going 0-for-5 from the field, before scoring its first bucket on a Stanton Kidd jumper to put NCCU on the board.
The Eagles scored the next eight points to jump out in front 10-4 on SCSU, following two Ray Willis free-throws with 13:26 to go.
Over the next five minutes, the maroon and gray stamped out another 10-4 run to stretch the lead to 12 at 20-8 with 8:34 left in the first frame.
With 2:51 remaining in the half, Kidd recorded his second foul and was sent to the bench, and the Eagles responded nicely thanks in part to Antonin Galaya's play off the bench.
Galaya scored his first points on a putback after an Ingram miss with the shot clock winding down, then took a charge on the defensive side of the ball, following that up with a three-pointers with 1:18 to go in the frame, helping NCCU take a 37-24 lead into the locker room, stealing any amount of momentum that the Bulldogs were trying to create over the final three minutes.
A three-pointer by Adama Adams put the score at 41-35 with 16:09 left in the game, and the maroon and gray returned the favor immediately on a huge jumper by Kidd to put NCCU back up by eight at 43-35 with 15:39 left.
That was just the juice the Eagles needed to go on a 14-2 run and spread the lead to 20 at 57-37 that was highlighted by two Ingram shots from-the-outside.
NCCU's advantage grew to as high as 24 at 71-47 with 1:16 to go on a shot from behind-the-arc from Alfonzo Houston.
The 26-point outing by Ingram marked the eighth time in his career where he scored 20 or more points, while Chapman dished out 10 assists in the win, and has now reached this feat nine times in his career. Chapman currently has 379 career helpers, needing 21 to become only the second Eagle in school history to record 400 assists.
NCCU (18-8, 10-1 MEAC) was aided by Kidd's 13 points and five rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting, despite being in foul trouble most of the night, playing only 24 minutes. Willis shrugged off an 0-for-3 start to heat up in the second half going 6-for-6 from the field to finish with 11 points in the win.
South Carolina State (5-19, 1-10 MEAC) was led by Adams who ended up with 13 points, while Khalif Toombs finished with 11 points and six assists.
For the complete story, visit www.NCCUEaglePride.com or www.scsuathletics.com.
Snyder Game-Winner Lifts UMES Over Coppin State
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Troy Snyder hit a 19-foot jumper with 2.7 seconds remaining in double overtime, lifting Maryland Eastern Shore to a 64-62 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory over Coppin State on Monday in the WP Hytche Athletic Center.
Michael Murray tied the game at 62-62 with a jumper with 19.7 seconds left before Snyder hit the game-winner sending the Eagles to their seventh-straight loss.
The Hawks took their largest lead of the second overtime when Snyder hit a jumper giving the Hawks a 60-57 lead with 1:36 to play.
Andre Armstrong answered for the Eagles as he knotted the score when he drilled a three-pointer with 1:22 remaining.
Snyder, who scored the Hawks final seven points of the second overtime, put the Hawks back in front at 62-60 on a dunk with 42 seconds left.
A layup by Murray put the Eagles ahead to 55-51 with 50 seconds to play.
Snyder hit a three-pointer with 43 seconds left to bring UMES to within 55-54 and then made one of two free throws with three seconds left to tie the score at 55-55.
Snyder led UMES (2-20, 2-9 MEAC) with 22 points, while Kevin Mays had 21 points.
Coppin State (5-22, 2-10 MEAC) was led by Murray who scored 20 points, while Sterling Smith and Taariq Cephas each had 10 points.
For the complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com or www.umeshawks.com.
B-CU Defeats Howard, 64-50
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Paul Scotland scored 16 points as Bethune-Cookman led from start to finish for a 64-50 victory over Howard Monday night in Moore Gymnasium.
The senior scored 13 first-half points on 5-6 shooting as the Wildcats (10-16 overall, 5-6 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) jumped out to early leads of 5-0 and 13-5. Bethune-Cookman led by as many as 13 at 28-15 on a Scotland jumper with 4:02 remaining before settling for a 33-21 halftime lead.
Howard (6-20,3-10) got as close as 36-41 on a Tre Lee three-pointer with 15:20 remaining. Bethune-Cookman finally pulled away by turning a 47-39 lead with eight minutes left to a 62-44 advantage on a Malik Jackson three-pointer with 2:08 left.
Jackson, Javoris Bryant and Adrien Coleman each added 12 points for the Wildcats, who posted their second-best defensive effort of the season in holding the Bison to 50. Bryant and Coleman had a combined 17 in the final 20 minutes.
Mike Phillips had 13 for Howard.
For the complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com or www.howard-bison.com.