Bears rock S.C. State
BALTIMORE. Md. – Ian Chiles scored a game-high 17 points and led four teammates in double-figures as Morgan State ran away with a 73-56 win against conference opponent South Carolina State on Saturday at Hill Field House.
"It was a good win,” said Chiles. “Any conference win is a good win. It’s good to start off the conference season at 2-0. It was a good positive win for the team today."
Chiles shot 7 of 11 from the field and added six rebounds and four blocks to lead Morgan State (4-10, 2-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) to its seventh straight victory against the Bulldogs since 2010.
“I thought it was a total team effort,” said Morgan State head coach Todd Bozeman. “I thought we had a couple of plays where we did a great job defensively, and one possession in the first half was one of the best since we’ve been here.”
Anthony Hubbard registered his third consecutive double-double performance with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Shaquille Duncan and Cedric Blossom added 13 points and 12 respectively.
Read the complete story at MorganStateBears.com and SCSUAthletics.com.
Coppin State Falls to Savannah State
BALTIMORE –Coppin State dropped a 75-53 decision to Savannah State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest Saturday afternoon at the Physical Education Complex.
The Eagles (4-11 overall, 1-1 MEAC) were led in scoring by Michael Murray for the eighth time this season. He scored 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Murray, who leads Coppin State in scoring with a 15.6 point average, has now scored double digits 35 times in his career.
Senior Andre Armstrong added 11 points and a team-best six rebounds. Armstrong, who has scored in double figures 23 times in his career, was also solid defensively as he drew a pair of charges. He made three of Coppin State’s six 3-pointers. Armstrong has made at least two 3-pointers and scored in double figures in four straight games for the Eagles. Overall, on the season, Armstrong has made 20 3-pointers, which is second on the team behind Sterling Smith’s 28.
Read the complete story at CoppinStateSports.com and SSUAthletics.com.
Hawks fall in MEAC Home Opener to Spartans
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. –Maryland Eastern Shore held its own against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s top team on Wednesday night, but the Hawks’ late charge proved to be too late, as the men fell to Norfolk St., 66-62, on Saturday night. The men played stellar defense as they held the MEAC’s top scoring offense to its second lowest point total of the year.
The decision drops UMES to 2-13 (0-3 MEAC) on the year, while Norfolk State is now 9-7 (3-0 MEAC).
Down by 13 with 13 minutes to go, UMES used a three-pointer by junior Devon Walker (Philadelphia, Pa.) to cap a 14-5 run over a five-minute span to bring the Hawks to within four, 54-50. UMES brought the game to within a single possession three times the rest of the way, twice to just two points, but MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, Pendarvis Williams, was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 14 seconds. NSU has now won 19 consecutive games in the MEAC.
UMES and Norfolk State engaged in an even battle through the first 10 minutes of play, but a 9-2 NSU run gave the Spartans a seven-point lead, 26-19, with seven minutes to go in the half. Walker responded with his second three of the game to cut the lead to four on the next possession. The Spartans would move their lead to double-digits, but five unanswered points by UMES to conclude the half brought the margin to just five at half, 35-30.
Read more at UMESHawks.com and NSUSpartans.com.
Middleton Lead Aggies to Win over Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman cut a 14-point deficit down to one before falling 70-67 to North Carolina A&T Saturday afternoon at Moore Gym.
North Carolina A&T’s Lamont Middleton hit two free throws with four seconds left, then stole the ball two seconds later to seal the Aggies’ first win in Daytona Beach since 1995. He led all scorers with 21.
Clemmye Owens drilled a 3-pointer for the Wildcats to make it 68-67 with seven seconds left.
Bethune Cookman (2-16, 0-3 MEAC) trailed 58-44 with 6:04 left and 66-59 with 39 seconds to play, rallying behind a pair of Tony Kynard free throws and a three Mikel Trapp.
Trapp finished with 18 points to lead the Wildcats, Kynard and Owens each added 15, while Barry Smith had nine points and eight rebounds.
Read more at B-CUAthletics.com and NCATAggies.com.
Second Half Drought Sends NCCU to 0-1 in MEAC Play
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. – Leading 58-44 with 10:37 to go following a Jordan Parks alley-oop dunk, North Carolina Central went cold going more than six minutes without a field goal, while the host Rattlers of Florida A&M went on a 19-to-2 run the rest of the way to pull off the 63-60 win over the Eagles on Saturday evening at the Lawson Center in Tallahassee, Fla.
The loss sends NCCU to 0-1 in MEAC play for the first time since joining the league and is the first loss inside the Lawson Center since the building opened three years ago.
NCCU led from the get-go as Florida A&M was issued a technical foul to start the game due to a scorebook error as Jeremy Ingram drilled both free throws putting the maroon and gray up 2-0.
The Eagles led 8-2 after Alfonzo Houston’s layup with 16:55 left, but the Rattlers fought back to cut it to one at 11-10 after one of Reggie Lewis’s four threes on the night with 13:51 remaining.
Over the next five minutes, the maroon and gray stretched the lead back out to take a 23-14 advantage, using that momentum to sail into the locker room with an eight-point lead despite Jamie Adams for FAMU drilling a three-pointer as time wound down to make it 42-34 at the break.
Read full story at NCCUEaglePride.com or FAMUAthletics.com.
Hornets Frustrated By Hampton, 73-60
DOVER, Del. - Delaware State shot less than 28% from the field, including zero-for-17 from three-point territory, in a 73-60 MEAC men's basketball loss to Hampton in Memorial Hall today.
The loss snapped a two-game win streak for the Hornets, who fell to 4-11 overall and 0-3 in the MEAC. The Pirates improved to 8-8 and 3-0.
Kendall Gray recorded his third double-double of the season for the Hornets, tallying a team-high 17 points and leading all players with 10 rebounds. Tyshawn Bell came off the bench to score 16 points (8-8 FTs), while Casey Walker added 10 (6-7 FTs) for DSU.
Hampton's Du'Vaughn Maxwell scored a game-high 21 points. Maxwell was nine-for-12 from the field. He also led the Pirates with eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
Reserve Lawrence Cooks added 13 points (5-7 FGs; 2-2 3pt. FGs) for the Pirates.
Read the complete story at DSUHornets.com and HamptonPirates.com.