NCCU Wins in Convincing Fashion on Senior Day
DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University made Senior Day even more special as the Eagles used another dominating performance to dismantle the South Carolina State University Bulldogs 86-44 in front of 2,414 maroon-clad fans inside McDougald-McLendon Gym.
Despite the early setback as the Eagles found themselves down 9-3 on Jalen White’s layup with 16:41 to go, the veteran Eagles used the next five minutes to go on a 14-3 run and take the lead at 17-12.
Senior Jeremy Ingram had it going early and often in the first frame, scoring 18 points on 5-for-8 shooting, 4-of-6 from beyond-the-arc. Ingram also collected a season-high five steals through the first 20 minutes of play.
With the mixture of solid defense as the maroon and gray forced 10 turnovers, a five-point lead ballooned to a 40-24 halftime advantage.
The second half was more of the same as the maroon and gray used a 10-1 run through the first five-and-a-half minutes in the second half to make it 50-25.
Read more at NCCUEaglePride.com.
Powers Leads Pirates past Rival Spartans
HAMPTON, Va. – Points were hard to come by for anyone not named Deron Powers Saturday night at the HU Convocation Center, but the sophomore guard poured in 23 points as the Hampton University men’s basketball team beat rival Norfolk State 61-53.
The Pirates (17-11, 12-3 MEAC) won their sixth straight game and swept the season series over the Spartans for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
Powers went 8-for-12 from the floor and hit three of his five 3-pointers. Senior forward Du’Vaughn Maxwell added 12 points and fell one rebound shy of his third straight double-double with a team-high nine rebounds.
Pendarvis Williams hit two free throws at the 11:02 mark of the second half to cut the Pirates’ lead to 35-33, but Hampton went on an 8-0 run – punctuated by a fastbreak dunk from sophomore guard Ke’Ron Brown that put the Pirates up 43-33 at the 8:30 mark.
Norfolk State never got closer than within four, when Anell Alexis hit a layup at the 6:25 mark to slice the Pirates’ lead to 45-41. Sophomore guard Brian Darden answered with a 3-pointer on the next possession to quell the Spartans’ momentum and give Hampton a 48-41 lead.
Read more at HamptonPirates.com.
Heroic Effort by Snyder Propels Hawks to Win at Coppin State
BALTIMORE, Md. – Senior Troy Snyder made a pair of free-throws with 0.3 seconds left to give the University of Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball team to a one-point victory, 68-67, at Coppin State on Saturday afternoon to end the nation’s longest road losing streak. UMES posted its highest rebounding total of the season (49) and held an 18-2 advantage in second-chance points.
With the decision, UMES moves to 5-22, 3-11 MEAC, while Coppin State falls to 9-19, 6-9 MEAC.
Up by one with 30 seconds left, UMES was forced to play on the defensive as Coppin State had the ball with the shot clock off. CSU ran down the clock to the final seconds and it appeared temporarily that the Eagles would not get a shot off. CSU benefitted from a Hawk foul and Michael Murray went to the foul line with three seconds remaining. Murray proceeded to bury both to switch the advantage.
Junior Ishaq Pitt then inbounded the ball to Snyder, who caught the ball at halfcourt and raced for a layup. On the way to the rim, Snyder was fouled by Coppin State’s Arnold Fripp. Snyder then nailed both shots to give UMES its first victory on the road since 2012.
UMES scored the first five points of the game, but Coppin State went on a 12-2 run over a two-minute span. The two teams remained within a single possession for the next several minutes. UMES took its second five-point lead of the half after a jumper by junior KyRee Jones made the score 24-19 at the 9:21 mark.
Read complete story at UMESHawks.com.
Bears overcome Bethune's late rally, 65-61
BALTIMORE, Md. – Ian Chiles scored a game-high 23 points, Cedric Blossom had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Morgan State overcame a late rally to beat Bethune-Cookman 65-61 on Saturday at Hill Field House.
The Bears improved to 12-14 overall and sit tied for 3rd place with a 10-4 record in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Bethune-Cookman (6-24, 4-11 MEAC) almost had enough down the stretch to overtake the Bears. However, Morgan State’s lead was just enough, despite having what seemed to be an off night.
Justin Black, who entered the game averaging 19.3 ppg, finished with a season-low eight points and added eight rebounds and three assists. Blake Bozeman also chipped in eight points.
The Wildcats were held to 9-for-29 shooting in the first half, but shot 44 percent in the second half and made things uncomfortable for the Bears down the stretch.
The Bears played through Ian Chiles throughout most of the first half. The ‘Cats had a hard time containing the 7-foot-2 center who simple dominated the first half, shooting 6 of 8 from the floor for 16 points to lead the Bears. Clemmye Owens’ halftime buzzer beater cut Morgan’s lead to 30-28 at the break.
Owens led the Wildcats with 18 points and Malik Jackson added 11.
Read full story at Morganstatebears.com.
Miller Comes Up Big In Win Over Delaware State
DOVER, DE—James “J-Bird” Daniel scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, but it was the play of his backcourt mate, James “JT” Miller who proved to be the difference as he scored eight of his 12 points in the second half, including a key three pointer and a free throw down the stretch to help Howard pull out a hard-fought 55-53 win over Delaware State in a MEAC men’s game at Memorial Hall. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Bison (7-22, 5-9 in the MEAC), who swept the Hornets this season.
Howard extended its halftime lead of 24-20 to 12 at 41-29 at the 13:38 mark. Most of the damage was done by Daniel, a freshman guard who connected on three of four from beyond the arc in the second half. When the leading scorer in the MEAC at 22 points per game wasn’t knocking down threes, he forced the Hornets to foul and he made them pay by hitting on all six of his attempts in the second stanza.
Then Delaware State (9-19, 5-10 in the MEAC) staged a rally on the scoring of Casey Walker, Tyshawn Bell and Chris Lewis, who combined to cut the deficit to 50-49. Miller, who scored the game winner in the early contest between the two teams in December, nailed a big three from the corner after getting a rebound following his own miss. Delaware State got some free throws from Walker to cut the deficit to 53-52.
Read the complete story at HUBison.com.