Stony Brook 81, Norfolk State 65
Illinois 95, North Carolina A&T State 64
Virginia Tech 92, Maryland Eastern Shore 37
Saint Louis 77, Bethune-Cookman 67
Stony Brook 81, Norfolk State 65
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Stony Brook rode a big first half to an 81-65 win over the Norfolk State men's basketball team on Sunday afternoon at Island Federal Credit Union Arena.
The Seawolves closed the first half on a big run, leading to a 20-point edge at the break. The Spartans got as close as 12 in the second half, as they scored 31 more points in the second stanza than the first. But Stony Brook ultimately earned the victory thanks to 12 3-pointers and a solid day at the free throw line.
NSU was led by the trio of seniors
Jermaine Bishop and
Steven Whitley and sophomore
Joe Bryant Jr. They combined for 49 points, and Whitley nearly pulled off the triple double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and two steals.
Bryant added 18 points, and Bishop heated up in the second half to finish with 17, hitting 4-of-8 from deep.
NSU fell to 4-11 in its last non-conference game of the regular season. Stony Brook improved to 9-6.
The Seawolves had four players in double figures, led by Elijah Olaniyi with 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He was 5-of-10 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the free throw line, as Stony Brook shot 21-of-24 from the charity stripe for the game. They made 46 percent from the floor, including 12-of-27 from deep.
The Spartans turned it up in the second half. After Bryant's 3-point play, NSU knocked down a few 3-pointers to get its offense going. The Seawolves went up by 24 before Whitley had a pair of buckets during a 7-0 run. Bryant later sank another 3-pointer, and Bishop made two more to cut the deficit to 14 with seven and a half minutes to go.
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Illinois 95, North Carolina A&T State 64
Champaign, Ill. – Junior guard
Tyler Maye scored a team-high 12 points in his return to action, but the North Carolina A&T Aggies fell to Illinois, 95-64 in non-conference men's basketball action at the State Farm Center Sunday afternoon.
"I thought the guys fought extremely hard," began acting head coach Will Jones. "I really liked their amount of effort and energy."
N.C. A&T (3-11) has one non-conference game remaining before exclusively playing Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) competition the rest of the way.
Maye, who missed the last six games with an injury, also had help from
Devin Haygood who scored 12 points including an impressive dunk in the second half. Freshman
Harry Morrice scored nine points on 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range to go with a team-high five rebounds. Junior guard
Kameron Langley added eight points and seven assists.
The Aggies scored the first two points of the game on a high-flying slam from
Ronald Jackson. Illinois responded with a 16-6 run over the next eight minutes to take a 16-8 lead. N.C. A&T went on a spurt themselves aided by two 3-pointers from Morrice to cut the deficit to three, 22-19, with 9:37 remaining in the first half.
The Fighting Illini (9-4) outscored the Aggies 19-4 over the next five minutes and to take a 50-34 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, the Aggies struggled to score the basketball going scoreless over a four-minute stretch starting at the 15:48 mark. It allowed Illinois to push their lead to 25. Illinois seven-foot center Kofi Cockburn finished with 26 points and nine rebounds on 11-for-16 shooting. Ayo Dosunmu added 19 points.
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Virginia Tech 92, Maryland Eastern Shore 37
BLACKSBURG, Virginia — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball team could not overcome a slow start as the Virginia Tech Hokies defeated the Hawks 92-37 on Sunday evening (Dec. 29).
The Shore (1-14) was without two guards in their rotation as junior
Canaan Bartley (Miami, Florida) and freshman
Kevon Voyles (Berlin, Maryland) each nurse lower body injuries. Their absence was paramount as Maryland Eastern Shore struggled on the offensive end.
“We have had trouble scoring and being down two guards that have been guys that can make shots for us hurt,” head coach
Jason Crafton said. “Also, this was the first game after break and conditioning played a factor in the game, but Virginia Tech is a good team and they were able to get some things going in transition off our missed shots which set the tone for the game.”
The Hawks dug themselves into a 32-5 hole in the first half before they could get things going offensively. Senior
AJ Cheeseman (Snellville, Georgia) made a 3-pointer at the 7:27 mark that ended a 16-0 run for VT.
Eastern Shore would go on to outscore the Hokies 17-13 in the final seven minutes of the opening half. That time included a stretch of the Hawks making five out of six shots and forcing a Hokies timeout. Virginia Tech held a 45-22 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Hawks went scoreless until the 13:37 mark when freshman
Bruce Guy (Cordova, Tennessee) was awarded a bucket after a goaltending call. The team did not see a bucket go through the hoop until senior
Gabriel Gyamfi (Brampton, Ontario, Canada) made a layup two minutes later.
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Saint Louis 77, Bethune-Cookman 67
ST. LOUIS – Wali Parks scored a career-high 16 points while Cletrell Pope matched a season-high with 19 rebounds in his 31
st career double-double as Bethune-Cookman dropped a 77-67 decision to Saint Louis in the final non-conference game for both squads Sunday night.
Javonte Perkins scored 21 points, including a three-pointer that broke open a 42-42 tie as the Billikens (11-2) pulled away in the second half.
Parks brought BCU (6-8) back to 50-49 with 10:21 remaining, but Saint Louis took control with a 15-2 run. The closest the Wildcats got after that were a pair of eight-point deficits, 72-64 on a
Jordan Preaster lay-up with 2:15 remaining and on three Parks free throws with 45 seconds to play.
BCU used a strong second half start to erase a 35-28 halftime for a 39-38 lead on
Leon Redd's lay-up with 15:54 remaining and again at 41-40 with 14:51 left on an
Isaiah Bailey jumper.
In the first half, BCU made just one of its first 14 field goal attempts, but worked its way back into the game after falling behind nine.
Pope gave BCU a 16-15 lead on a lay-up with 10:01 left, then
Malik Maitland followed with a basket to make it 18-15.
Houston Smith sank two free throws to make it 20-17 with 8:02 to play.
Pope and Redd each scored 11 points for the Wildcats, while Smith finished with 11.
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