Kansas State 76, Florida A&M 58
Wofford 77, North Carolina Central 59
Kansas State 76, Florida A&M 58
MANHATTAN, Kan. | Evins Desir and Jamir Williams posted career highs, but the Florida A&M University men’s basketball team could not slow down Kansas State in a 76-58 loss to the Wildcats on Monday night at the Fred Bramlage Coliseum.
Florida A&M (0-6) got the opening bucket of the game, but suffered a cold shooting spell in the first half as Kansas State took advantage and pushed the small lead into a double-digit advantage. The Wildcats (5-2) began the second half on a 14-2 run and did not look back to pick up the win.
Desir paced the Rattlers with a team-high 18 points, along with eight rebounds, one steal and one assist. MJ Randolph added 10 points, three boards and two steals. Williams finished with seven points, one rebound and one assist.
Xavier Sneed led the way for Kansas State with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Mike McGuirl registered 16 points, three boards, two steals and a pair of assists, while Cartier Diarra added 11 points, seven assists, five steals and a pair of rebounds.
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Wofford 77, North Carolina Central 59
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – North Carolina Central University overcame a 12-point deficit to tie the game midway through the second half, but strong defense from Wofford allowed the Terriers to pry away a 77-59 win on Monday, Dec. 2 at Richardson Indoor Stadium.
NCCU (2-6) jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead as the Eagles held Wofford (4-4) without a shot attempt on its first two possessions, and also forced the Terriers into four turnovers within the first four minutes. Wofford quickly found its footing after that and rattled off an 11-4 run to take control of the lead, and took a 40-31 advantage to the locker room at the half.
The Eagles weren’t rattled by the halftime deficit, and steadily chipped away at the lead before knotting the game at 52 on a corner three from Jibri Blount (Pittsburgh, Pa.) with 9:38 to go. From that point both teams remained in striking distance of each other, setting up a tense finish to the contest.
A few critical threes from Storm Murphy (Middleton, Wis.) sparked the Terriers as they clamped down defensively to hold the Eagles scoreless over the final four minutes of play. Wofford closed the game on a 13-0 run to pull away with a hard-fought 77-59 win.
Blount led the Eagles with his second-career double-double with game-highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds. Kobby Ayetey (Apam, Ghana) helped to spark the run for the Eagles with 10 points of his own, and Jordan Perkins (Greensboro, N.C.) had a balanced game with four points, four rebounds, six assists, two steals, and a block.
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