Savannah State 79, Bethune-Cookman 70
North Carolina Central 98, Howard 90
Norfolk State 76, North Carolina A&T 58
South Carolina State 57, Florida A&M 54
Savannah State 79, Bethune-Cookman 70
SAVANNAH, Ga. – A valiant comeback effort came up short as Bethune-Cookman dropped a road Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference decision, 79-70, at Savannah State Monday night at the Tiger Arena.
BCU (12-14, 7-5) cut a 15-point second half deficit down to just six points, 76-70, with 46 seconds remaining. However, poor three-point shooting in the latter period doomed the visitors as BCU went just 1-16 from three.
The Wildcats trimmed the deficit to seven or less three different times within the final 3:14, but as was the case in the first half, each time the 'Cats gained some momentum, the Tigers squashed it with a run of their own.
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North Carolina Central 98, Howard 90
WASHINGTON, D.C. – North Carolina Central scorched the net and held off a late surge from Howard on the way to a 98-90 win over the Bison on Monday at Burr Gymnasium.
98 points is a new Division-I scoring high in a MEAC game for the Eagles, surpassing the 92 the Eagles scored against Morgan State on Jan. 21, and Florida A&M on Feb. 10, 2014.
NCCU (13-14, 8-5 MEAC) got off to a blisteringly hot start from the floor as they made 10 of their first 11 shots after starting 5-for-5. Howard (12-14, 6-6 MEAC) kept pace as well as it shot 53.8 percent from the floor as well. The Eagles finished the half at a highly efficient 69.2 percent, but Chad Lott (Shreveport, La.) was able to step through traffic for a layup right before time expired to put the Bison ahead 50-49 at the half after trailing for the majority of the first period.
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Norfolk State 76, North Carolina A&T State 58
NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State men's basketball team took a big step toward capturing the MEAC regular season title with a statement win over the No. 2 team on Monday night. The Spartans led by double digits for nearly 29 minutes in a 76-58 win over North Carolina A&T at Joseph Echols Hall.
NSU held the Aggies to just 32 percent shooting while improving to 11-1 in the conference and 16-11 overall. The second-place Aggies fell to 9-3 in the MEAC and 14-12 overall. Both teams have just four games left in the regular season. After Monday night, every other team in the league has at least five conference losses now.
It was a night in which the Spartans made nearly 48 percent from the field and led for more than 14 and a half minutes altogether. They used a big run early in the game to take control for good, going ahead by 20 late in the second half.
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South Carolina State 57, Florida A&M 54
ORANGEBURG, S.C.—South Carolina State rallied back from nine points down early in the second-half to pull away with an, 57-54, victory over visiting Florida A&M Monday at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.
Senior point guard Janai Raynor-Powell led the way with a game-high 16 points, while junior forward Damani Applewhite finished with 13 in the win.
"It was a great team win against a very good and well coach Florida A&M team tonight," said head coach Murray Garvin. "After the tough loss to Bethune-Cookman Saturday we came together as a team and met for two and half hours to clear the air and move forward from that game. I couldn't be more proud of the way these guys battled back and played hard together as a team down the stretch"
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