Men's Basketball

MEAC Men’s Basketball Recap, Jan. 4

Morgan State 81, Delaware State 68
South Carolina State 79, Coppin State 75
North Carolina Central 61, Florida A&M 56
Maryland Eastern Shore 78, Howard 66
Norfolk State 85, Bethune-Cookman 72
 
Morgan State 81, Delaware State 68
 
DOVER, Del. (Jan. 4, 2020) – Morgan State had five players score in double-figures to lead the Bears to an 81-68 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener win against Delaware State on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Hall.
 
Senior forward David Syfax, and sophomore guards Isaiah Burke and Sherwyn Devonish-Prince scored 15 points each. Junior forward Lagio Grantsaan added 13 points and sophomore Malik Miller posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Morgan State (7-9, 1-0) outscored the Hornets 11-2 during a five minute surge during the early going in the second half. Devonish forced a turnover in the backcourt and scored on a layup to give the Bears a 52-44 lead with 12:16 remaining.  
 
The game tightened down the stretch as John Crosby hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 62-57 (3:59). However, the Bears increased the lead over the next few possessions.
 
Burke hit a baseline jumper just before the shot clock, followed by a steal and dunk by Syfax to take a 66-57 lead. Grantsaan added to the run by connecting on his third 3-pointer of the day and finished a breakaway with a two-handed dunk to give the Bears a 71-58 lead. Morgan cruised to the finish.
 
Recap | Box Score
South Carolina State 79, Coppin State 75
 
BALTIMORE – Despite shooting 50.9% from the field and a career-high 22 points from Koby Thomas, Coppin State’s men’s basketball team dropped its MEAC opener to South Carolina State, 79-75, on Saturday afternoon at PEC Arena.
 
The Basics
Final Score: Coppin State 75, South Carolina State 79
Records: Coppin State (4-12, 0-1 MEAC), South Carolina State (6-7, 1-0 MEAC)
Location: Baltimore, Md. (PEC Arena)
 
Inside the Numbers
  • Koby Thomas led four Coppin State players in double figures, matching a career-high with 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting along with five dunks.  Thomas also pulled down six rebounds and was credited with a career-high six steals.
  • Andrew Robinson scored a career-high 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting while making 5-of-13 from distance.  He also grabbed six rebounds.
  • Kamar McKnight and Dejuan Clayton added ten points apiece and dished out six and five assists, respectively.  Clayton one-upped McKnight in steals with three.
  • Reggie James also had his best game of the season with nine points, making all three of his field goals with a pair of threes.
  • Coppin outshot South Carolina State, 50.9% to 47.5% but the Bulldogs got to the line more often (14-of-17 to 8-of-11) and outrebounded CSU, 36-26. 
  • Damani Applewhite recorded 24 points and 11 rebounds while Ian Kinard added 19 points for the Bulldogs.
North Carolina Central 61, Florida A&M 56
 
DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University held Florida A&M without a field goal for the final 8:37 in a tied game to earn a 61-45 win over the Rattlers to open up Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play on Saturday, Jan. 4 inside McDougald-McLendon Arena.
 
NCCU (5-10, 1-0 MEAC) and FAMU (2-10, 0-1 MEAC) played a close first half, as the lead changed hands five separate times.  Deven Palmer (Hyde Park, Mass.) nailed three treys for 11 points to power the Eagles in the first period of play, but both sides went to the locker room even at 28 after the first 20 minutes.
 
The Rattlers kept the Eagles close in the second half as well, as FAMU knotted the game twice after trailing by as many as six.  A layup from FAMU tied the game at 45 with 8:37 remaining.  From that point on, NCCU denied FAMU all opportunities at the basket, and went on a 16-0 run for the remainder of the contest.  NCCU forced FAMU into seven turnovers during the run, and the Rattlers were 0-6 from the floor.
 
Jibri Blount (Pittsburgh, Pa.) went over 20 points for the sixth time this season as he scored a game-high 23 with 11 rebounds as well for his fifth double-double of the year as well.  Jordan Perkins (Greensboro, N.C.) followed with 15 points along with a game-high eight assists and three steals.  Of note, all eight Eagles that entered the contest accounted for at least one field goal in the contest.
 
Rod Melton Jr. (Dothan, Ala.) put up a team-best 18 points for FAMU, and M.J. Randolph (Pensacola, Fla.) contributed 18 points for the guests.  D.J. Jones (Brusly, La.) pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds with nine points as well.
 
Recap | Box Score
Maryland Eastern Shore 78, Howard 66
 
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – In their first action of 2020, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball team grabbed a 78-66 conference win on Saturday night (Jan. 4) over the Howard University Bison inside the William P. Hytche Athletic Center.
Saturday’s victory was the first win for head coach Jason Crafton over a division I opponent. The Hawks first win of the season was against Division III Clarks Summit.
“This game was a testament to the guys sticking together after a tough stretch to start the season,” Crafton said. “They found a way to put 40 minutes together of playing with toughness and executing our game plan.”
Howard jumped out to a 15-4 lead seven minutes into the first half. The Hawks responded with an 11-0 over the next three minutes that was capped by a pair of free throws from redshirt sophomore Walter Prevost (Houston, Texas) to tie the game.
The Bison held a 21-15 lead with 6:55 remaining in the half. Eastern Shore came back with a 16-0 run to take a 31-21 advantage. The Shore would use that run to help them go into halftime up 36-28.
HU opened the second half with new energy as they outscored the Hawks 15-4 in the first six minutes of the frame. The lead would change hands a few times over the next few minutes until senior AJ Cheeseman (Snellville, Georgia) hit a pair of free throws at the 12:14 mark to give the team a 49-48 lead that they would not surrender for the remainder of the game.
A minute later, the Bison’s Kyle Foster received two technical fouls and was ejected from the game. That resulted in four made free throws for Maryland Eastern Shore and the Hawks would not look back as they score 13 unanswered points to take a 60-48 lead and cruise to victory from there. The Shore would get their lead as high as 16 points in the final four minutes of the game.
Cheeseman has had an up and down season for the Hawks. He dealt with an injury early in the season that kept him out four games, but he led the squad on Saturday as he finished with team highs in points and rebounds with 17 and seven respectively off the bench.
“AJ is a veteran guy that has experienced MEAC play before and regardless of his ups and down this season, I believe in him,” Crafton said. “He did a good job of fighting tonight and he had a big night for us.”
Junior Ty Gibson (Brooklyn, New York) also was in double figures for the Hawks as he had 14 points. The Hawks had a season high 17 assists as a team as redshirt senior Ahmad Frost (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the team with four dimes and no turnovers.
 
Recap | Box Score
Norfolk State 85, Bethune-Cookman 72
 
NORFOLK, Va. - MEAC play got off to a solid start for the Norfolk State men's basketball team, as the Spartans took care of Bethune-Cookman by an 85-72 margin on Saturday evening at Joseph Echols Hall.
 
NSU led by as much as 25 in the second half after going up by 14 at the break. Three different players scored at least 17 points for the Spartans, who improved to 5-11 overall.
 
In both teams' MEAC opener, Norfolk State led almost the whole way through. A big first half, in which NSU dominated on the boards, was enough to overcome B-CU's stronger second. In the end, the Wildcats fell to 6-9.
 
Sophomore Joe Bryant Jr. added 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting to lead all scorers. Senior Steven Whitley totaled 18 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals, and fellow senior Jermaine Bishop contributed 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Bishop and Bryant combined for six of the team's eight 3-pointers.
 
Whitley started off the game well. He had several buckets, including a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down, to help NSU take the early lead. Junior Kashaun Hicks pushed the advantage to three on a fastbreak layup following a defensive board, and Whitley made it 22-18 on a free throw with 8:50 left in the first half.
 
A 3-pointer from Hicks and a dunk from junior Efstratios Kalogerias started a 17-4 run for the Spartans, giving them a 39-24 lead with 2:50 to go. Bishop had a pair of 3-pointers as NSU scored 10 in a row to close out the run.
 
The Spartans went into the half up 43-29, holding a 23-8 edge in rebounding. B-CU, however, was +12 on the glass in the second.
 
Norfolk State pushed the advantage to 18 early in the second half, and Bryant scored six points later on during a 10-0 spurt. After being up by more than 20 with 12 minutes in the game, NSU then went ahead by 24 thanks in part to a 3-pointer from Bishop and three more points from Whitley.
 
Bryant pushed the advantage to 25, the largest of the game, with less than nine minutes to go on a drive to the hoop. The Wildcats cut the deficit to less than 20 and scored the last eight points of the game for the final 13-point margin.
 
Recap | Box Score