Delaware State 68, North Carolina Central 66
Dover, Del. — John Crosby nailed a 15-foot elbow jumper as time expired to give Delaware State a dramatic 68-66 victory over MEAC champ North Carolina Central in Memorial Hall today. The score was 66-66 after NCCU’s Devan Palmer hit one-of-two free throws with 5.4 seconds left to play. After a Hornet timeout, Crosby took the inbound pass and dribbled nearly the length of the court under pressure before pulling up for the shot and getting mobbed by his teammates after the ball went through the net.
“I felt good coming down the court and hoping there would be enough time to get a shot off,” said Crosby, who led DSU with 18 points on eight-for-14 shooting from the field despite battling foul trouble for much of the game. “It’s great to get this win because we’ve been working really hard and falling short this season. Hopefully, this win will give us some momentum as we go forward. The MEAC season is still early and there’s a long way to go.”
The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Hornets and also marked their first win against a Division I opponent this season. DSU also ended a six-game losing streak against North Carolina Central.
Crosby’s game-winning shot also capped off a furious comeback by the Hornets, who trailed 57-44 after a basket by NCCU’s Ty Graves at the 11:10 mark of the second half.
The Eagles led 44-29 at the break and held a 47-32 when Jibri Blount hit a three-pointer early in the second half.
The Hornets began their late rally with Crosby in-and-out of the game with four fouls. DSU used an 11-2 run during a three-minute stretch of the second half to pull within striking distance.
Fahim Jenetto capped off the spurt with two free throws to cut the Eagles’ lead to 59-55 with 7:42 left to play.
After NCCU pulled ahead 61-55, Myles Carter scored on a fast break basket and a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one, and Pinky Wiley hit one of the two free throws to tie the score at 61 with 4:11 remaining.
Bethune-Cookman 85, Coppin State 80
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Isaiah Bailey had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Joe French added 20 points, and Bethune-Cookman defeated Coppin State 85-80 on Saturday.
The Wildcats led 39-33 at halftime and kept the lead throughout the second half. They led 84-75 after a free throw by Leon Redd with 56 seconds remaining, then held on as Coppin State scored five of the last six points.
Cletrell Pope had 12 points and 15 rebounds for Bethune-Cookman (8-9, 2-1 Mid-Eastern Conference), which has won four straight at home. Wali Parks added 12 points.
Dejuan Clayton scored a season-high 23 points and had six rebounds for the Eagles (4-14, 0-3), whose losing streak reached eight games. Ibn Williams added 18 points. Koby Thomas had 14 points and seven rebounds.
Norfolk State 71, Howard 63
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senior Jermaine Bishop made five 3-pointers and finished with 20 points to pace the Norfolk State men’s basketball team past Howard by a 71-63 score on Saturday afternoon at Burr Gymnasium.
Bishop went 5-of-7 from deep for his fourth 20-point game of the year as NSU improved to 3-0 in the MEAC. The Spartans never trailed in the contest but never led by more than 13. In the end, the game finished just like halftime, with the Spartans ahead by eight.
Senior Steven Whitley added 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. He hit two shots from deep as he and Bishop accounted for all seven of the team’s 3-pointers on the day. Junior Devante Carter totaled 10 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, adding three steals to his ledger.
The Spartans improved to 7-11 overall, while Howard fell to 2-15 overall, 0-3 in the league. Nate Garvey made 6-of-11 overall, 5-of-8 from deep, for 17 points, five assists and four steals to lead the Bison.
It took them four and a half minutes to get their first field goal, as NSU led 12-4 in the early going. Bishop sank his third trey of the half to push the advantage to double digits. The lead was 13 at 22-9 with 8:48 on the clock after Whitley banked one in from the left-wing at the shot clock buzzer.
The Bison got to within seven before the Spartans scored seven of the next nine points to make it 32-20 with four minutes left in the first half. The Bison scored the last four points to cut NSU’s lead to eight, 34-26, after the first 20 minutes of play.
Bishop and Garvey each had 14 in the first half.
North Carolina A&T State 91, Maryland Eastern Shore 53
PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball team endured a tough shooting night as they fell to the North Carolina A&T Aggies 91-53 on Saturday afternoon.
“We played a better team today than we did last week against Howard and you could see in how they competed and executed,” head coach Jason Crafton said. “We did not make the adjustment to playing a more formidable opponent and that led to us not being the tougher basketball team.”
With 11:12 left in the first half, N.C. A&T had a 17-12 lead and that is when they began to pull away from the Hawks. The Aggies outscored Eastern Shore 24-9 for the remainder of the half to take a 41-21 lead into the locker room. The Shore would not get their deficit below 20 for the rest of the game.
Maryland Eastern Shore did see some positives in the second half from freshman Bruce Guy scored all of his team-high 12 points after halftime. He was one of 10 different Hawks to score in the contest.
Senior AJ Cheeseman led the squad in rebounds with eight and local product Kevon Voyles had three assists to lead the Hawks.
Four Aggies were in double figures as Ronald Jackson had 22 points and 12 rebounds to pace North Carolina A&T.
Florida A&M 77, Morgan State 68
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida A&M University men’s basketball team played its first 13 games on the road, but there is no place like home for the Rattlers as FAMU celebrated its long-awaited home opener with a 77-68 victory over Morgan State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game on Saturday afternoon at the Al Lawson Center.
Both teams were sluggish in the first half as the Rattlers (3-11 overall, 1-2 MEAC) led, 28-24, at the break. In the second half, FAMU outscored Morgan State, 49-44, to pick up the win.
MJ Randolph led Florida A&M with 19 points, including 7-of-11 from the foul line, with four rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists. Evins Desir registered 14 points, three boards and two assists, while Brendon Myles came off the bench to provide 14 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists. DJ Jones tallied 11 points, a team-high six rebounds, one steal and one assist.
Stanley Davis paced Morgan State (8-10, 2-1) with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals. Isaiah Burke and Troy Baxter each recorded 10 points.
How It Happened
Morgan State led, 7-6 early on, but MJ Randolph heated up with three straight buckets to give the Rattlers a 10-7 advantage with 12:13 remaining in the first half.
The Rattlers stretched the lead to 14-7 after a Bryce Moragne free throw with 10:29 left, but Morgan State closed the gap to 14-10 after a dunk by Troy Baxter with 7:43 remaining.
Courtesy: MEAC
