Hofstra Shoots Past Norfolk State
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Hofstra shot lights out from long range, and the result was an 88-74 victory over the Norfolk State men’s basketball team on Tuesday night in a non-conference matchup at the Mack Sports Complex.
The Pride connected on 14-of-25 from 3-point land for the night, which included a 5-of-5 effort by Ameen Tanksley. He finished with 30 points while shooting 9-of-9 overall as Hofstra improved to 5-2.
The loss spoiled a career night from Spartan junior RaShid Gaston, who posted a career-best 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting. He also had his third straight double-double with 10 rebounds. He helped Norfolk State finish with a 32-14 advantage in points in the paint.
NSU (4-4) shot well from long range as well, hitting 10-of-23. Hofstra, though, benefitted from a large discrepancy in foul shots. The Pride hit 26-of-37 from the charity stripe, compared to 6-of-10 for the Spartans. Five different NSU players finished with four fouls, and as a team Norfolk State had nearly twice as many as Hofstra (27-14).
Junior Jeff Short and senior Malik Thomas joined Gaston in double figures with 16 and 13, respectively.
Tanksley had 11 of the team’s first 16 points of the second half to give the Pride their first double-digit lead of the contest, 59-49, with 13:20 to go. Short later drained a 3-pointer, and Gaston had an easy layup, both times getting the Spartans to within six midway through the second stanza.
NSU connected on 29-of-63 (46.0 percent) overall for the game, with assists on 22 of those baskets. It marked the most in a game since the Spartans had 25 helpers on Nov. 26, 2013 against Stillman.
Hofstra shot 24-of-46 (52.2 percent) overall for the game. Juan’ya Green added 18 points, eight assists and four steals, and Brian Bernardi totaled 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting. The Pride committed just eight turnovers and finished with a 21-9 edge in points off turnovers.
NSU will jump into MEAC play for its first two conference games of the year. Up first is Morgan State at home on Saturday at 6 p.m.
NCCU breezes past Wildcats for third straight win
DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University basketball team pushed their home-game winning streak to 25 as they overpowered the Wildcats of Johnson and Wales University, 101-38, Tuesday night, Dec. 2 in McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.
Senior guard Anthony McDonald tied his career-high with 26 points on 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) shooting beyond-the-arc, which also tied head coach LeVelle Moton, who hit eight threes on Feb. 18, 1995 against Virginia Union, for the third-most threes in a game in school history.
Jordan Parks dropped-in 20 points for the fourth time in his career, going 9-for-10 from-the-field, as he also ripped down seven boards against the Wildcats.
Nimrod Hilliard kept the NCCU offense rolling, dishing out 12 assists and becoming the fifth Eagle to do so since former standout Larry Crowder did so at Saint Paul’s on Jan. 18, 1993.
The Eagles led throughout the entire game, but started out relatively slow, committing four turnovers within the first five minutes of play.
Two consecutive dunks by Parks gave the Eagles and the fans a boost of energy as they led 18-7 with 12:01 remaining in the half.
In the win, five student-athletes recorded double figures led by McDonald’s 26 points as Parks finished with 20, junior Dante Holmes ended up with 15 points, while junior Enoch Hood and sophomore Jamal Ferguson both
Contributed 10 points in the maroon and gray’s third straight win on the year.
JWU (4-5) finished the night shooting 8-for-50 (16.0 percent) and went 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) from three-point-range. Rickey Porter was the lone Wildcat in double figures as he finished with 12 points in the loss.
NCCU (4-3) hits the road to Princess Anne, Maryland on Friday, Dec. 5 for it first conference battle against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore at 7 p.m. in Hytche Arena.
UMES cruises for second straight win
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball team easily defeated the UMBC Retrievers on Monday night, 65-52. Sparked by an 18-0 run in the first half, UMES improved to 3-6 on the season and recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since March of 2011.
Three Hawks scored at least double digits, led by Devon Walker with 16 points. The senior guard with 6-of-12 from the field, including four makes from beyond the arc. Walker also contributed five rebounds, three assists and a team-high three steals for an all-around performance. Devin Martin and Mike Myers tallied 15 points apiece, as well as each player racking up four assists. Myers also grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds, in addition to an efficient offensive display by making six of his seven shots.
UMES cleaned up on the glass, outrebounding UMBC by a margin of 40 to 25. This limited the Retrievers to just three second chance points. Perhaps the most impressive stat from the night, the Hawks assisted on 20 of their 23 made baskets, an extremely high percentage that indicates solid team basketball and offensive execution.
The Hawks will have to keep their top form as they face last year’s MEAC champion, North Carolina Central, on Friday night. UMES opens league play against the Eagles, who went 15-1 in the MEAC regular season a year ago. Last season, the Hawks took NCCU down to the wire in their only matchup before losing 66-62 at home. Tip-off on Friday is scheduled for 7:00 p.m at W.P. Hytche Athletic Center.
Rainbow Warriors speed past Hornets
HONOLULU —The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team made Delaware State’s first visit to the Aloha State anything but enjoyable. The Rainbow Warriors scored 20 fast break points and forced 18 turnovers in a 75-60 win over the Hornets at the Stan Sheriff Tuesday evening.
Hawai’i won its third straight game to improve to 7-2 this season, while the Hornets fell to 3-4.
Aaron Valdes came off the bench to lead three Hawai’i players in double figures with 19 points. Valdes was nine-for-14 from the field, including a three-pointer. Garrett Nevels added 15 points (5-8 FGs) and Negus Webster-Chan 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Warriors.
Reserve guard Charles Burley topped three Hornets in double-figures with a career-high 14 points. Burley was two-for-four the field and eight-of-eight at the free throw line. He also recorded Delaware State’s two three-point shots in the game. Burley’s previous career-high was 11 vs. Morgan State last season.
The Hornets were two-for-18 from beyond the arc in the contest (11.1%).
Kendall Gray collected his third straight double-double for DSU, tallying 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. He also had three blocks to raise his school-record total to 239. Gray has a MEAC-high five double-doubles this season, and 17 in his career. He has 43 rebounds in the last three games (14.3 pg).
Tyshawn Bell was six-for-nine from the field in a 12-point performances, while freshman Kavon Waller came off the bench to tally a career-high eight points (four-for-six FGs).
The Hornets were 20-of-53 from the floor in the contest (37.7%), while Hawai’i knocked down 46.3% of its shots (31-for-67).
DSU had just four fast break points, and was outrebounded 40-34 in the contest.
Hawai’i had 13 assists on its 31 baskets, while the Hornets had just six helpers, three by Burley.
The Hornets will return to action on Sunday (Dec. 7) at Delaware. Game time is 12 p.m. at the Carpenter Center in Newark, Del. DSU and UD have split the last two games in the series. The Hornets won 73-67 in overtime the last time the teams played at the Carpenter Center on Dec. 8, 2012.
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