Bethune-Cookman 73, North Carolina Central 52
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Amaya Scott scored 19 points and Ciara Thompson a season-high 18 as Bethune-Cookman won its fourth straight with a 73-52 decision over North Carolina Central Saturday in Moore Gym.
Ashanti Hunt added 10 points and six assists as the Lady Wildcats (12-5, 4-1 MEAC) jumped out to a 40-14 lead on Tatum Hayes’ 3-pointer with 2:51 remaining in the first half that capped off a 19-0 run.
North Carolina Central (4-13,1-3) closed the first half to make it a 40-24 halftime game, but B–CU shot 56.3 percent from the field in the third quarter to push it back up to 52-31 on a Scott jumper with 5:06 remaining. BCU’s largest lead in the second came with 6:32 remaining on a Scott basketball that made it 67-41.
Scott also had seven rebounds and five assists, while Thompson added five boards.
B-CU finished the game 20-for-23 from the free-throw line, registering its best percentage (.870) since going 18-for-20 (.900) against North Carolina Central last February.
Florida A&M 44, South Carolina State 39
ORANEGBURG, S.C. — Florida A&M rode a 15-9 third-quarter surge to ease past host South Carolina State 44-39 Saturday afternoon in MEAC play at the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.
Saturday’s win was the second in a row for FAMU (4-12, 2-3 MEAC), which also won back-to-back games for the first time this season after last Monday’s 58-48 home victory over Coppin State.
The home Bulldogs fell to 2-15 overall, 1-3 in MEAC on the season.
Morgan State 74, Howard 67
BALTIMORE, Md. — Morgan State senior guard Jihayah Chavis scored a career- and game-high 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting and Dahnye Redd added a double-double with 22 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to lead Morgan State past beltway rival Howard 74-67 on Saturday.
With the win, Morgan State remains unbeaten at Hill Field House this season, improving to 5-0.
Chelsea Mitchell finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and added three more steals to give her 145 for her career and move into sole possession of 12th all-time at Morgan State.
The Lady Bears improved to 7-11 overall and 3-2 in the MEAC with the win and ended a three-game losing skid to Howard. The Bison came into the contest winners of seven of the last 11 meetings against the Lady Bears and now hold a 52-20 all-time series lead.
Norfolk State 68, Maryland Eastern Shore 45
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk State defeated Maryland Eastern Shore for the Spartans’ fourth straight win, dropping the Hawks 68-45 at Echols Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams entered the second period tied when the Spartans (10-7, 4-0 MEAC) gained some breathing room, outscoring the Hawks (4-13, 1-3 MEAC) 18-7 in the frame. NSU held MDES to just 3-of-15 (20%) shooting in the quarter and 0-of-6 (0%) from behind the arc. The strong second-quarter helped the Spartans take a 36-25 lead heading into halftime, and they never looked back.
The Hawks started the fourth quarter on a 5-3 run to close the Spartans’ lead to 13 points, but that’s as close as they would get the rest of the night. Chanette Hicks closed out the game with seven of her 17 points in the fourth quarter to seal the Spartans’ win.
La’Deja James and Hicks led NSU with 17 points each. James also had four rebounds and two assists, while Hicks added three rebounds, six assists, and three steals.
Blaire Thomas had her sixth double-figure game of the season, finishing with 12 points and seven rebounds.
North Carolina A&T State 84, Coppin State 38
BALTIMORE, Md. — Deja Winters and Cinia McCray each scored 20 points on Saturday as North Carolina A&T State remained unbeaten in MEAC play with an 84-38 win over Coppin State in the PEC Arena.
The Aggies (12-4, 4-0 MEAC) have won six in a row.
Alexus Lessears added 11 points, while Le’on Hill added eight points, a team-high nine rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
The Aggies held the Eagles to just 28.6 percent shooting (12-for-42) and a 4-for-11 effort (36.4 percent) from behind the arc. North Carolina A&T State also held a 47-26 rebounding advantage and turned Coppin State over 28 times.
Tyree Allen led Coppin State (0-17, 0-5 MEAC) with 13 points.
Courtesy: MEAC
