Florida A&M 97, Delaware State 95 (2OT)
DOVER, Del. | Nasir Core poured in a career-high 29 points as the Florida A&M University men’s basketball team outlasted Delaware State, 97-95 in double-overtime, in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Hall Gymnasium
Florida A&M (10-13 overall, 8-4 MEAC) trailed, 37-34, at the half and needed a Rod Melton, Jr. layup with five seconds remaining in regulations to send the game into overtime. In the first overtime, FAMU got a jumper by Bryce Moragne as time expired to send the game into the second overtime and Delaware State (3-21, 2-8) had one final opportunity to win the game, but John Crosby’s 3-point attempt was off the mark, giving FAMU to the road win.
Core came off the bench and was 7-for-10 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from long range and 12-of-16 from the free-throw line to lead FAMU in scoring with 29 points. In addition, he pulled down seven rebounds, dished out two assists and had one steal. Melton registered 23 points, six boards, two steals, and two assists, while MJ Randolph finished with 13 points, nine boards, three assists, and one steal. Moragne tallied a double-double of 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, along with two steals and one assist.
Crosby paced Delaware State with 20 points, four assists, three rebounds, and three steals. Pinky Wiley recorded 18 points, five assists, four boards, and four steals, while Myles Carter came off the bench to pour in 17 points, three rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal. Omari Peek-Green chipped in 12 points, six boards, and three blocked shots.
Bethune-Cookman 58, Maryland Eastern Shore 66
PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball team defeated the Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats for the first time in three seasons on Saturday (Feb. 15) with a 66-58 win inside the Hytche Center.
The Wildcats came into the game averaging 76 points per game, which is tops in the conference, but the Hawks neutralized them to get their most impressive win of the season.
“This was an important win against a very good team and program,” Hawks coach Jason Crafton said. “We jumped out to a lead early similar to how we did against Morgan State, but this time we were able to remain tough a pull this one out.”
The Hawks (4-21, 3-7 MEAC) jumped out to an 18-0 lead in the first five minutes. Eastern Shore controlled the tempo in the first half as they outscored BCU 7-0 in fast-break points in the first 20 minutes. They also held an advantage in paint points at 21-6 and scored 21 points off 12 Bethune-Cookman turnovers in the opening half.
A pair of free throws from redshirt sophomore Walter Prevost (Houston, Texas) gave the team a 37-17 lead with 2:35 remaining before halftime. That would be the squad’s biggest lead of the game as they held a 39-22 lead at the break.
Bethune-Cookman came back in the second half and methodically cut into the Maryland Eastern Shore lead. The Wildcats were able to get the lead under 10 at 55-46 with 5:52 remaining and continued to apply pressure.
Coppin State 66, South Carolina State 70
ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Coppin State’s Andrew Robinson drained a career-high six 3-pointers for 18 points, but it was not enough as the Eagles fell at South Carolina State, 70-66, in MEAC action on Saturday night. CSU now stands at 8-19 overall and 4-8 in conference play.
Inside the Numbers
Andrew Robinson’s six 3-pointers matched a career-high set earlier this season as he now has 82 3-pointers on the year which is tied for the eighth-most in Coppin single-season history with four more games remaining in the regular season.
Dejuan Clayton, Brendan Medley-Bacon and Koby Thomas all had 13 points apiece while Medley-Bacon pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Clayton was credited with eight rebounds and seven for Robinson.
South Carolina State got a game-high 21 points and ten rebounds from Rayshawn Neal and 15 points from Damani Applewhite.
Morgan State 57, Norfolk State 62
NORFOLK, Va. – It was a sloppy performance all the way around on Saturday evening at Joseph Echols Hall, but the Norfolk State men’s basketball team overcame a poor shooting night to defeat Morgan State 62-57.
The Spartans won despite shooting just 33 percent from the floor. They also earned the victory despite allowing an 18-point second-half lead dwindle down to two late in the contest. But they came out on top and were able to move into a share of first place in the MEAC at 8-2 with idle North Carolina Central.
Senior Jermaine Bishop led all players with 18 points, albeit on a 6-of-17 effort from the floor. He had four of the team’s seven 3-pointers with five rebounds. Senior Steven Whitley added 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting with nine boards as NSU improved to 12-13 overall.
To call the Bears’ first-half awful would be an understatement. MSU (13-14, 7-5 MEAC) made just 2-of-17 from the floor (11.8 percent), going more than 17 minutes without a field goal to close the half. The Bears made 50 percent in the second half, outscoring the Spartans by eight after halftime and more than doubling their first-half production.
NSU led by 13 at the break and looked to be in control early in the second half.
Bishop connected on a pair of 3-pointers early in the stanza to push the lead to 18, 40-22, the largest of the night. The Bears scored eight of the next 10 points to make it a 12-point margin with less than 12 minutes to go. But Spartan freshman Daryl Anderson and junior Spirit Ricks responded with 3-pointers to go back up by 15.
Courtesy: MEAC
