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LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pennsylvania -- The Lions lost a close one to Bowie State this evening. The game was decided in the last few moments which seem to be the norm when these two teams get together. The men got off to a great start just as the women did earlier. They led early in the first half by as much as 11. The Bulldogs seemed to be off their mark and not in sync. The Lions capitalized with their speed and kept the lead until the latter part of the half. The Bulldogs worked their way back into the game with some great defense which forced the Lions to press and miss some point blank layups. Second chance points in the first half were non-existent as each team attacked the boards. As was the case in their last encounter, speed was a major factor in who was able to get a shot off and who was going to come down with a rebound. The first half ended with Bowie taking the lead with the score 32-29.
The second half was the same story as the first except in reverse. The Bulldogs took charge early and looked to put the Lions away. They were getting to the boards on both ends and getting second chance points that didn't exist in the first half. The Lions on the other hand couldn't seem to get a flow. Points were scored when individuals were able to get inside and use their speed while taking a hit. This was the case for most of the 19 points scored by Quaman Burton (Richmond, VA/John Marshall HS) and 16 points by Joshua Davis (Saginaw, MI/Louisburg Junior College). Each of them often saw the ball going through the basket as they were falling to the floor. They and their fellow Lions didn't give up in spite of falling behind 8 points late in the game. The Lions comeback was triggered by Quaman Burton (Richmond, VA/John Marshall HS)'s 3 pointer at 7:18 left in the game. Freshmen Malachi Seney (Philadephia, PA/Harford Community College) hit another one on the next play completing the Lions comeback and signaling the start of a new game.
For the next couple of minutes each team made statement shots. Joshua Davis (Saginaw, MI/Louisburg Junior College) twice slammed dunks to quiet the locals and give the visiting Lion's Den reason to shout. His forays into paint were equaled by Andre Jackson who scored 21 for the Bulldogs. He was joined in double figures by Ahmaad Wilson who put up 20 points. As the game drew to its final minute the Bulldogs clung to a 3-point lead. Joshua Davis (Saginaw, MI/Louisburg Junior College) had the chance to tie the score in the final minute with an extra point after he was fouled on one of those plays that allowed him to view his basket from the floor up. His missed free throw led to a Bulldog basket which gave them a three point led with 26 seconds left in the game. The Lions intentionally fouled in an attempt to at least get the game in regulation, however the Bulldogs hit their free throws and the three point shots weren't there for the Lions. The final score was 68-73. The teams split the regular season with a win for each at home. The loss takes the team record to 8-15 on the season and 6-6 in CIAA play. The next game for the Lions is February 10, at Manuel Rivero Hall. Tipoff is 7:30 pm.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For a team that has faced more than its share of adversity all year, what was a little more on Saturday?
The Spartan women's basketball team lost a seven-point lead with three minutes left in regulation and had five players, including a trio of starters, foul out. But none of it was enough to prevent NSU from earning its first victory of the year, a 110-108 marathon win in double overtime over Howard at Burr Gymnasium.
Freshman guard Yazmen Hannah buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 0.5 seconds left in regulation to force overtime at 90-all. The teams played to a stalemate in the first OT before NSU pulled ahead and held on in the second extra session.
Hannah had a chance to seal the game at the line with 11 seconds left in the second OT, but she missed a pair of free throws. But Shaylon Tarver's deep, last-second 3-pointer at the horn missed as NSU (1-19, 1-9 MEAC) won for the first time since last year's MEAC tournament quarterfinals – 21 games ago, and also against these same Bison (3-18, 1-7).
NSU hit a season-high 12 3-pointers, one shy of the school record, and scored its most points ever against a Division I school. Only a 116-point night against Virginia-Lynchburg on Dec. 20, 2013 saw the Spartans score more than Saturday's 110.
NSU got career highs in points from Kiara Phillips (21) and Hannah (20) and a career-high 19 rebounds – to go with 15 points – from Siobhan Beslow. In all, a season-high six Spartans scored in double figures, including Koryn Lawrence with 16, Brehanna Daniels with 11 and Kayla Roberts with 10.
The Spartans hit six of their 12 treys in the first half alone, but Howard forced NSU into 12 turnovers and outscored NSU 10-2 from the free-throw line to take a 44-38 lead into the half. NSU came out firing in the third quarter, however. A 13-0 run included 3-pointers from Hannah, Daniels and Phillips on consecutive possessions as the Spartans took a 55-46 lead four minutes into the period. NSU outscored Howard 29-16 in the third quarter and led 67-60 entering the fourth quarter.
Howard gradually cut into its deficit, eventually tying the game at 77-all on a trey by Essence Brown with 5:13 left. NSU appeared to be in good shape, however, when Phillips hit a 3-pointer to give NSU an 82-77 lead. A short time later, Beslow scored on a put-back to give the Spartans an 86-79 edge with 3:37 remaining in regulation.
But NSU went cold, missing its next six shots from the floor and going nearly three minutes without a point. Bison forward Sydni Johnson scored off an offensive rebound to tie the score at 87-all with 36 seconds left.
The Spartans missed a shot and then turned the ball over at the other end, and Howard hit 3-of-4 free throws on its next possession. Imani Bailey hit 1-of-2 to put Howard into the lead, then rebounded her own missed second free throw. Teammate Te'Shya Heslip connected on two free throws to give the Bison a 90-87 advantage with just three seconds left.
NSU called a timeout to advance the ball to half court. Hannah then took the inbounds pass and drilled a triple to send the game into overtime.
There were four lead-changes in the first OT. Lawrence hit a jumper to give NSU a 100-99 lead with 14 seconds left, but Heslip tied it with a foul shot five seconds later. A Phillips 3-point try at the buzzer went awry, sending the game into another extra session.
NSU took control of the second OT with a 6-0 spurt that included a basket inside by Shayla Tanner and fast-break layups by Lawrence and Daniels, the latter giving NSU a 110-105 edge at the 1:06 mark. A layup by Johnson and one free throw Bailey in the game's final minute closed the gap to 110-108. NSU had a chance to add to its lead, but both Lawrence and Hannah missed a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds.
But Howard couldn't capitalize and Tarver's last-gasp triple missed, ending a game which lasted two hours and 45 minutes.
NSU shot 47.3 percent for the game, tied for its second-best outing of the year. The Spartans were 12-of-24 (50 percent) from 3-point range, helping them offset a 12-of-30 (40 percent) night at the charity stripe. NSU's previous season high in made triples was five, and the 12 3-pointers are tied for the second most in school history behind a 13-trey game against S.C. State on Jan. 8, 2005.
NSU also enjoyed a 59-51 advantage on the boards, thanks in part to 28 offensive rebounds. Beslow had nine offensive boards and 10 defensively while notching her 11th double-double of the season and fifth in a row. Roberts also had a double-double, her fifth of the year, after finishing with 11 rebounds to go with her 10 points.
Hannah was 8-of-13 from the floor and hit a season-best four triples. Phillips and Alexys Long both made three, with Phillips adding five rebounds and five assists. Kieera Basey handed out a team-high six assists.
Bailey scored 37 points and Heslip had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Howard. Johnson scored 16, Erin Blaine 15 and Jasmine Hill 14 for the Bison.
The Spartans continue their road trip at UMES at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Ready to get on the court, the Norfolk State men's basketball team instead had to wait its turn on Saturday at Burr Gymnasium after the Spartan women won in double overtime against Howard in the first game of the afternoon. Then the Spartan men decided they wanted to play extra as well.
Senior Jeff Short completed a four-point play with time ticking down in the first overtime, and the Spartans survived to defeat Howard by a 99-92 score in double overtime in one of the wildest days ever for the two NSU basketball teams.
The Spartan men had not played an overtime game yet this season and had gone four years since their last double OT contest. Howard made it so after rallying late in regulation.
Norfolk State held a 10-point lead with four and a half minutes remaining in the second half. The Spartans were still up by seven with two minutes to go before the Bison got clutch scoring from James Daniel, the nation's leading scorer, to force overtime.
But a year after Daniel made a 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime in last season's two-point Howard win at Burr, it was Short's turn to play the hero. Down by four after HU's Marcel Boyd made two free throws with 11.8 seconds left in the first extra session, Short made an off-balance trey with 5.6 seconds left from five feet beyond the top of the key.
Short spun toward the basket and put up a Hail Mary while getting pulled down by the back of the jersey. His shot found nothing but net, and Short calmly sank the free throw to tie the score at 86-86. Howard's Keon Hill missed a trey from the left wing as time ran out to force double OT.
It was then basically all NSU in the second overtime. The Bison (10-13, 4-4 MEAC) did not make a basket for the entire five minutes, while Short added eight points in the second extra session to help the Spartans pull away.
Short finished with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting after tallying just five points by the end of regulation. Senior D'Shon Taylor sank 7-of-13 from the floor for a 22-point night, while sophomore Zaynah Robinson surpassed his career high with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
Robinson added five assists and made 4-of-6 from 3-point range, helping the Spartans go 11-of-28 overall from 3-point range (39.3 percent) as well as 35-of-71 overall (49.3 percent).
The victory improved NSU's record to 11-13 overall and 7-2 in the MEAC. After Hampton's loss to UMES on Saturday, the Spartans moved to within a half game of first place in the league behind the Pirates and South Carolina State (both 8-2).
Daniel, meanwhile, shot 8-of-20 from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range, as well as 12-of-12 from the free throw line for a game-high 34 points. He scored 18 straight points for Howard between the end of regulation and the first overtime to single-handily keep the Bison in the game.
Robinson's 3-pointer put the Spartans ahead 69-58 with 5:05 left in the second half. But after Taylor made 1-of-2 from the free throw line with 4:32 left for a 10-point edge, Daniel made a 3-pointer and then got fouled shooting a trey on the next possession. He sank all three free throws to cut the deficit to four, but Robinson sank 1-of-2 from the line, and Taylor's jumper in the lane with 2:10 on the clock pushed the lead back to seven.
After a timeout, Daniel drove right down the court and made an immediate 3-pointer before doing the same and completing a four-point play on the next possession. His free throw shot on the and-1 tied it up at 73-73 with a minute and a half left.
NSU took an ill-advised shot with 25 seconds left, but Howard turned it over by the left sideline to give NSU a chance at the win in regulation. The Spartans' last second shot in traffic down low, though, did not fall as time was about to expire.
Then at the start of overtime, Daniel made yet another fallaway trey, and NSU was forced to play catchup. The Spartans did tie it up at 78-78 with 3:19 in overtime when Robinson drained a trey from the top of the key. Senior Charles Oliver made two from the line to again tie the score a little less than a minute later, but after the two teams traded free throws, Boyd made a layup with 34.3 seconds left and then two free throws at the 11.8-second mark.
That four-point lead did not last, as Short then tallied his own four-point play to force the second overtime.
That bucket by Boyd proved to be the last for Howard, which got outscored 13-6 in the second overtime with all six points coming off free throws.
After head coach Robert Jones purposely lost his suit coat early in the second session in a heated matchup, freshman Alex Long had a fastbreak dunk and Short drained a 3-pointer at the 4:08 mark - near the same spot as his four-point play - for a three-point lead. The Spartans led the rest of the way, as Robinson's fastbreak bucket off a poor inbounds pass by Howard and a layup by sophomore Jordan Butler helped the Spartans push the lead to its eventual seven-point margin at the end.
The Bison had four turnovers and went 0-of-6 from the field in the second overtime.
The Spartans, meanwhile, hit 8-of-8 from the line over the two extra sessions after uncharacteristically struggling in the earlier part of the game. NSU hit 19-of-28 from the foul line for the day but just 11-of-20 in regulation.
Howard made 34-of-38 from the line and held a 50-33 edge on the glass. Boyd played a big part with 17 rebounds to go with 12 points. Damon Collins had 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting with eight rebounds, while Tyler Stone added 18 points and eight boards.
The Spartans got up and down the court in the early part of the game, building an 11-4 lead just three minutes into the contest. The Bison scored seven of the next nine points before NSU extended its lead to seven on a trey from sophomore Devonte Banner at the 11:17 mark.
NSU held Howard scoreless for a three-minute span, and a trey from Taylor and a long two-pointer by Robinson put the Spartans ahead 25-17 with less than seven minutes left in the stanza. The Bison, however, used a 13-5 run that lasted four minutes to tie the score at 30-30. Collins had six points during that time as he finished with 14 at the break.
Taylor sank his third 3-pointer of the half with a little more than a minute remaining, and the Spartans went into the half up 35-32. Taylor had 11 to lead NSU at the intermission.
Daniel scored the first five points of the second half for Howard, but thanks in part to two 3-pointers from Robinson, the Spartans jumped ahead 47-39 before the under-16 media timeout. The lead eventually reached 11 before Daniel sank a 3-pointer from the left corner at 14:38.
The Spartans pushed the lead back into double digits, eventually reaching 60-48 after buckets from Taylor and Long. The Bison answered with a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to five, but a long two from junior Jonathan Wade and a 3-pointer from Robinson put the Spartans ahead by double digits, 69-58, before Daniel took over for the Bison.
Long also reached double figures with 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Wade and Oliver each tallied eight points, while Butler posted nine points and seven boards.
Howard hit just 26-of-68 for the game (38.2 percent) as well as 6-of-17 from long range. Daniel, of course, made all six treys for the Bison, who made 13-of-23 from the floor in the second half but just 13-of-45 in the first half and overtime.
Howard also got just two points from its bench after playing only eight players for the game. Daniel played all but one of the game's 50 total minutes, with Collins finishing with 48 minutes on the floor.
Thanks in part to 25 Bison turnovers, the Spartans outscored them 32-12 in points off turnovers. Howard only outscored the Spartans, meanwhile, 12-7 in second chance points despite doubling up on the offensive glass (22-11).
After a day of much-needed rest, NSU will complete the road trip with a contest at UMES on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
NEW YORK, New York – The Bears racked up a couple of solid performances as the men's track and field team wrapped up competition at the Armory Track Invitational Saturday night in New York City.
Desean White and Fonyi Agendia advanced to the 60-meters semifinals where they both clocked in with a time of 6.88.
In the 400-meter dash, Joel Roberson posted a seventh place time of 48.43, while teammate Evan Johnson finished eighth with a time of 48.49.
Onyx Johnson posted a Top 10 finish in the 800-meter run by placing ninth in a time of 1:53.22. Devon Hairston advanced to the semifinals of the 60-meter hurdles where he posted a time of 8.43.
In the field events, Lloyd Hylton continued to tear it up on the runway for the Bears. Hylton claimed eighth place with a mark with a personal best leap of 7.19m (23'7¼").
Closing out the meet was the 4x400-meter relay team comprised of Donovan St. Louis, Evan Johnson, Onyx Johnson and Joel Roberson. The quartet crossed the tape in a time of 3:11.96 behind Mississippi State (3:09.31). It marked a season best time for the Bears, and the second fastest time in the MEAC this season.
The schedule continues when the Bears compete in the MEAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, which will run at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex in in Landover, Maryland on Feb. 11-13.
DOVER, Delaware -- The Morgan State women's tennis team opened up the 2016 campaign with a season-opening and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division victory over host Delaware State, 4-1 on Saturday.
The Lady Bears (1-0, 1-0 MEAC) earned the doubles point and then won the first four singles matches for the victory.
Chelsi Russell and Danielle Thompson teamed up to defeat Milan Graves and Sofia Rachi of Delaware State by a score of 6-0 in a No. 1 doubles match. Cierra Plummer and Chloe Kabamba would earn a No. 2 doubles victory by a score of 6-1 over Delaware State's Elvira Gallieva and Aayishi Chouhaw.
In singles play, Kayla Price, Thompson and Russell all recorded straight set victories, respectively, at the No. 1-No. 3 positions to secure the win.
Morgan State will now travel to Richmond, Va. on Super Bowl Sunday to take on the Rams of Virginia Commonwealth in a non-conference match at 3 p.m.
Feb. 6, 2016 Dover, Del. (Delaware State) Morgan State 4, Delaware State 1
JACKSON, Mississippi -- It was just one loss, but Jackson State's slip up against Alcorn State on Saturday night hurt in more ways than one.
Fortunately for the Tigers, they'll have the chance to redeem themselves in a big way when they host Southern at 7:30 p.m. on Monday at the Lee E. Williams AAC.
Saturday's loss knocked JSU (12-11, 7-3 SWAC) from a second-place tie in the conference with the Jaguars (16-7, 8-2) and into a tie for third with the Braves (9-12, 7-3).
The Tigers' hopes were for a win against Alcorn State, which would set up a date for sole possession of second place against Southern. That dream has been washed away now, though.
A win would create a tie for second place with JSU and Southern. If the Braves win, it would be a three-way tie. A Tigers' loss could possibly drop them to fourth place.
So even though this upcoming game isn't the exact scenario JSU was imagining, the stakes are still high.
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Texas Southern swept the season series against Prairie View A&M as it defeated the Lady Panthers, 50-43, Saturday afternoon at the W.J. Nicks Building.
The Lady Tigers were paced by Keiana Vines who claimed a game-high 19 points with 12 rebounds – her fifth double-double of the season.
Toni Cheadle also managed a double-double in the game, scoring 13 points and 13 rebounds – eight of which were offensive.
Joyce Kennerson joined the scoring game with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Tori Carter went 6-for-10 in shooting for the Lady Panther as she earned a team-high 15 points with four rebounds and three steals – all off the bench. She was joined in double-figure scoring by Lamaria Cole who managed 14 points and three rebounds.
TSU compiled a shooting percentage of 34.9 and forced 16 turnovers.
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