Summary of Games the Week of 1/22/38 to 1/28/38:
Conference R
Mount St. Mary’s—88, Alcorn State (8-8, 2-3)—80 (The Mountaineers scored first and went ahead by 20 points in the first half. The Braves cut their deficit to 47-35 when the half ended. In the 2nd half Alcorn State got with 5 points a few times but couldn’t overtake Mount St. Mary’s and their inside-outside duo of C David Perry and SG Terry kid who combined to score 45 points. All the Alcorn State starters scored in double figures: 15 points from C Mikko Stallings, 14 apiece by PF Jared Kraft and SG Andy Carney, 13 for PG Caswell Cook, and 10 points from SF Harold Hein. Carney also had 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 steals.)
Alcorn State (9-8, 3-3)—81, Troy—68 (Alcorn State got off to a good start but let Troy come back and take a small lead midway through the first half. The Braves then regained the lead and by the end of the half were on top 43-31. Alcorn State went ahead by as much as 22 points in the 2nd half and coasted to an easy victory by outshooting the Trojans 54% to 43%. C Mikko Stallings scored 32 points and pulled down 7 boards. SF Harold Hein had 16 points and 7 rebounds and PF Jared Kraft had 10 points and 10 rebounds.)
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (14-2, 5-0)—74, Quinnipiac—68 (Playing at home, Quinnipiac ran off to a 15 point lead midway through the first half. But the Golden Lions went on a late run that cut the Bobcats lead to just 31-29 at the break. That offensive output by Arkansas-Pine Bluff continued throughout the entire 2nd half. There were a bunch of lead changes early in the half and then the Golden Lions exerted control and led for the final 15 minutes of the game. SG Bill Thorton had 19 points and 6 boards. SF Dan Jefferson and PG Jerome King both scored 12 points. “We didn’t do a lot right but a win on the road is always sweet,” said Coach Dontell Spencer.)
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (15-2, 6-0)—74, Appalachian State—50 (Arkansas Pine Bluff rolled over the Mountaineers, outshooting them 51% to 36% and forcing Appalachian State to turn the ball over 22 times. SF Dan Jefferson scored 16 plus had 4 assists, 5 steals and 1 block. SG Bill Thorton tossed in 15 points and C Trent Harris scored 14 points.)
Conference T
Tennessee-Martin—69, Maryland-Eastern Shore (8-8, 3-2)—57 (The Hawks let the Skyhawks exert dominance from the beginning of the game and trailed 32-20 at the half. MD-Eastern Shore came out with more confidence in the 2nd half, but failed to cut into the lead. Two reserves, forward Luke Feeley and SG Carl Hancock with 13 and 10 points respectively, led the Hawks scoring.)
Maryland-Eastern Shore (9-8, 4-2)—73, North Alabama—71 (Neither team could take control for long and there were 21 lead changes and 11 ties. MD-Eastern Shore took their final lead with 5 minutes to go, expanded the lead quickly to 8 points and then held on for dear life to win a squeaker. SF Winston Morant had a big game with 24 points and 7 rebounds. SG Lataryl Brown had 18 points, 4 assists and 3 steals.)
Western Illinois (10-6, 5-0)—77, Columbia—60 (Defense was key to Western Illinois gaining a 36-18 halftime gap over the Lions. Fortunately their offense continued since their defense evaporated in the 2nd half. The two teams basically traded baskets throughout the entire 2nd half. SG Trent Cougar dropped in 23 points with PG Ty Wilfork adding 14 and C Craig Grant hitting for 13 points.)
Montana State—63, Western Illinois (10-7, 5-1)—58 (Both teams slowed down the action in this game. While there were just 11 lead changes, the game was close throughout with each team having alternate periods of dominance but never gaining a big lead. Team stats were as close as the score. The hometown Bobcats grabbed the final lead with 5 minutes to go and held it until the final buzzer. Ty Wilfork was moved from PG to SF by coach Terry Morillo and scored 11 points. Trent Cougar was switched from SG to PG and also scored 11. C Craig Grant was the 3rd Leatherneck to score 11 points. Tevis Tahid, who moved into the starting lineup at SG, hit both 3’s he put up, but didn’t take any other shots even though he was on the court for 29 minutes. The loss ended the Leathernecks 6 game win streak. After the game, Coach Morillo explained he altered the starting lineup because Ty Wilfork was experiencing some leg pain…so in order to keep him in the game but eliminate some of the stress on him, he was moved from PG to SF.)
Conference U
UC-San Diego (12-4, 5-0)—63, Massachusetts-Lowell River—49 (The Tritons travelled across the U.S. and were on top from beginning to end. Their defense held Mass-Lowell River to just 19 points in the 2nd half. SG DeVante Botts overcame back pain to score 13 points while C Camara McWilliams, SF Jared Keating, and reserve forward Jeremiah Mason each scored 12 points. McWilliams also had 8 boards, s steals and 2 blocks.)
UC-San Diego (13-4, 6-0)—67, Chicago State—52 (Chicago State hit a couple quick baskets to jump out to a lead, but then the Tritons held the Cougars scoreless for 5 minutes enroute to a 33-16 halftime lead. After expanding their lead to 25 points in the 2nd half, they let the Cougars get closer but were never in danger. Top scorers were PG Matt Holcomb with 16 points, SF Jared Keating with 13 points, and C Camara McWilliams who scored 12 points. “We had 4 periods of fantastic defense, 2 in the first half and 2 in the 2nd half, but we let up otherwise, so I’m unhappy we weren’t able to maintain consistency,” said Coach Ken Yamoto.)
Significant Injuries: UC San Diego’s SG DeVante Boggs, who came down with back spasms last week, has now suffered a strained hamstring and isn’t expected to be back to full strength for at least a week.
Awards: Arkansas Pine Bluff’s C Mikko Stallings was the Conference R Freshman Player of the Week
Comments: UC San Diego rolled off 2 big wins to increase their win streak to 6 games while Arkansas Pine Bluff now has won 12 straight. “We’ve just been unable to get on a roll,” said Alcorn State’s Coach Ramon Montez. “We’ve yet to win more than 2 games in a row.” Coach Mike McMillan of MD-Eastern Shore echoed that, “We’re in the same boat…never more than 2 wins or 2 losses consecutively. But I think we can get it together and run off a series of victories.”