Game Results:
January 15-21, 2037:
Conference S:
Alcorn State (10-4, 3-0)—76, McNeese State—54 (During the 1st half and first 6 minutes of the 2nd half, there were 12 lead changes and 5 ties in a defensive battle, but then the Braves caught fire and ran away with the game. SF Harold Hein put in 17 points plus pulled down 9 boards. SG Caleb Sanden added 15 points while PG Todd young scored 14.)
Campbell—68, Alcorn State (10-5, 3-1)—60 (This was a dog fight the entire way with 17 lead changes and 6 ties. But the home crowd willed Campbell to pull away in the final few minutes. SG Caleb Sanden scored 18 and C Bernie Graham had 15 points and 9 boards.)
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11-3, 3-0)—81, Purdue Fort Wayne—45 (Arkansas-Pine Bluff totally dominated the Mastodons. A 24-4 turnover advantage for the Golden Lions was their biggest advantage. Scoring in double figures were: SF Dan Jefferson with 17 points, SG Bill Thorton who scored 13, PG Walter Huggins hitting for 12 points, and C Chris Betts who chipped in 11 points. Huggins also had 8 assists.)
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (12-3, 4-0)—59, St. Francis (NY)—51 (The Golden Lions led from start to finish and had a 17 point lead midway through the 2nd half. The Terriers narrowed the gap in the late going but never seriously challenged. “If it weren’t for our guys cleaning the glass 35-22 we’d have had a tough time since we only converted 39% of our FGA’s,” said Coach Dontell Spencer. SG Bill Thorton scored 14, PG Walter Huggins added 12, C Chris Betts had 11 points and 11 boards, and PF Antonio Gailey scored 11 and pulled down 9 rebounds.)
Conference T:
MD-Eastern Shore (13-3, 2-1)—66, Bethune-Cookman—58 (The Hawks had a great first half, storming to a 37-23 halftime lead. The Wildcats cut into the lead throughout the 2nd half but never got closer than 8 points. C Terrance Minor scored 21 and had 8 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block while SG Carl Hancock had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.)
MD-Eastern Shore (14-3, 3-1)—74, Central Arkansas—62 (The lead changed hand 5 times in the first 4 minutes but then the Hawks took control and cruised to an easy victory, outshooting the Bears 52% to 34%. SG Carl Hancock led all scorers with 18 points and PF Dwayne Bullett scored 12 and grabbed 9 boards.)
Conference U:
Eastern Illinois—89, UC-San Diego (7-7, 1-2)—76 (The Tritons fell behind early and then came back in the middle of the first half to take as much as 12 point lead and then settle for a 48-42 halftime advantage. The Panthers came out in the 2nd half with a defense that stymied UC-San Diego. With 16 minutes remaining the Tritons surrendered the lead and were never able to recover. The Tritons’ SG Chris Williams had a big game with 19 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. SF Brad Sanders scored 16, PF Jack Robinson hit for 14, and reserve forward Jeremiah Mason scored 12. But Eastern Illinois’ C Elton Johnson scored 27 and had 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals.)
UC-San Diego (8-7, 2-2)—83, SE Missouri State—67 (The Tritons opened an early 10 point lead and led by as much as 23 points as they routed the Redhawks. PF Jack Robinson didn’t start but came in off the bench to hit 9 of 10 FG’s and score 22 points. SF Brad Sanders had 13 points, PF Stephen Leith hit for 11, and PG Dalonte Keams had 10 points and 10 assists.)
Western Illinois (9-5, 2-1)—76, Bellarmine—62 (Western Illinois had to offset their 21 turnovers as well as a 21 point, 10 assist performance by Bellarmine’s PG Cliff Archibald by hitting 55% of their shots and grabbing 9 more rebounds than the Knights to win this game. There were 12 lead changes in the first half and first 2 minutes of the 2nd half. SG Marcelo Barker and C Craig Grant had 19 and 18 points respectively for the Leathernecks with reserve forward Joe Bergmann adding 11 points in the 8 minutes he was on the court.)
Western Illinois (10-5, 3-1)—79, New Hampshire—72 (The Leathernecks led most of the way, but the Wildcats hit 55% of their shots from the field with SG Patrick Dickerson scoring 21 and SF Robert Woodruff pouring in 20 points to keep the pressure on all the way. For Western Illinois SG Marcelo Barker dropped in 17 points, SF James Johnson had 15 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds and 6 steals, PG Tom Daniel scored 13, and reserve guard Jonathan Bailey added 10 points.)
Significant Injuries: BJ Jefferson of Alcorn State has a strained hamstring and won’t fully recover for a week.
Awards: None
Comments: Arkansas-Pine Bluff resides alone in 1st place in Conference S with Alcorn State in a 4-way tie for 2nd place. In Conference T the MD-Eastern Shore Hawks are in a 3-way tie for 3rd place. And in Conference U Western Illinois is tied with 5 other teams for 1st place and UC-San Diego is 5-way tie for 7th place.