Howard Trio Leads Howard To Win Over SC State

 James Daniel, a 5-11 sophomore guard from Hampton, Virginia made
HU Bison history on 2/21/2015 at Tiger Arena (Savannah State) scoring
his 1000^th point, thus becoming the first male player in school history
to accomplish the feat in his second season.

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- The Big Three of James "JC" Carlton, James "JT" Miller and James "J-Byrd" Daniel, III combined for 38 second half points to help Howard pull away to a 75-65 win over South Carolina State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's game at S-M-H Memorial Center.

The Bison (15-13, 9-5 MEAC) trailed 31-27 at the half, but used a 30-10 run over the first 15 minutes of the second half to take a 57-41 lead. Carlton, Miller and Daniel took turns scoring as the Bulldogs (10-19, 7-7 MEAC) had no answer.

Carlton connected on four of five from the field and Miller on six of nine. Daniel did most of his damage at the foul line where he was a perfect eight for eight in the second half, and 10 for 10 overall.

Howard shot a sizzling 67 percent (16 of 24) from the field and held a whopping 28-16 advantage on points in the paint. The Bison also converted on 15 of 18 from the charity stripe in the second stanza.

The Howard defense tightened up the second half and limited the Bulldogs to 36 percent from beyond the arcthe free throw line. SC State hurt itself from the free throw line, shooting 12 of 22 for 54 percent.

"I just sat down," confessed Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry. "I told them how disappointed I was with their performance and it was up to them to give a better effort. They obviously responded and did a better job of defending and rebounding."

Carlton recorded his eighth double double (21 points, 13 rebounds) of the season while also picking up a career-high five assists.

Miller, who averages almost 12 points per game, was coming off a scoreless performance in the win over Savannah State. But the 6-4 sophomore rebounded, hitting on 8 of 12 from the field to go along with seven rebounds and three steals. His repertoire included two spectacular dunks, a three pointer and some acrobatic moves to the basket.

"JT had been very tentative lately," Nickelberry said. "He came out very aggressive."

Daniel was only three for 8 from the field, but his free throw shooting and floor generalship were key factors in the win.

"It is important that they know who they are," explained Nickelberry of the Big Three. "They are scorers and all three did their jobs tonight.

The Howard bench again supplied help as Brandon Ford and Oliver Ellison combined for 12 points on six of seven shooting between them.

"We lost a poise a little bit down the stretch," he said. "Brandon was able to come into the game and settle us down and Oliver made some plays. We have to do a better job closing out games because it could come back to hurt us."

The Bulldogs got a team-high 17 points from Greg Mortimer, 11 from Gabe McCray and 10 from freshman Edward Stephens, all coming in the first half.

The 15 victories by Howard is the most in a season since 2002-03 when the team posted a 13-17 record. The nine conference wins equals the highest number that same year when it finished 9-9.

NEXT UP: Howard hosts rival Hampton University on Saturday at 6 pm.

BOX SCORE

COURTESY HOWARD UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION