Jackson State hands FIU men third loss in a row

Jenniro Bush scored 23 points to help lead Jackson State to a 61-52 victory over visiting FIU on Saturday night. Jackson State (2-6), playing at home for the first time this season, struggled to take advantage of its surroundings and fell behind 22-12 with 3:57 left in the first half. But three consecutive three-pointers from Bush and a layup by Chris Hyche cut FIU's lead to 24-23 at halftime.

Jackson State surged in the second half, shooting 12 for 21 (57.1 percent) from the field to take a 59-46 lead with 50 seconds remaining. FIU has lost three in a row after starting the season 4-1.

No place like home: Bush, Tigers rally past Panthers

Jackson, Ms. - Starting the season with seven straight road gameEdit HTMLs looked like it was affecting Jackson State early in Saturday's home game against Florida International. Coach Tevester Anderson said he felt like he was coaching in a strange gym. Junior forward Jenirro Bush, a transfer from Arkansas-Fort Smith, was playing in a strange gym.

It didn't take long for either of them to overcome all that, however. Bush scored 23 points to lead the Tigers to a 61-52 victory over Isiah Thomas-coached Florida International in JSU's first home game of the season and Bush's first game as a Tiger at the Williams Athletic and Assembly Center.

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That was quick: Hayes hires Mebane to replace Stokes at Winston-Salem State

Interim Lady Rams Basketball Coach, Walter Mebane

Less than 24 hours after he fired Dee Stokes for leading the Winston-Salem State Lady Rams basketball team to a disastrous 2-21 mark, Director of Athletics Bill Hayes hired Walter Mebane as interim head coach for the final seven games of 2009-10 season. Mebane served nearly a full season as a volunteer assistant coach with Bobby Collins, head coach of WSSU's men's hoops squad. Prior to that, he spent 11 seasons with the Lady Pirates of Hampton, including five as head coach. At the helm of Hampton, he compiled a 70-77 mark, including a 51-35 record in the MEAC that included a berth in the 2009 tournament championship game.

Rams name interim coach

Walter Mebane, a volunteer assistant for the Winston-Salem State men's basketball team, has been named the interim coach for the women's team. Mebane, 54, replaces Dee Stokes, who was fired Tuesday with seven games left in the season. Stokes had turned in her resignation in November but had planned on finishing the season. Before coming to WSSU. Mebane spent one month as an assistant for the N.C. State women's team. He also spent 11 years at Hampton, including five as the women's head coach. He had a 70-77 record with the Pirates. Bill Hayes, the athletics director at WSSU, said he has had nearly 50 applicants for the job and that he would like to have the women's coach hired soon after the season ends.

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Is Southern, SWAC any good?

1. What’s the state of men’s basketball in the SWAC?

Not good. Not good at all. Seventeen years have passed since 13th-seeded Southern upset Georgia Tech in the NCAA tournament. Nowadays, the SWAC is simply not competitive. Take last year’s champion, for instance. Alabama State cruised through the league with a 14-4 record ... won the SWAC tournament ... and lost in the NCAA play-in game. The SWAC has taken at least a few corrective steps. It moved the conference tournament from the archaic, crumbling Fair Park Arena in Birmingham, Ala., to the modern CentruyTel Center in Bossier City. And next year, the tournament will end a week earlier, giving the champion more time to prepare for the NCAAs.

2. Where does Southern stack up?

Who knows? The Jaguars were hardly world-beaters in nonconference play; they were blown out by the likes of Utah, Brigham Young and Southeastern Louisiana. They have just two wins in 12 games. Then again, that’s two more wins than they had entering SWAC play last year. They have shown glimmers of hope, as well, with better play at the point, bench players with potential and some inside muscle. As the conference schedule begins, they at least have a chance to finish in the top half of the league. Any doubts? Please refer to Question No. 1.

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Coppin State late free throws end NSU's season, 67-65

Photo: Coppin State's hero--Tywain McKee.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Tywain McKee scored a game-high 26 points and scored the game’s final four points from the free throw line to give No. 7 seed Coppin State a 67-65 win over No. 3 Norfolk State in a MEAC Tournament semifinal on Friday night at the RBC Center.

The Spartans’ season ends at 16-15. The Eagles (15-20) move into Saturday night’s tournament final against No. 1 Morgan State.

NSU staged a furious second-half rally. Trailing by eight points at halftime and by as many as 13 in the second half, the Spartans roared back behind a 3-point barrage led by Tony Murphy (Paterson, N.J.). Murphy drilled five of his six 3-pointers in the second stanza and Corey Lyons (Bronx, N.Y.) also hit one. The fourth of Murphy’s long-range bombs tied the game at 50-all, and his fifth trey gave NSU a 57-53 lead with 8:46 remaining.


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Reid Leads S.C. State To Win Over Bethune-Cookman

Marie Reid scored 13 of her game-high 25 points in the second half and the defense held Bethune-Cookman scoreless for almost 10 minutes of the second half as South Carolina State rolled to a 66-45 win over the Lady Wildcats in the first round of the MEAC women’s game at the RBC Center. The Lady Bulldogs (13-16), Number 7 seed, advance to the Wednesday’s quarterfinal round where they will take on the Number 2 seed, Coppin State at 12:30 pm.

A 6-4 sophomore transfer from Memphis, Reid connected on 6 of her nine shots in the second half, many coming low post moves on the block, to help SC State, extend its four-point halftime lead to 53-35 at the 9:30 mark.

Bethune-Cookman (6-24) suddenly went cold during a stretch of 9:42, missing several shots. The Lady Wildcats missed 27 of their 32 attempts after intermission, including 0 for 11 from three-point land.

Reid got plenty of support from junior forward Janell Moore, who recorded a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds as SC State dominated their shorter opponents, 53-36 on the glass.

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Reid isn't good enough to be named to the ALL-MEAC women's team, but she just goes out and score 25 points and pull down 11 boards to demolish BCU and FAMU. And this Lady Bulldog is not a starter, but the sixth woman. Wow! She's All MEAC in our book.