Hampton defeats Howard 52-50

WASHINGTON, D.C. (www.howard-bison.com) – Despite a final second three pointer by freshman Imani Bailey, a 10-2 Hampton run led to Howard University's first loss at home and in conference play in a 52-50 decision against Hampton University on Saturday, Jan. 12 in Burr Gymnasium.
The first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference loss drops Howard to 7-7 on the season, 4-1 at home and 2-1 in conference play.

Howard's offensive campaign was led by senior Saadia Doyle with 14 points, while fellow Atlanta, Ga., native freshman Victoria Gonzalez added 10 points to the afternoon. Doyle also led in rebounding with six, as senior Cheyenne Curley-Payne finished with three assists and three steals.

As a team, HU shot 39 percent from the field, 33 percent from the behind the arc and 83 percent from the free-throw line.

In spite of five lead changes and eight ties, the mighty blue and white maintained home-court advantage for entire first half and well into the second half.

In the first 20 minutes, which was the lowest first-half scoring outings for both teams, Howard and Hampton went possession-for-possession without scoring.

On a 4-0 run, Howard reached a first-half high six-point margin lead. Hampton's Keiara Avant put her offensive power to work to bring the Lady Pirates within one; nonetheless another Howard run extended the lead by four for a halftime score of 20-16.

After the halftime intermission, Howard displayed to fans and followers why they were the preseason favorite, taking a 10-point margin lead by the 16:44 make of the second-half.

By the 11:08 mark Howard would loss its power and succumb to a 10-2 Hampton run and a 38-38 tie by the 6:14 mark.

The two squads varied between two additional ties and two leads changes before a 6-3 run by Hampton silenced Burr Gymnasium and sent the Lady Bison scrambling for a way out with 21 second remaining.

Hampton advances to 12-5 on the season and 3-0 in the conference.

Howard returns to Burr on Monday, Jan. 14 to take on the Lady Spartans of Norfolk State University at 4:30 p.m., this contest will be aired on ESPNU.

For more information on Howard Women's Basketball, visit the official athletics website at www.howard-bison.com.


By Ariel V. Germain, Assistant Sports Information Director
HOWARD-BISON.COM
HOWARD UNIVERSITY

WSSU wears down Chowan, runs win streak to 11 games

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  The Winston-Salem State Rams aren’t interested in their winning streak.

“We really don’t care about all of that,” Kimani Hunt said after WSSU went to an extra gear in the second half Saturday night to put away quick Chowan 89-76 at the Gaines Center.
 The win streak reached 11 games, WSSU’s longest in 13 seasons, but Coach Bobby Collins and his assistants have yet to mention it to their players.

“It’s really just one game at a time,” Hunt said. “We don’t listen to you or anybody else about the streak because our main goal is to get better each time out.”

The Rams (12-2, 5-0 CIAA) found the going tough against the undersized Hawks (5-8, 0-5).

Chowan starts one player who is 6-7, but the rest of Coach Brett Vincent’s team is made up of quick guards in the 6-0 to 6-3 range, and they had the Rams reaching and clawing most of the way. Kortez Smith, just 5-7 but the quickest player on the court, kept blowing by the Rams and finished with 18 points.

But the Rams turned to their inside play and had just enough stops on defense. A tip-in by Wakefield Ellison with 8:04 left gave the Rams a 10-point lead and a chance to breathe a little easier.

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Southern routs UAPB, moves to 5-0 in SWAC

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  On the heels of a 3-0 start to Southwestern Athletic Conference play, the Arkansas-Pine Bluff men’s basketball team had a chance to make a statement against league-leader Southern on Saturday night.

Its opponent stole the show.

High-flying Southern entertained the home crowd for 40 dominant minutes, soaring for four dunks, knocking down 11 3-pointers, swiping 10 steals and, in general, doing whatever it wanted in an 84-50 rout of UAPB at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

The Jaguars (11-6, 5-0) led by double figures from 15-5 on.

“When I looked up and saw we had a comfortable lead, the game became way more fun,” Southern junior Malcolm Miller said. “We got to relax a little bit and tried to do some things to keep the crowd entertained. We were just having fun out there basically.”

No one was more entertaining than Miller, whose performance in helping Southern start SWAC play 4-0 — three games with 20-plus points — earned him the conference’s Player of the Week honor.

Up to his old tricks once again, Miller had 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including a 5-of-9 effort from 3-point range and a pair of first-half dunks. He also grabbed nine rebounds.

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St. Aug Falls To Lincoln (Pa.) On Three-Pointer As Time Expired

Raleigh, N.C. — Saint Augustine’s University suffered a gut-wrenching defeat inside Emery Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013.

Senior forward Tyquan Stroman (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and senior guard Percy Woods (Washington, D.C.) both scored 12 points apiece for Saint Augustine's University, but Kenny Sharpe hit a three-pointer as time expired to give Lincoln (Pa.) University a 59-58 CIAA men's basketball victory.

The Falcons led 58-56 with six seconds left on a driving layup by Woods. After a timeout, Sharpe, who scored a game-high 22 points, split a double team and swished a double-pump three pointer to hand the Falcons their second straight loss. The Falcons are now 9-6 overall and 2-3 in the CIAA. The Lions are 9-5 overall and 2-3 in the CIAA.

Sharpe lost the ball momentarily in midair, but re-grasped it before making the game-winning shot from beyond the three-point line, much to the chagrin of the Falcon fans in Emery Gymnasium.

“We did a good job of getting in position to win the game,” St. Aug Head Coach Lonnie Blow, Jr. said. “We just didn’t finish the deal. The guy made a tough shot. I thought the defense on him was decent.”

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CIAA BAsketball: Virginia State 85, Livingstone 74

SALISBURY, North Carolina  —   It’s way too soon to panic, but all of a sudden the Livingstone men’s basketball team looks very ordinary. At least it did Saturday night at Trent Gym, where the Blue Bears dropped their second consecutive CIAA decision and fell 85-74 to Virginia State.

 

“This game does not break our season,” coach James Stinson said after sequestering his team in the locker room for more than 30 minutes after the loss. “I just told them we need to stop ourselves from falling. We have to correct all the things we’re doing wrong.”

 

Livingstone (11-3, 3-2) barely resembled the team that recently enjoyed an eight-game winning streak, but hey, even Sinatra had to clear his throat now and then.

 

“We’re still the same team that went on the road and beat all those teams,” senior forward Tyler Johnson insisted. “And normally we’re able to overcome deficits and shortcomings, but tonight it just didn’t happen.”

 

What happened was a bit surprising. Visiting VSU (7-7, 2-3) seemed overmatched in the early going and LC — behind a trio of Jody Hill 3-pointers — jumped to a 17-6 lead in the first seven minutes.

 

“Then we locked in on defense,” said winning coach Darryl Jacobs. “And brought in James Vann. Right away we had more energy and he started hitting big shots.”

 

 

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Holmes looks to build Rattlers staff at Florida A&M

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Weeks before he was named head football coach at FAMU on Friday, Earl Holmes began evaluating the other assistants who worked with him under retired Joe Taylor to see who might be retained.

While he spent Saturday with a group of visiting recruits, Holmes said he will move expeditiously to fill any opening that might be created through his evaluations. His hire makes him he 16th head football coach.

Holmes, 39, is in his first head-coaching job and will earn $200,000 annually after his contract is approved by FAMU’s Board of Trustees next month.

He already knows that he will have to find an offensive coordinator to replace Lawrence Kershaw. He has taken a head-coaching job at Fayetteville State, a Division II program in North Carolina.

Holmes, whose fearless style as a 10-year linebacker in the NFL earned him the nickname “Hit Man,” said he’d like to have a staff that can teach his players how to play aggressively. During his introduction speech, Holmes said he intends to have a staff made up of assistants with high school and NFL coaching experience.

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Holmes represents new era at FAMU

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Friday was a big day. Only the day that FAMU gets a new football stadium will be bigger.

It was big for FAMU. It was big for Earl Holmes. Big for Athletic Director Derek Horne.

Even bigger for FAMU football.

Just listen to interim president Larry Robinson as he puts his spin on what it means to have Holmes as the new FAMU head coach.

“We thought in the end coach Holmes was the best choice for us at this time in the illustrious history of this institution,” Robinson said.

Not that John Eason or John Hendrick, the other two finalists for the job, weren’t good enough, mind you.

Maybe Eason, who is approaching 70, might have had his best day as a coach. It could have been that Hendrick just didn’t stay long enough at any of the jobs on his resume that showed he might have been some issues with his style.

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Holmes takes over at FAMU

Emotional Holmes thrilled, thankful: 'I owe this university my life.'

Earl Holmes’ tenure as head football coach at Florida A&M University was just a few minutes old when he lost his first matchup.

He had no shot at winning, really. Not even with this sort of home-field advantage.

After looking at all the familiar faces packed into the fourth-floor meeting room at the Lawson Center, Holmes followed his scripted game plan by acknowledging the people who helped him become the 16th head coach in FAMU’s storied history.

But after thanking his mom and wife and son, who were all sitting just a few feet in front of him, Holmes suffered his first setback as head coach.

His voice cracked. He ducked his head to hide the tears in his eyes. And he briefly backed away from the podium as his emotions took over.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Holmes said, hoping a laugh would stave off the tears. “My wife’s going to kill me.”

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