Spears, Coleman Lead Lady Bears Past Mount St. Mary’s, 75-67

BALTIMORE, Maryland -- Lexus Spears scored a game- and career-high 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting to lead Morgan State to a 75-67 non-conference victory over visiting Mount St. Mary's on Sunday afternoon at Hill Field House.

Spears also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds and added two steals and a game-high four blocked shots, falling one shy of her career-high of five.

"The game plan for me is to always go out and play hard no matter who my competition is," said Spears on her performance. "Whatever comes easy is how I flow on defense and offense. I just keep reminding myself before each game that I can only be stopped by me. There aren't many defenders who can guard me, so I have to go out and play like I know and leave it all on the floor."

Adre'onia Coleman finished with a season-best 21 points and had seven rebounds, while Braennan Farrar added 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a game-high four steals in the victory.



The win was the Lady Bears' first this season over a Division I opponent and avenged last season's loss to the Mountaineers. Morgan State (3-3) now leads the all-time series against Mount St. Mary's, 8-7.

Mount St. Mary's (0-5) was led by Kayla Agentowicz, who finished with a team-high 18 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Ashlee White came off the bench to score 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range and dished out four assists.

Morgan State began the game scoring the first seven points, but the guests responded with a 10-4 spurt to take pull within 11-10, following a layup from Jatarrikah Settle with 4:38 to play in the opening quarter. Coleman would then score eight of Morgan State's final 11 points in the quarter to give the Lady Bears a 22-16 lead after one quarter of play.

The Lady Bears would maintain the lead throughout the second quarter and took a 34-31 advantage on a layup by Spears with 13 seconds remaining in the half. However, Daly Sullivan would drain a three-pointer to end the half and tie the score at 34 all at intermission.

The Mount would score the first four points of the third quarter to take their first lead of the game at 38-34. Trailing 48-47, Morgan State would put together a 10-0 run to take a 57-48 lead. The Mountaineers would close out the period with a quick 5-0 spurt, capped off by a three-pointer from White prior to the buzzer to cut the Morgan State lead to 57-53 at the end of three quarters.

Less than three minutes into the fourth period, the Lady Bears would break a 58 all tie, by using a 13-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 11 points (71-60). Mount St. Mary's used a 7-0 run, capped off by a three-pointer by Agentowicz to cut the deficit to four points (71-67) with under a minute to play, but that would be as close as the Mount would get.

The Lady Bears return to action this Wednesday, Nov. 29, when they travel to New Britain, Conn. to take on Central Connecticut State. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils (0-4) will host Albany on Monday, Nov. 27, before facing Morgan State.

BOX SCORE

Kevin C. Paige, MSU Athletic Communications
MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

Chace Franklin's 3 Lifts JSU Tigers Past Nebraska - Omaha in Emerald Coast Classic

NICEVILLE, Florida -- The Omaha men's basketball team closed the Emerald Coast Classic Saturday morning, falling 75-73 in overtime to Jackson State.

Leaders for Omaha
Junior Zach Jackson tallied his second 20-point scoring performance of the year, finishing with 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting with four 3-pointers. He was 6-of-7 at the charity stripe and added two rebounds and two steals.

Sophomore KJ Robinson chipped in 13 points with a trio of threes, as well as a team-high five assists, two rebounds, a block and a steal. Senior Daniel Norl rounded it out with 12 points, a team-high five boards and three assists.

Senior Daniel Meyer matched Norl on the glass, pulling down five rebounds alongside eight points.

Leaders for Jackson State
Jackson State had a pair of 20-point scorers in Chace Franklin (22) and Paris Collins (21), with Franklin knocking down the game-winning 3-pointer in overtime. Charles Taylor added a game-high eight rebounds with eight points.

Team Stats
Omaha shot over 50 percent from the third straight game, finishing at .520 (26-of-50) from the floor, including .407 (11-of-27) from long range. JSU came in at .448 (30-of-67) from the field and .313 (5-of-16) behind the arc. The Tigers forced 18 Maverick miscues while committing 10 themselves.

Inside the First Half
Meyer led the Mavericks with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first half, while sophomore JT Gibson had seven as Omaha shot .480 (12-of-25) out of the gate. The half included six ties and 12 lead changes, with the Mavericks taking a 35-31 advantage by the break, their first halftime lead of the year.

Inside the Second Half
Omaha built a five-point advantage at 38-33 in the first 90 seconds of the second stanza, but JSU regained the lead at 56-55. Later, down 66-62, Jackson hit a wide-open three from the corner to pull the Mavericks within one with just under two minutes to play. JSU again stretched it to a three-point lead with 21 seconds left in regulation, but Norl drained another trey to tie it at 68-all with 10.2 seconds left, sending the game to overtime.

Inside Overtime
Omaha used a pair of free throws and Jackson's fourth triple of the game to go up 73-68 with 3:26 left in the extra period. But JSU sunk two Taylor free throws and added a layup from Collins to begin its comeback, and the Mavericks committed three straight turnovers as their lead was trimmed to 73-72. Franklin then hit the game-winning three in the closing seconds, sealing the game at 75-73 with JSU's final 7-0 run.

The Mavericks are now 0-7 on the season, while the Tigers improve to 2-4.

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-OMAHA ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

Grambling Takes First Win at UT Rio Grande Valley

EDINBURG, Texas | Ivy Smith, Jr., scored a career-high 27 points as the Grambling State University men's basketball team picked up its first victory of the season with an 82-76 win over the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Saturday night.

Smith was 6-of-13 shooting and 14-of-17 from the free-throw line to lead the Tigers with 27 points, six assists, six steals and three rebounds. Axel Mpoyo registered a double-double of 16 points and 10 boards, while Drake Wilks tallied 11 points off the bench.



Xavier McDaniel, Jr. paced the Vaqueros with 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including four 3-pointers. N. Dixon tallied 26 points and eight boards.

Grambling State (1-4) shot 43.5 percent (22-of-54) from the floor and 75 percent (31-of-42) from the free-throw line.

Up Next
Grambling State returns to action on Monday in Denton, Texas to take on North Texas. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Follow Grambling State Athletics
For complete coverage of Grambling State athletics, please follow the Tigers on social media at @GSU_Tigers (Twitter), /gramblingstateathletics (Facebook), @gramblingathetics01 (Instagram) or visit the official home of Grambling State Athletics at gsutigers.com.

GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs rally past FIU in Thanksgiving Tournament

MIAMI, Florida  -- The Lady Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run in the final two minutes Saturday to take a 58-51 win over host Florida International University in the FIU Thanksgiving Tournament.

Alabama A&M, 3-2, will face Hartford in Sunday's tournament championship. Tipoff is 11 a.m. Central.

Nigeria Jones led the Lady Bulldogs with 15 points, Tierra Dark scored 11 and Natalie Collins added 10 points to give A&M three players in double-figure scoring.



BOX SCORE

FIU held a 50-48 lead with 2:50 left when Dark hit a pair of free throws to tie the score.

The Panthers retook the lead at 51-50 on a free throw before Kenisha Sharp's layup at 1:58 gave A&M a 52-51 lead they never relinquished.

A&M trailed throughout the game until Jameica Cobb scored on a layup with 6:24 left in the third quarter to lift the Lady Bulldogs to a 29-28 lead.

However, FIU would go back in front and lead 41-38 at the end of the third.

The Lady Bulldogs trailed 47-40 with 7:27 left in the game but would go on a 8-1 run and tie the score at 48-48 with 4:17 to play.

Tharp pulled down 9 rebounds, including six on the defensive boards, to lead A&M.

ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Big Runs Lead Hampton Over San Jose State, 81-73

Career Highs From Finney-Smith And Bates Give Hampton Split At Pacific Tournament

STOCKTON, California  --  Behind a 20-20 afternoon from Monnazjea Finney-Smith and the strength of an 18-4 run over the last six minutes of the third quarter, Hampton defeated San Jose State 81-73 for third place at the Tiger Turkey Tipoff at the University of Pacific on Saturday.

Finney-Smith scored a team-high 24 points and hauled in a career-best 21 rebounds to become the first player to score 20+ points and haul in 20+ rebounds in a game under ninth year head coach David Six. Her 21 rebounds is tied for fifth most in a game in school history and only two off the record of 23 by Brielle Ward against Virginia Tech on Jan. 1, 2014.

In a first half that saw seven ties, San Jose State held a 30-22 lead with 7:41 left in the second quarter on a Danae Marquez layup. Hampton went on a 20-9 run to lead 42-39 on a layup from Ashley Bates with 1:13 remaining. The Spartans scored the last three points on free throws to tie the game at 42 at half.



San Jose State opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run to lead 52-44 with 6:40 left on a 3-pointer from Andrea Kohlhaas. The Lady Pirates answered with the quarter closing 18-4 burst. Hampton scored the first 10 points as Finney-Smith drained a couple triples and Bates hit a couple layups. A pair of Bates free throws with 30 seconds left gave Hampton its own eight-point lead at 62-54.

BOX SCORE

A 3-pointer from Kohlhaas cut the deficit to 62-59 with 9:25 left but Hampton put the game away on the heels of a 14-4 run as a Finney-Smith layup with 4:44 left gave Hampton a 76-63 lead.

Joining Finney-Smith in the double-double club was Bates with a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. Allina Starr just missed a double-double with 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Hampton now heads to Eugene, Oregon for a Tuesday night 9pm EST matchup with #10 Oregon.

For more information on Hampton University women's basketball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5757 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

NSU Women’s Basketball Erases 10-Point Halftime Deficit in 52-51 Win over St. Francis Brooklyn

BOCA RATON, Florida – Kayla Roberts made a pair of free throws with 0.3 seconds left in the game to lift Norfolk State women's basketball past
St. Francis Brooklyn 52-51 on day two of the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

Roberts scored the final five points of the game and becomes the first Spartan to sink a game-winning free throw with less than five seconds remaining since Whitney Long did so against Savannah State on Jan. 2, 2011.

Norfolk State (2-3) trailed by 10 at halftime and was down by six, 49-43, with just 3:21 left in the game. From there the Spartans scored nine of the game's final 11 points to complete the come-from-behind bid.

Roberts knocked down a 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining to pull NSU to within one, 51-50. The shot came on a scramble following an offensive rebound by Khadedra Croker.

The Spartan defense then forced St. Francis Brooklyn (1-4) into a turnover, and Roberts was fouled at half court just before time expired.

Norfolk State relied on a stout second-half defense to get back into the game. After scoring 34 points on 46.2 percent shooting in the first half, the Terriers managed only 17 points after the intermission and shot 33.3 percent from the field. St. Francis Brooklyn made seven 3-pointers in the first half but made only one in the final 20 minutes.

A slow start on offense had the Spartans down 18-11 after the first quarter. Croker made the first three baskets for NSU, but the team shot only 33.3 percent (4-of-12) in the first period.

Croker's third field goal came at the 7:12 mark of the first and trimmed the Terriers' lead to 10-6. However, Norfolk State went the next 3:49 without a point as St. Francis Brooklyn went on a 10-0 run.

Raven Russell broke that run with a pair of free throws at 2:02 and started a 5-0 quarter-ending spurt for NSU. Alexys Long hit a jumper with 1:02 remaining to make the score 18-10, and Russell made one final free throw to close out the first period.

Russell matched a career best with 13 points on Saturday. The junior guard made three of her six shots, including a pair of treys, and went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to set new career highs in free throws made and attempted.

Alex Delaney started the second quarter with a made 3-pointer that put the Terriers ahead 21-11. Norfolk State would trim that deficit to three points twice in the quarter, but St. Francis Brooklyn led 34-24 at the break.

A 7-0 run by NSU made the score 21-18 with 6:20 left in the half. Roberts started the run with a layup. Russell bookended two free throws by Armani Franklin with a trey to complete the run.

Both teams traded layups before the Terriers broke away with two-straight 3-pointers to build a 29-20 lead with 4:46 remaining.

Russell knocked down a trey to trim the lead to six, but Jade Johnson answered with a 3-ball of her own to put St. Francis Brooklyn up by nine again, 32-23.

The Spartans came out energized to start the second half and scored the first nine points of the third quarter to cut the deficit to one point.

Long started the run with a trey at the 8:54 mark, and Russell followed with a layup 34 seconds later. Franklin accounted for the final four points of the run with a pair of free throws and a slicing layup that made the score 34-33 and prompted a timeout by St. Francis Brooklyn.

The Terriers went nearly five minutes without a point to start the third quarter – missing their first five shots and turning the ball over three times in that span. Lorraine Hickman broke the seal for St. Francis Brooklyn with a jumper at 5:01 and scored again at 3:41 to put her team up 38-35.

Russell briefly put the Spartans ahead with a free throw at 2:03. The 39-38 lead was the first for the Spartans' since the 9:31 mark of the first quarter, but it would not last long as Dana DiRenzo made a pair of free throws six seconds later.

Norfolk State trailed 43-41 entering the fourth quarter and never held a lead until the final second.

Croker knotted the score at 43-43 with a jumper at 8:03, but St. Francis Brooklyn scored the next six points. Maria Palarino gave the Terriers a six-point lead with a layup at 3:21, and it would be the Terriers' penultimate basket of the game.

Roberts began Norfolk State's final push of the game with a jumper at 2:59. The senior from Miami, Florida overcame a slow start of the game to score seven points in the fourth quarter on 2-of-4 shooting.

Franklin's final free throws of the game brought NSU to within one possession, 49-47, with 1:16 left in the game. The freshman guard matched a career-high with 10 points and went 6-of-8 from the free-throw line and assisted on three baskets.

A day after turning the ball over a season-high 24 times, the Spartans committed only 17 turnovers on Saturday. The Terriers turned the ball over 20 times, which led to 20 points.

NSU narrowly edged St. Francis Brooklyn on the boards 33-30, including a 15-11 advantage in offensive rebounds.

Delaney scored 13 points to pace the Terriers. Amy O'Neill recorded a game-high seven assists.

Norfolk State returns to Echols Hall on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. matchup with High Point.

BOX SCORE

NOFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

NCCU Eagles Back in Win Column to Finish Road Trip at Southeast Missouri State, 77-70

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Missouri – North Carolina Central University had to hold off a late run from Southeast Missouri State, but the Eagles finish their three-game, five-day road trip with a 77-70 win on Sunday, Nov. 26 at the Show Me Center.

For the third time this year, NCCU (3-5) shot over 50 percent, as the Eagles made 51.9 percent of their attempts (28-54).

NCCU scored first in the contest, and after trading buckets with SEMO (2-4) in the early stages, the Eagles cobbled together a 10-0 run to go in front and keep the lead all the way through the first half.

Jordan Perkins (Greensboro, N.C.) and Alston Jones (Kansas City, Mo.) started the game a combined 7-for-7 from the floor as they racked up eight points over that stretch, and Perkins finished the half with a team-high 12 points.

Over the first stanza, NCCU shot 55.2 percent from the floor (16-29), while holding SEMO to 37.9 percent (11-29).

NCCU hopped out of the gate in the second half playing the same refrain from the first half, as the Eagles rattled off a 6-0 run over the first two-and-a-half minutes. The Eagles led by as many as 16 in the second half, but SEMO turned the tide and built an 8-0 run of its own to pull within one at 59-58 with 8:40 remaining.

The Eagles were able to re-inflate the cushion, but SEMO made a late 6-0 run to again draw within five points with under three minutes remaining. But NCCU was able to make its free throws with help from Pablo Rivas (Colon, Panama) to hold off the Redhawks for a 77-70 final.

Raasean Davis (Chicago, Ill.) came up one point shy of his season-high, but notched his third double-double of the year with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Perkins came up shy of a double-double of his own with 13 points and seven assists. C.J. Wiggins (Richmond, Va.) collected 11 points, and Reggie Gardner, Jr. (Bowie, Md.) added 10.

Justin Carpenter (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) added a double-double for SEMO with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, and he was joined in double-figures by Donnie Lewis (Lexington, Ky.) and Denzel Mahoney (Oviedo, Fla.) who each had 15.

NCCU finally heads back to The Nest to host Christendom on Thursday, Nov. 30.

BOX SCORE

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION