After Big Win at FSU, Princeton Men's Hoops Takes on FAMU

Princeton (7-7, 0-0 Ivy) at Florida A&M (2-11, 0-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)

Sunday, Jan. 1 at 3 p.m. at Al Lawson Center

Princeton head coach: Mitch Henderson (Princeton '98, first season, 7-7 overall/at Princeton)
Radio: WPRB 103.3 FM, GoPrincetonTigers.com (John Sadak, Play-by-Play; Noah Savage '08, Color)
Live Stats | Live Audio
All-Time Series: Princeton leads 1-0, 0-0 away, 0-0 at facility
Streak: Princeton 1 overall; (last meeting 1992)

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Princeton will try to climb above the .500 mark for the first time this season. The Tigers lost their first two in the midst of a 1-5 start and are 6-2 since. With Princeton's win at Florida State Friday night (Princeton 75, Florida State 73 3OT (12/30/11),  the Tigers have won two games on home courts of "big six" conference teams in the same season since 1966-67. Princeton won at Rutgers on Dec. 7.

Princeton snapped FSU's 51-game home win streak against teams outside the "big six" conferences. Florida International was the last team outside of a major conference to beat FSU at the Civic Center on Dec. 12, 2004.

The Florida State and Rutgers wins mark the first time Princeton has defeated two "big six" conference teams in the same season since 1998-99, when the Tigers beat Florida State, Texas (both neutral), Georgetown (at Princeton, NIT) and N.C. State (road, NIT).

Princeton is on a stretch in which it will play 12 straight Division I opponents on their home floors, something the program has never done. In all, Princeton will travel more than 3,900 miles to complete the 12-game road stretch. The last five games of Princeton's 12-game road stretch against D-I foes are Ivy games determined by the Ivy League. That means Princeton will have 7 of 9 games at home to close the regular season.

The Florida A&M game will mark the eighth new court on which Princeton has played this season. The Tigers had never played in the current buildings of N.C. State, Bucknell, Drexel, Rider, Northeastern, Siena or Florida State.

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FAMU's Lewis does some scouting on Princeton

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Reggie Lewis will be the first to tell you that a lot of his basketball success is due to his passion to get first-hand experience to improve his game. In a sense, that was exactly the reason the Florida A&M guard took the time to watch Princeton play FSU — in person.

FAMU plays Princeton today and Lewis didn't want to pass up the opportunity to see for himself what the Tigers will bring to the Lawson Center.

"They don't get rattled," Lewis said. "They take a lot of time off the shot clock. They try to get a lot of second-chance shots too."

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Iowa State Cyclones Close 2011 With Win Over MVSU, 67-65

AMES, Iowa - Melvin Ejim recorded 15 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to help Iowa State hold off Mississippi Valley State, 67-65 Saturday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones shot a season-low 34.4 percent and had an 18-point lead trimmed down to three points late in the second half. However, the Cyclones got a strong effort from their bench, as Ejim spearheaded a 41-point outing from the reserves. Ejim, who also drilled a career-high three treys in three tries, posted his fifth career double-double in the victory.

Iowa State ends non-conference play at 10-3.



Iowa State opened the game by making just one of its first nine shots as the Delta Devils jumped out to an early 8-2 lead. The Cyclones then went on a 21-6 run to go up 28-14 with 5:56 left before intermission.

Ejim had eight points and seven rebounds in the opening period to help the Cyclones go into the break with a 36-23 lead, as ISU held MVSU to just 25.8 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes. ISU led by as many as 18 points in the first half.

Iowa State struggled to shake off the Delta Devils in the second half. After the Cyclones scored the first five points of the second period, MVSU tallied eight-straight points to cut the lead to 41-31 behind a pair of 3-pointers from Terrence Joyner.

GAME STATS
POST GAME NOTES
ATTENDANCE: 12,399
ESPN3 GAME REPLAY ON DEMAND: MISSISSIPPI VALLEY VS. IOWA STATE

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No. 25 Kansas State Wildcats Power Past Howard Bison 82-46

MANHATTAN, Kansas - Kansas State used a barrage of 3-pointers to defeat Howard in its final game before conference play begins as the Wildcats defeated the Bison 82-46. K-State shot 48 percent from beyond the arc as the Wildcats made a season high 13 3-pointers. Rodney McGruder led the attack as he scored 14 points and was 4-of-4 from long range. The 13 3-pointers made is tied for eighth in school history.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 18-7 lead after making five of its first seven 3-pointers. A shot from behind the arc from Howard’s Glen Andrews cut the lead to 18-10, but eight straight points from Angel Rodriguez started a 15-0 run the put the game away for good and gave the Wildcats a 33-10 lead with 5:47 left in the opening half.

Four other Wildcats, Will Spradling (13), Angel Rodriguez (11), Jeremy Jones (10) and Jamar Samuels (10), joined McGruder in double-digit scoring.

K-State (11-1) used a combination of suffocating defense and quick offensive tempo to set the tone in the first half. The Wildcats held Howard (4-11) to 20 percent shooting from the field and held the Bison only 18 points in the opening half. The 18 points allowed was the fewest scored in a half since Feb. 2 when the Wildcats held Nebraska to 17 first-half points.

FINAL STATS
PHOTO GALLERY
ATTENDANCE: 12,528
ESPN GAME REPLAY ON DEMAND: K-STATE VS. HOWARD

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Kentucky State sweeps Lane Dragons after long layoff

FRANKFORT, Kentucky - Jasmine Davis’ layup with 23 seconds left proved to be the winning points for the Thorobrettes excaped Lane, 75-73. Davis and Cortney Matthewis both scored 17 points to lead KSU (3-4, 3-2).

Lane (0-4, 0-3) led 45-38 at halftime, hitting 53 percent in the first half while holding KSU to 36 percent shooting.

The Thorobrettes shot 50 percent in the second half and had four more field goals than the Lady Dragons. Rounding out the scoring for KSU were Sharnita Lloyd with 12 points, Raven Ward and Ashley Thompson-Baker with seven points each, Tiffany Merritt with six points, Brielle Newton with four, Joanna Powell with three, and Megan LaRue with two points.

Brittney Peters led Lane with 23 points.

Kentucky State 60, Lane 55 (Men)

The Thorobreds scored the game’s final five points in the last 1:02 to improve to 2-3 overall and in the conference. A free throw by KSU’s Kevin Smith at 1:02 mark broke a 55-55 tie. William Marsh hit one foul shot and Smith two more to make the final score 60-55.

Marsh finished with a game-high 22 points, and John Gaston had 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Thorobreds.

KSU shot 49 percent from the field and held Lane (0-5, 0-3) to 37.7 percent shooting.

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CU Panthers survive LOC Magicians’ late surge for 73-67 victory

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina - The Panthers of Claflin University (4-6, 4-5) used late game free throws to hand LeMoyne-Owen (4-3, 4-2) a 73-67 setback in Tullis Arena on the campus of Claflin University.

Most of the damage was done in the first half as Terrence Bowman who scored 18 points 11 in the first half and Edward Green who tallied 10 points 7 coming in the first 20 minutes of play led by 11 points at the break 37-26.

The Panthers never relinquished the lead in the second half matching runs by the Magicians with runs of their own to keep LeMoyne-Owen at bay. But things got interesting late in the second half.

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Claflin Lady Panthers ease by LeMoyne-Owen 68-62 to pick up second win of the season

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina - The Lady Panthers of Claflin University (2-7, 2-6) entered this afternoon's contest needing a win to begin the New Year on a winning note. LaQuandra Williams with 18 points and 10 rebounds and LaTreshia Lymon-Finlea who added 14 points to go along with 13 rebounds made it hard for the visitors of LeMoyne-Owen to escape Tulis Arena with a victory. Their effort helped snap a six-game losing skid for the Lady Panthers, with a 68-62 SIAC victory. Defense was the name of the game for Claflin University as they would not allow the Lady Magicians to go on any long runs during the game.

Things did not start out very promising for Claflin as they fell behind by as many as 12 points 17-5 early in the contest. But by the 5:00 mark in the first half Claflin had cut the Lady Magicians lead to 4 points 25-21. The Lady Magicians outscored Claflin 9-8 the rest of the half and enjoyed a 5 point halftime lead 34-29.

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Norfolk State vs. Navy: A win today would confirm historic rise for NSU Spartans

 KYLE O'QUINN
6-10/240 CENTER, SENIOR
JAMAICA, NY
CAMPUS MAGNET H.S.

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland - The Norfolk State Spartans will shoot for their 10th victory of the season today as they ring in the New Year with a 4 p.m. tipoff at the Naval Academy.

If the Spartans win, it would the earliest they have won 10 games in their 15 years in Division I. And it would be a drastic improvement over the last three seasons, years in which the Spartans didn't reach the 10-win plateau until March.

"We're not talking about our record," Spartans coach Anthony Evans said. "We are taking it one game at a time. It's a cliche, but is an accurate one. "We cannot be thinking ahead to our conference games at this point. We have to concern ourselves with Navy."

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Norfolk State (9-5)at Navy (3-10)
Sunday, Jan. 1 • Annapolis, MD
Alumni Hall • 4 p.m.

MEDIA COVERAGE: Live Statistics/Video: http://www.navysports.com/

SERIES NOTES: This is the first meeting all-time between the two schools.

PENDARVIS WILLIAMS
6-6/195 GUARD, SOPH.
PHILADELPHIA, PA
THE HUN SCHOOL (N.J.)

SETTING THE STAGE

NSU plays its first game of the 2012 calendar year this Sunday when it travels to Annapolis, Md., for its first-ever matchup with Navy. The Spartans have won two in a row, both on the road, after an 84-74 win at St. Francis (N.Y.) on Dec. 23. Three Spartans topped the 20-point mark in that one as Pendarvis Williams had a career-high 24 points, Kyle O’Quinn posted 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris McEachin added a career-high 20 points. NSU will be looking Sunday for its first 10-5 start since 1996-97, when the Spartans began 13-5 in their final season of play in the Division II CIAA.

Navy dropped its sixth straight game on Friday, a 65-56 home loss to Mercer. Jordan Sugars led the Midshipmen with 21 points. J.J. Avila paces Navy with 15.2 points per game, while Sugars is second at 10.3.

COACHES
NSU - Anthony Evans (St. Thomas Aquinas ‘94), 5th season at NSU and overall, 61-77.
Navy - Ed DeChellis (Penn State ‘82), 1st season at Navy, 3-10; 16th season overall, 222-241.

Williams, O’Quinn Earn Weekly MEAC Honors
Sophomore guard Pendarvis Williams was named MEAC Player of the Week for Dec. 26 after averaging 20.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in wins over Toledo and St. Francis. Williams shot 65 percent in the two games. Williams had 17 points and assisted on Kyle O’Quinn’s game-winning layup with 2.4 seconds left in the 72-70 win at Toledo. Williams followed that up with a career-high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting at St. Francis.

This marks Williams’ first time being named MEAC Player of the Week in his career. He was named Rookie of the Week once last season.

O’Quinn averaged 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots to earn his second Defensive Player of the Week honor this year. O’Quinn blocked five shots in the win over Toledo and added two steals against St. Francis. He averaged 8.0 defensive rebounds per game and also scored 18.5 points in the two victories.

Live Video Available

NSU will offer live video streaming of all 14 home men’s basketball games in 2011-12. The cost is $5 per game ($8 for a doubleheader when paired with a women’s game), and $60 for a season pass. Visit

www.nsuspartans.com/showcase to register.

By Matt Michalec, Assistant AD for Communications/MBB

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