FAMU rallies past UNCG, 70-64 Monday at Miami

PHOTO GALLERY: FAMU defeats UNCG

CORAL GABLES, Florida -- The FAMU Women’s Basketball team rode a 41-point second half surge to slither past UNC Greensboro, 70-64 in the second round of the Miami Post Christmas Invitational Monday afternoon.

FAMU (4-7) led in the early going at 7-6 and 9-8 in the first six minutes, but UNCG got hot, outscoring the Lady Rattlers, 31-20 to close the opening half with a 39-29 lead.

The second half saw FAMU climb back into contention with a 41-25 scoring run of their own, led in part by the scoring of local product Khaderja Young (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), who led the Lady Rattlers with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Young’s layup with 5:23 left put FAMU ahead for good at 61-59, capping a 32-30 Orange and Green rally to take control of the game.

Junior Olivia Antilla (Minneapolis, Minn.) added 13 points, three rebounds and three assists, while freshman Brooksie McGraw (Gainesville, Fla.) finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, helping FAMU end a three-game losing skid.

Jade Scaife led UNCG with 15 points and six rebounds, followed by Bailey Williams with 13 points, Shanese Harris with 12 points and five boards, and Lucy Mason with 11 points.

WHAT’S NEXT: FAMU winds up their holiday road trip Friday and Sunday in Georgia, facing Kennesaw State at 7 p.m. Friday, and Mercer in Macon on Sunday at 2 p.m.

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North Carolina A&T Aggies Close Out 2014 At VCU

North Carolina A&T Aggies (7-5) at Virginia Commonwealth Rams (8-4)
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m.
Facility: Siegel Center
Probable Starters: G Debbie Smith (8.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg), G Adriana Nazario (6.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg), G Ariel Bursey (2.4 ppg, 1.0 rpg), G Dana Brown (4.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg), F Eboni Ross (9.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg)

Aggies Overview:  North Carolina A&T will set its sights on closing out 2014 with a win when it faces VCU on Tuesday. The Aggies are coming off a 58-43 loss to Chattanooga at the UTC Christmas Classic where they went 1-1 with a 54-49 win over Tennessee Tech. It will be a homecoming for several Aggies on Tuesday including redshirt juniors Aprill McRae, Christina Carter and head coach Tarrell Robinson who spent three seasons with the Rams before returning back to A&T. McRae and Carter each spent a season with the Rams before making the move with Robinson. On the road, the Aggies have been led by three players -- Ross (11.5 ppg), McRae (11.0 ppg) and Smith (10.3 ppg). A&T is 2-4 on the road and has averaged 57.7 points per game away from Corbett Sports Center.

Rams Overview: Virginia Commonwealth enters the matchup on a four-game winning streak after topping MEAC foe Coppin State, 63-52 on the road Sunday. The Rams have also pinned a 5-0 mark at home this season under first-year head coach Beth O’Boyle. The Rams were picked to finish 10th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll after finishing the 2013-14 season with a 22-10 overall record and 9-7 mark in the conference. VCU is led by Isis Thorpe (10.8 ppg) and Adaeze Alaeze (10.2 ppg) in scoring. Camille Calhoun (7.8 rpg) leads a solid rebounding team that is averaging 45.4 rebounds a game. Tuesday’s game will be the first time both teams have met since the 2003-04 season when the Rams claimed a 62-43 win at home.

News & Notes:

• In A&T’s last three games, Ross has averaged 16.0 points per game along with 8.7 rebounds.
• Carter is 14^th in the nation in steals, averaging 3.25 per game.
• VCU holds a 2-0 all-time record over A&T.
• The Rams are 2-0 against MEAC teams this season (Coppin State, UMES) and 3-0 against North Carolina schools (High Point, UNCG, UNCW).

From the head coach: "As we get closer to conference time we want to start getting into a groove on both ends of the floor. We hope this game against VCU to end 2014 will be the beginning of things to come for Lady Aggie Basktball in 2015. I haven't thought much about the sentimental side of this game. My focus is just for this team to get into gear so we can start playing up to our own expectations. My time with Beth Cunningham at VCU gave me a solid foundation to come back home to Aggieland and live out my dreams. So much has changed there since I left."  Head coach Tarrell Robinson.

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Tough road for NSU basketball leads to Baylor

NORFOLK, Virginia -- The road hasn't been entirely kind to Norfolk State this season, and the Spartans say they have themselves to blame.

NSU's 9-5 start, which matches its best since moving to Division I in 1997, includes a 2-4 record away from home. Improving upon it will require further navigation of a tough six-game road swing that continues at No. 22 Baylor at 8 tonight.

The ambitious Spartans visit Georgia, Princeton and MEAC foes Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman before returning home to face North Carolina Central on Jan. 17.

NSU's road resume was boosted by a thrilling 74-71 overtime win at James Madison on Dec. 22, the Spartans' last time out. Coach Robert Jones said he hopes his upstart team isn't done.



"We were able to overcome that hurdle," Jones said Monday before a team workout in Waco, Texas. "Hopefully, we can overcome a few more in this stretch, and I think we'll put ourselves in a good position."

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UMES Looks for Third Straight Win

PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball team will have a chance for a third straight victory as they face the University of Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday evening. UMES (7-8) has won six of their last eight games with back-to-back road wins over Atlantic 10 opponents leading up to Tuesday.

The Hawks are riding high after another stellar performance on Sunday afternoon, defeating Duquesne by a final score of 78-69. The win gave UMES their seventh victory of the year, already surpassing last season’s win total. Mike Myers (Camden, N.J.) posted his first double-double as a Hawk with 22 points and 14 rebounds, career-highs in both categories. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference named Myers the league’s Player of the Week for his efforts against Duquesne and St. Bonaventure. In addition to the conference accolades, Myers also earned recognition from CollegeInsider.com, winning the Lou Henson National Player of the Week Award for the top mid-major performer.

Freshman Ryan Andino (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was also honored after his recent performances, receiving the MEAC Rookie of the Week Award on Monday. Andino is one of several Hawks who have lifted the offense with deadly three-point shooting. Against Duquesne, the Hawks made 9-of-15 three-point attempts, including six triples by senior Devon Walker (Philadelphia, Pa.). As a team, UMES has shot 37.4% percent from beyond the arc on the season, best in the MEAC. Both Andino and Devin Martin (Baltimore, Md.) are in the top five in the conference in terms of three-point percentage. As a result of the shooting and Myers’ inside presence, the Hawks have put up their best offensive outputs in the last two games at 82 and 78 points.

UMES will try to conclude the month of December with another victory as they face UT-Martin. After getting off to a 2-6 start in November, the Hawks have turned the season around with a 5-2 mark in the final month of 2014. UMES has shown marked improvements, especially on the road where they have four non-conference wins already. Before this season, the Hawks’ program had gone nearly four years without a non-conference road victory.

UT-Martin (7-4) is also in the midst of a rapid turnaround under a first year head coach, showing several similarities to UMES under Bobby Collins. Heath Schroyer took over a Skyhawks team that went 8-23 a year ago, including a 3-13 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference. Much like UMES, UT-Martin has had to play primarily on the road, with only two home dates so far this season. The Skyhawks have gone 4-5 away from Martin, Tennessee, including a big road win against fellow MEAC school, Bethune-Cookman.

Deville Smith leads the Skyhawks on both ends of the court, topping the team in several offense and defensive categories. The senior guard tops the team in minutes played (35.1 per game), points (13.7 per game) and assists (4.6 per game). Smith also paces the team on defense with nearly two steals per contest and one block per game, both team-highs as well.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time at Skyhawk Arena in Martin, Tenn. Pregame coverage begins twenty minutes before tip-off at 7:10 p.m. on the Hawks SFMSports.net and Fox Sports 960 AM in Salisbury, Md.
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Lady Bulldogs lead from start to finish to beat Kennesaw State

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a 8-0 lead and never looked back Monday in a 73-66 win over Kennesaw State.

The win was the first of the season for the Lady Bulldogs (1-10) and snapped a 7-game winning streak for the Owls (10-3) of the Atlantic Sun conference.

Janie Myles led a quartet of Lady Bulldogs who scored in double figures – a first this season. Myles scored 26 points and had a team-high 11 rebounds for her second double-double in just four games. Brooke Dixon had 15 points on 6 for 7 shooting from the field; Brittney Strickland added 11 and Alganese Gatson had 10.

The Lady Bulldogs shot 58 percent from the field in the first half, taking a 38-32 lead at intermission, and 50 percent in the second half.

With about 14:50 left in the game, the Owls were within four points of Alabama A&M, trailing 48-44. But the Lady Bulldogs answered with a 16-5 run over the next 7 minutes for their largest lead of the game – 64-49.

The Owls then rallied, cutting the margin to 70-65 with 1:06 to play, but couldn't get closer.

Alabama A&M begins SWAC play Saturday when Jackson State visits Elmore Gym. The Lady Bulldogs tip off at 4 p.m. with the men's game following.

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Bowie State University student seeks $3M for fraternity hazing

BOWIE, Maryland -- A Bowie State University junior has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity for injuries he allegedly suffered while being hazed as a pledge.

Kevin Hayes also alleges he was “ostracized and bullied” by members of the fraternity after they saw photos of his injuries saved on his phone and told him to delete the images.

But Hayes, who pledged the fraternity’s Eta Zeta chapter in the fall of 2013, has remained a member because he wants to “change things from the inside,” according to his lawyer.

“He’s sad that he had to do it [file the lawsuit] but knows it was the right thing to do,” said Jimmy A. Bell, an Upper Marlboro solo practitioner. “Hazing is a crime.”

Officials from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.’s national headquarters in Baltimore did not respond to messages seeking comment. Founded in 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha was the first Greek-letter fraternity for black students and has 353 chapters at colleges and universities across the country, including nine in Maryland.



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NOTE: The case is Kevin Hayes v. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., et al., CAL14-36637, The Circuit Court for Prince George's County (Maryland). 

Judge rejects Martin's bid for new trial in FAMU hazing

ORLANDO, Florida -- A Judge has rejected a request for a new trial by Dante Martin, who faces up to 22 years in prison for his role in the hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion.

Martin's legal team argued that Orange Circuit Judge Renee Roche gutted the heart of his defense in October when she blocked his lawyers from comparing Champion's decision to submit to the risky hazing to the daredevil exploits of "Evel Knievel and thrill-seekers who run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

The lawyers, who also plan to appeal the jury verdict, had insisted the hazing was essentially a "toughness competition" and Champion volunteered to compete.

Martin, 27, found guilty of manslaughter in Champion's death and lesser charges of hazing, is set to be sentenced Jan. 9 by Roche.

Champion, 27, was beaten to death Nov. 19, 2011, during a ritual known as "Crossing Bus C," in which he tried to run from the front of the percussion-section bus to the back by plowing through bandmates who kicked and punched him and struck him with drumsticks and drum mallets.

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