Hampton Pirates Bounce Back Battle of the Bay Win

HAMPTON, Virginia -- With first place on the line Saturday evening at the HU Convocation Center, the Hampton University men's basketball team defeated rival Norfolk State 86-76 in the first installment of this season's Battle of the Bay.

The Pirates (12-8, 8-1 MEAC) have won seven of their last eight games.

Reginald Johnson, Jr. led four Pirates in double figures with 29 points, going 10-for-20 from the floor, while also dishing out a team-high five assists. Quinton Chievous and Brian Darden each added 16 points, with Chievous grabbing seven boards and doling out four assists.

Lawrence Cooks dropped 12 points, and Dionte Adams grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

The Pirates shot 44.1 percent (26-for-59) from the floor – including a 46.7 percent clip (14-for-30) in the first half – and made eight of their 21 3-pointers (38.1 percent). Hampton was also 26-for-34 (76.5 percent) from the free throw line.

Chievous gave the Pirates a 54-47 lead with a layup with 15:54 remaining in the second half, before the Spartans responded with nine unanswered points to take a 56-55 lead after a three from Jeff Short at the 10:42 mark.

From there, the two teams traded the lead back and forth on six straight possessions – before Chievous put the Pirates back on top 61-60 with 8:03 left to play. That ignited an 8-0 Hampton run, putting the Pirates up 67-60 after a Johnson fastbreak layup at the 6:10 mark.

Norfolk State never got any closer than within seven points for the rest of the game. In the game's final 2:23, the Pirates – who struggled at the free throw line in Monday's loss to South Carolina State – went 8-for-10 from the free throw line.

Chievous added a two-hand slam with 23 seconds left, putting Hampton up 83-70.

Norfolk State held an early 27-20 lead, taking that advantage with 6:03 left in the first half after a trey from Short. But the Pirates answered with a 20-4 run, taking a 40-31 lead with 1:30 left in the half after a fastbreak layup from Johnson.

Johnson later hit three free throws with 48 seconds left to put Hampton up 43-33.

The Spartans scored the next four points to cut the lead to 43-37, before Darden sank a long three near the buzzer to send the Pirates into the break with a 46-37 lead.

Darden, who hit four 3-pointers, had 14 points at the half.

Norfolk State (10-13, 6-2 MEAC) shot 39.4 percent (26-for-66) from the floor, but made just four of 20 3-pointers (20.0 percent).

Short came off the bench to lead four Spartans in double figures with 23 points.

The Pirates will play host to Washington Adventist on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in their non-conference finale. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

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Thinking of his father, WSSU's Wilhelmi emotional after victory

SALISBURY — Coach James Wilhelmi of Winston-Salem State kept apologizing for the tears.

After the Rams beat the Livingstone Blue Bears, the two-time defending CIAA champions, 81-79 in overtime, emotions got the best of Wilhelmi.

During a tearful post-game interview Wilhelmi talked about his dying father in Madison, Wisc., who has about 48 hours left to live. Jeff Wilhelmi, 67, has been fighting the late stages of stomach cancer, but that fight is almost over.

“He’s got two days to live so I have to fly up there,” Wilhelmi said just outside the Rams’ locker room at New Trent Gym. “Before the game I just told the guys that I was dedicating this game to him.”

Wilhelmi said he’s checked flights to the Midwest and could fly home Sunday to be with his
family. It’s likely he will miss Monday’s home game against Virginia Union.

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Fred McNair named Alcorn's interim head coach

INERIM HEAD FOOTBALL COACH FRED MCNAIR
ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY

LORMAN, Mississippi -- After Jay Hopson took the head coaching job at Southern Miss, Alcorn State elected to name Fred McNair as its interim coach, the school announced on Saturday night.

McNair had been on the Braves' staff since Hopson arrived in 2012. He was the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. He oversaw the development of quarterbacks John Gibbs Jr., who was SWAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2014, and Lenorris Footman when Gibbs went down with an ankle injury halfway through the 2015 season.

According to a release from Alcorn State, Derek Horne, Braves athletic director, said they'll go through a national search for Hopson's permanent replacement and that the search would begin "immediately."

With national signing day coming up this Wednesday, Alcorn State was placed in a tough spot following Hopson's departure.

Under McNair's watch, Gibbs passed for 2,482 yards and 21 touchdowns and rushed for 1,006 yards in 2014. In 2013, Gibbs passed for 2,567 and 21 touchdowns. He also rushed for 455 yards.

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Briana Green leads the offense as Southern women defeat Alcorn State 66-57

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- With Britney Washington in foul trouble and Cortnei Purnell struggling with her shot, it was up to Briana Green to lead the Southern women’s basketball team’s offense.

She did just that, scoring a game-high 20 points and making 9-of-14 field goals in 36 minutes.

Washington managed 15 points in 24 minutes and Purnell was scoreless after missing all nine of her shots but was a primary factor in Norianna Haynes, the leading scorer in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (21.4 ponts per game), scoring just eight points on 3-of-18 shooting for the Lady Braves.

It all added up to a 66-57 Jaguars victory Saturday afternoon in the F.G. Clark Activity Center. Southern (7-2 in the SWAC and 10-8 overall) visits Grambling on Saturday.

Alcorn is 2-7 and 4-15.

PHOTO GALLERY

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The cost of getting recruited

Earning a Division I scholarship in football is more expensive than you think.

JACKSON, Mississippi -- In three days, Nigel Knott will be one step closer to playing college football. The four-star Germantown cornerback is among a handful of Mississippi’s Division I prospects who will sign a letter of intent on Wednesday’s national signing day, choosing from a long list of in-state and national powers.

At the same time, former Callaway safety Dwayne Pickett Jr. will have likely wrapped up a workout at Hinds Community College, hoping to one day earn his dream offer from a Power 5program. Meanwhile, Madison-Ridgeland Academy slot receiver Karter Bounds is enjoying the final few months of his senior year, having hung up his cleats for a final time months ago.

At first glance the three have little in common, other than sharing a birth year and their sport of choice. But while their immediate futures may be very different, all three had the same goal — to play college football — and their parents quickly realized that little about the recruiting process comes free. Parents can spend thousands of dollars traveling to the various combines and camps hoping that their child will perform well enough to be noticed.

“If I had of known, I wouldn’t have gave that kid a football,” said Sabrina Givens, Knott’s mother, with a laugh. “We would’ve took up something else. I don’t know, maybe he could’ve collected baseball cards?”

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Christopher Hyder, Trelun Banks and Adrian Rodgers lead Southern to their seventh straight win, 75-64 over Alcorn State

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Christopher Hyder, Adrian Rodgers and Trelun Banks are Southern’s most reliable offensive players, and they showed why Saturday night.

Hyder orchestrated the offense expertly during his 39 minutes of play, Banks’ scoring helped the Jaguars grab the lead in the second half and Rodgers’ contributions were the key to extending it in a 75-64 victory against Alcorn State in the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

“That’s our role,” Banks said. “Those guys are seniors, I’m a junior and we’re all returning starters. Our teammates look for us to make big buckets, and we look for them to do their roles.”

Banks, who finished with 12 points, led an early-second-half surge that put Southern on top for good. Rodgers scored 13 of his 20 points during a five-minute stretch in which the lead expanded from seven points to 13. Hyder finished with 16 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals.

“Rodgers went off for a period of time, and Trelun went off for a period of time,” coach Roman Banks said. “Then once we started scoring inside, it opened things up and Hyder was able to finish it at the foul line.”

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ASU Hornets Fall by Three to SWAC-Leading Texas Southern

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- It's a broken record, but once again the Hornets get close only to lose the Texas Southern 75-72.

It was a game that was decided at the free throw line.  ASU hit seven of their eight free throws, but TSU was able to shoot 26 free throws hitting 23.  ASU was outscored by 16, which was more than the difference in a three point game.

The Hornets (6-14/1-7) made a mad rush in the final 30 seconds.  Trailing 73-67 Terrence LeFlore was able to score with 23 seconds left and after a turnover on the throw in, Jamel Waters hit a long three to cut the lead to 73-72 with 14 seconds left, but that would be the final points ASU would score.

After two David Blanks three throws with 12 seconds left to make it 75-72, Steve Rogers had a good look at a three, but it went in and came out and with it the Hornets chances of getting the game into overtime.

"We closed the gap and I know it sounds like a broken record with the outcome of these last five ball games, but we are playing with good energy, good effort and good intensity we just have to stay poised and stay patient," Head Coach Lewis Jackson said.

Waters led ASU with 18 points and a game-high eight assists.  He also had two steals.  Corvon Butler, who continues to play with a bad back, had a double-double for ASU with 15 points and 14 rebounds.  He also had four blocked shots and two steals.

"I take my hat off to Corvon Butler," Jackson said.  "He is out there playing with a bad back and we try to get him in and take him out, but he gives us great effort when he is on the court."

Torloft Thomas was the third Hornet to reach double digits as he finished with 12 points to go with his three assists and two steals.

ASU shot 39 percent from the field and hit nine of their 22 three point field goals for 41 percent.  Their 88 percent free throw shooting was strong, but once again they only had eight attempts.

Derrick Griffin was the big play man for the Tigers tonight.  He finished with a game-high 19 points and another game-high with 15 rebounds.  Malcolm Riley also had a double-double for TSU with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  Blanks finished the game with 14 points.

TSU (9-11/8-0) shot 36 percent from the field and was four-of -21 from beyond the three point line for 19 percent.  They came into Montgomery shooting 61 percent from the free throw line, which was eighth in the SWAC, but tonight their 89 percent on the 26 attempts turned out to be the difference in the game.

The first half saw the visitors head into the locker room with a 37-30 lead.  The game was fairly close in all the stats except the Hornets did not attempt a free throw while the Tigers were able to get to the free throw line where they made 10 of their 11 attempts.

TSU shot 36 percent from the field with Griffin's 11 points leading the way.  He also had eight first half rebounds as TSU was able to out rebound the Hornets 26-20.

ASU shot 35 percent from the field with Waters and Butler scoring eight points each and Butler's five rebounds leading the Hornets.

The Hornets will be back in action Monday when they host Prairie View A&M.  Opening tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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