Recap: Quarterfinal Action of the MEAC Tournament
Norfolk, VA. – Thursday’s quarterfinals of the MEAC Basketball Tournament pitted Howard vs. Morgan State at 6 p.m., with South Carolina State and Delaware State closing the day with an 8 p.m. start.
In women’s action, NCCU took on No. 6 Delaware State for the quarterfinal game on Thursday, March 14. Coppin State faced the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in the opening round of the conference tournament.
The 2024 MEAC Basketball Tournament is a single-elimination tournament featuring both the conference men’s and women’s teams. The semifinal games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
WBB: Lawrence, Jones Lead Coppin State in Win Over UMES
Laila Lawrence scored a game-high 19, and Angel Jones added 14 to lead Coppin State to a 61-55 win over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (15-15) in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament at the Scope Arena.
The two teams battled back and forth through the first three quarters, with neither able to lead by more than three until the Eagles (12-17) were able to finish strong in the third quarter and take a 44-38 lead into the final stanza.
Lawrence, who connected on 7 of 14 from the floor and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, teamed with Jones to score 12 of their team’s 19 points in the third period.
In the fourth quarter, Angel Jones got into the act, tallying seven of her nine points, as Coppin State managed to keep the Hawks at bay by maintaining a seven-to-nine-point advantage.
UMES rallied on the scoring of Lainey Allen and Chaniqwa Gilliam, who led a surge that cut the deficit from 56-44 to 58-55 with a little under a minute remaining. Coppin State’s Mossi Staples thwarted the Hawks’ bid, converting on the last three free throws of the game to advance to the semis.
Coppin State advances to the semi-final game against No. 1 Norfolk State University on Friday, March 15th, for a 12 pm tip-off.
WBB: NCCU Uses Strong Fourth Quarter to Pull Away From Delaware State
North Carolina Central University used an 18-4 run to start the fourth quarter to pull away to a 66-56 win over Delaware State in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament at the Norfolk Scope Arena.
The game was a nip-and-tuck affair, with seven ties and four lead changes. The Eagles led 14-12 at the end of one, and from there, it was 30-all tied at intermission. Using Denijsha Wilson‘s scoring, Delaware State managed a 46-42 lead at the end of three.
Then the Eagles took over, embarking on a run that saw them come from behind and open a 60-50 lead at the 2:30 mark. The run was sparked by Kumeira Burks and Ariya Finger, who accounted for 12 of the Eagles’ 18 points.
Burke led NCCU with 13 points, while Finger finished with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Morgan Callahan with 9 points and 12 rebounds.
The Hornets (8-21) were led by Brooks and Wilson, who each scored 16 points, and Deyonce Thompson, who scored 11 points.
The Eagles (17-14), the number 3 seed, advance to the semifinal round against Howard University, the N0. 2 seed, on Friday at 2 pm. During the regular season, Central swept Howard, with both games going into overtime.
Howard Men Down Morgan State 78-65 in Quarterfinal Action of the MEAC Tournament
Bryce Harris scored 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds, both game highs and Jordan Hairston added 17 points and six boards to power third-seeded Howard to a 78-65 win over sixth-seeded Morgan State Thursday in quarterfinal action of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) at The Scope.
Will Thomas scored 27 points on 11-21 field shooting for Morgan State. However, he was the lone Bear player in double figures. Kamron Hobbs and Rob Lawson added nine points each for the Bears, who ended their year at 11-20.
Morgan trailed 40-31 at the half before chipping away at the Bison lead and closing to within 52-50 when reserve Christian Oliver got inside for a basket with 16:06 to play. But Howard, behind the play of Marcus Dockery, went on a 13-0 run to build a 65-50 lead and take control of the contest with 7:31 to play. Dockery, who finished with 13 points, had eight of his total – including two 3-pointers – during the run.
The Bears got a three-point play from Allen Udemadu and two free throws from Wynston Tabbs to come to within 10 points, 65-55, with just under seven minutes on the clock, but the 7-2 Bison run pushed the lead to 74-57 with 4:35 remaining and Howard went on to secure the victory.
The Bison, who improved to 16-16 on the season, will face top-seeded Norfolk State in Friday’s MEAC semifinals at 6 p.m.
No. 6 Delaware State Upsets No.3 South Carolina State in Round One
Sixth-seeded Delaware State outscored the third-seeded Bulldogs of South Carolina State 44-22 to register a 71-58 come-from-behind win Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament at The Scope.
Hornet guards Deywilk Tavarez and Martaz Robinson scored all but 20 of Delaware State’s 71 points in the victory. Tavarez tossed in 29 points, including a 13-14 effort from the charity stripe, while Robinson had 22 points and was 14-16 from the line. He also led the Hornets on the board with 12 rebounds.
Omar Croskey led the Bulldogs with 13 points and Michael Teal with 12. Croskey and Drayton Jones had five rebounds each to lead the Bulldogs on the boards. The Bulldogs finished the year 14-18.
SC State led by as many as 13 in the first half before settling for a 36-27 advantage at the half. The Bulldogs, who had swept the regular-season series against Delaware State, started the second half cold. The hot-shooting that occurred early in the contest when Coach Erik Martin’s team took a 36-23 lead with 1:32 on the first-half clock was nowhere to be found.
Conversely, the Hornets opened the second half with a 12-0 run to go ahead 39-36 on two Robinson free throws with 14:15 to play.
SC State got its first points of the final stanza on a 3-pointer by Croskey to deadlock the contest at 39-all with 13:02 to play, but an 18-4 Hornet spree put Delaware State ahead 57-43 with 6:40 remaining. The closest SC State came after that was 10 points, the last time at 68-58, but only 43.3 seconds remained.
Delaware State advances to Friday’s MEAC semifinals, where they will face North Carolina Central, the second seed, at 8 p.m.
For more information about the 2024 MEAC Basketball Tournament, visit www.MEAChoops.com.
Feature image: Photo of NCCU’s Aniya Finger during Thursday’s MEAC quarterfinals win over Delaware State (Courtesy of NCCU Athletics)