Stars shine, come thru in pivotal games

Six-one senior guard Tyrius Walker scored a career-high 47 points, 38 after halftime including all 11 points for Morehouse in overtime and hit the game-clinching free throw with :08 seconds left in the extra period in a scintillating 103-102 win over Benedict at Forbes Arena on the Morehouse campus Monday.

Morehouse led 37-34 at halftime but was outscored 58-55 in the second half despite Walker’s 27 second-half points.

In the overtime period, he hit 3 of 5 shots from the field and 5 of 6 free throws taking all but two of the Tigers shots in the extra session. Senior backcourt mate Martravious Little chipped in 25 points.

The undefeated Tigers improved to 17-0 with the win, 12-0 in the SIAC. On Saturday, they handed Claflin its first SIAC loss 86-75 behind Walker’s 29 points. Little had 20 and James Walker had 16 off the bench. Walker’s 23.9 ppg. leads the SIAC and is 7th in Div. II.

Morehouse’s next door neighbor in Atlanta, Clark Atlanta, kept pace with the Tigers in the SIAC East as they defeated Claflin Monday 97-82 after defeating Benedict Saturday 78-75. CAU is now 18-1 overall and tied atop the SIAC with Morehouse at 12-0.

In the win over Claflin Monday, CAU had five players score in double-digits led by 20 points each from 6-6 starting forward Jalen Mitchell and 6-foot reserve guard Mark Burton.

Burton canned six 3-pointers. Point guard Anthony Williams had 14 points and team highs of 12 rebounds and five assists. In the win over Benedict Saturday, 6-2 junior guard Jamal Pollydore led the way with 19 points. There was a lot of action also in the MEAC over the weekend as well.

Howard (5-17, 2-4 MEAC), who has had four of its six MEAC games go into overtime, got its first conference wins of the season riding outstanding play from its 1-2 punch of freshman point guard R. J. Cole and sophomore Charles “CJ” Williams to overtime wins over conference co-leaders North Carolina Central (84-78) Saturday and North Carolina A&T (90-88) Monday. The losses knocked both Central and A&T out of ties for first place.

Cole scored 29 points and handed out six assists while Williams 25 had against NCCU. Cole had 23 points and 7 dimes and Williams 22 vs. A&T. Cole currently leads the MEAC at 23.3 points per game, 6th best in Div. I, and is first in assists (6.0 ).

Bethune-Cookman (11-9, 5-0), is currently in first in the MEAC after the Wildcats defeated Delaware State, 85-78 Saturday. Brandon Tabb had 26 points to pace the ‘Cats. Tabb is averaging 17.9 points and tops the league with a .938 shooting percentage from the line.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff now sits alone atop the SWAC race after the Golden Lions defeated Prairie View Saturday (72-66) and knocked off preseason favorite Texas Southern (74-72) Monday, ending TSU’s 27-game home winning streak. UAPB is now 7-0 in the SWAC, 7-13 overall. The Golden Lions were led Saturday by Martaveous McKnight’s 39 points. McKnight scored five points in the last three seconds to pull out the win vs. TSU. He currently leads the SWAC in scoring at 19.7 points per game.

TSU was coming off a 91-77 win over Mississippi Valley State behind 41 points from Donte Clark. The Tigers are playing without scoring leader Demontrae Jefferson who has been suspended indefinitely for violating team rules.

LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor