Second season begins
- The pre-New Year's non-conference schedule was again harsh on NCAA
Div. I black college basketball squads as only one, 7-5
South Carolina State of the MEAC, emerged with a winning record.
Head coach Ben Betts' Bulldogs have played exceptionally well against competition from some of America's major conferences. They posted early wins over Miami (60-50) of the ACC and Penn State (63-43) of the Big Ten en route to a 5-1 start.
After splitting two MEAC road games in Baltimore, a loss in overtime at Morgan State (85-80) and a win at Coppin State (65-56), the Bulldogs have dropped three of four games. The closest decision was an overtime loss at SEC in-state rival South Carolina (68-65).
MEAC POY Thurman Zimmerman (18.4 ppg., 7.3 rpg.) and ROY Brian Mason (10.3 ppg., 4.3 rpg.) have been outstanding but freshman point guard Derrick Davis (9.6 ppg., 47.9% FG, 40% 3FG, 76.9% FT%) has been key.
MEAC GAMES TO WATCH
Sat., Jan. 8
Norfolk State @ SC State
Mon., Jan. 10
Hampton @ SC State
- Amongst the Div. II brethren, 8-0 Virginia Union
and 9-0 Bowie State are undefeated and ranked first and fifth
respectively in national polls.
VUU has won all but one of its games by a double-digit margin, an 87-78 win at Wayne State.
The closest anyone has come to defeating Bowie State is Cheyney who fell to the Bulldogs 104-94. BSU has topped the century-mark in six of its nine contests and is averaging 100.3 points per game.
The two powerhouses are odds-on favorites to take the CIAA's East Division top seeds and each will get tests this week from West Division contenders, Johnson C. Smith and North Carolina Central.
CIAA GAMES TO WATCH
Sat., Jan. 8
JC Smith @ Virginia Union
Mon., Jan. 10
NC Central @ Bowie State
- No one in the SWAC has come through the pre-New Year's schedule
with a winning record but Southern has
played well despite missing preseason Player of the Year pick,
Deon Saunders.
The 6-7 do-everything forward is just returning from knee surgery and has played in only three games for the 4-6 Jaguars.
Saunders, who tore up the league after becoming eligible in the second semester last year averaging 18 points and nine rebounds per game, is expected to round into shape soon and return to form in about two weeks, according to Southern head coach Michael Grant.
Meantime, Grant is getting excellent play from juco transfer point guard Chris Alexander, who is leading the Jaguars in scoring at 15.2 points per game, and power forward Peter Cipriano who is averaging 13.2 points while shooting 65% from the field, among the ten best shooting percentages in Div. I.
Cipriano's 11. 2 rebounds per game is tops in the SWAC and eighth in the nation.
SWAC GAMES TO WATCH
Sat., Jan. 8
Southern @ Grambling State
Mon., Jan. 10
Alabama State @ Miss. Valley State
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