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Hampton, Alcorn State emerge unscathed
LUT WILLIAMS While the nation paused to celebrate and commemorate the life and accomplishments of the Rev. Dr. Marting Luther King, Jr., leaders in all four black college conferences took to the court to square off with their nearest competitors in telling games to the outcome of regular season races. Shaw (13-2, 3-0 CIAA E) entered the week atop the BCSP ranking but suffered its first black college loss of the season to Winston-Salem State (13-3, 2-1 CIAA W) Thursday. Johnson C. Smith (12-4, 2-0 CIAA W) then felled WSSU, 86-71 Sunday in Charlotte, N. C., in a showdown of CIAA West Division contenders. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference kingpin Hampton (13-5, 8-0 MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference front-runner Alcorn State (9-5, 8-0 SWAC) got two wins to keep their records unblemished inside the conference. The Pirates and Braves took over the top two spots in the latest BCSP men's ranking. Clark-Atlanta moved to 6-0 in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, 8-2 overall, with a big 88-83 win over second-place LeMoyne-Owen Monday in Atlanta. The Panthers downed Miles Saturday. MEAC
Steve Merfeld's Pirates escaped with a 58-55 win Saturday over Greg Jackson's Delaware State (9-8, 6-2 MEAC) Hornets squad before pounding Frankie Allen's Bison of Howard, 79-58, Monday. Hampton could not shake DelState who came back from a ten-point second half deficit to get within 56-55 with a minute to play. Senior guard Tommy Adams got the final two of his game-high 19 points at the line to salt away the victory. Against Howard, the Pirates unleashed a second half barrage outscoring the Bison 52-26 to reverse a 32-27 halftime deficit. Hampton got strong play from each of its starters led by 22 points from freshman swingman Devin Green. Hampton travels to Bethune-Cookman Saturday before returning home Monday for a date with Florida A&M. DelState, who took over sole possession of second place with an 82-62 pounding of Norfolk State Monday, hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore Saturday. SWAC Dave Whitney's Braves of Alcorn State handed defending SWAC champion Alabama State its first conference loss of the season and remained on top of the conference ledger with a 75-61 win Saturday night. All-conference forward Marcus Fleming had 17 points and 12 rebounds, both game-highs, to lead four Braves in double figures. Alcorn shot 51% (28 of 54) from the field and 88% (15 of 17) from the line in the victory over Ron Spivery's Hornets. Alcorn State got 22 points in 22 minutes from reserve guard Brian Jackson Monday to get by Alabama A&M, 91-82. The Braves are at Southern Saturday and face non-conference foe Texas-El Paso Monday. SIAC Head coach Anthony Witherspoon's son led Clark-Atlanta to the tough win over second-place Lemoyne-Owen. Anthony Witherspoon, Jr. and Steve Walters had 20 points and CAU's leading scorer William Rice got 18, all in the first half, as the Panthers squeaked by Jerry Johnson's Magicians. Larry Boykins had a game-high 29 for LOC in the loss. The Panthers disposed of Miles 70-64 Saturday as Rice had 24 points. CAU is at Kentucky State on Saturday and is at cross-street rival Morehouse Tuesday. CIAA WSSU began the week by going into Raleigh and knocking off Shaw 76-69 in an inter-divisional matchup. Leading scorer Shawn Alexander (19 points) engineered a patient second half attack that allowed the Rams to pull away down the stretch. Shaw center Steve Bynes had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bears while black college scoring leader Ronald Murray was held to 16 points. The Rams beat St. Paul's 91-77 Saturday before being ambushed by JCSU Sunday in Charlotte's Legacy Classic. The Golden Bulls placed six players in double figure scoring, led by all-star guard Antoine Sims' 16, to get the win. Alexander had 18 in the loss. The two teams face off again Saturday in Winston-Salem. WSSU also tangles with Fayetteville State (9-4, 1-1 CIAA W) on Tuesday while JCSU faces NC Central. Shaw, still atop the East Division standings faces Fayetteville State Thursday, Livingstone Saturday and Virginia Union on Tuesday. © 2002 Azeez Communications, Inc.
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