State hoops roundup (Jan. 30): Kendley's 21 lead Morgan St. men over Florida A&M

Tiwian Kendley scored 21 points, including three 3-pointers, to help the Morgan State men's basketball team pull away early from visiting Florida A&M for a 77-60 win Monday night.

Antonio Gillespie added 17 points and Kyle Thomas had 12 for Morgan State (10-11, 7-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference), which never trailed. Martez Cameron had 10 assists to go with seven points, and the win kept the Bears in first place in the MEAC.

Morgan State opened with a 10-0 run that included three baskets from Kendley and continued pulling away, taking a 41-24 advantage into the break. Tyjhai Byers' layup in the second half gave Morgan State its largest lead of the game, 56-29, and the Bears coasted the rest of the way.

Justin Ravenel led Florida A&M (5-16, 3-5) with nine points, while Derrick Dandridge and Craig Bowman added eight points each.

Hampton 77, Coppin State 65: Jermaine Marrow had 22 points, a career-high eight rebounds and two steals, and the host Pirates beat the Eagles to end a three-game skid.

Lawrence Cooks scored 17 and Kalin Fisher added 14 for Hampton (7-13, 4-3 MEAC), which has a one-game lead in its 37-game series with Coppin State.

Chas Brown hit a pair of free throws to cap a 7-0 run and give Coppin State (5-18, 4-4) an 18-17 lead, but Cooks answered with back-to-back 3-pointers before Trevond Barnes hit a third with 4:46 left in the half to put the Pirates in front for good.

A layup by Cooks made it 57-45 with 8:40 to go but Dejuan Clayton scored eight points, including two 3s, as Coppin State trimmed its deficit to 67-63 with 1:51 remaining. Charles Wilson-Fisher's dunk 11 seconds later ignited a 10-2 run to close the game.

Clayton led Coppin State with 20 points.

Savannah State 87, UMES 82: Troyce Manassa scored 13 of his 20 points in the final six minutes and the Tigers closed with a 17-7 run to beat the host Hawks to remain one game back of MEAC leader Morgan State.

McClanahan had 18 points, Austin Dasent scored 15 and Joshua Floyd 13 for Savannah State (10-12, 7-2), which has won six in a row.

Bakari Copeland converted a 3-point play to pull UMES (7-15, 4-3) within three with 1:38 to play, and Dante Caldwell's free throw made it 82-80 with 18 seconds left. Manassa made three of four free throws, and Dasent hit a pair to seal it.

Caldwell had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Derrico Peck scored 12 with 11 rebounds for UMES.

Women

Hampton 78, Coppin State 54: Ashley Bates scored 18 points to lift the host Pirates (13-7, 7-0 MEAC) over the Eagles (4-16, 4-4).

Genesis Lucas led Coppin State with 13 points. Oluwaseun Adeniji added 11 points and six rebounds.

Florida A&M 61, Morgan State 26: The Rattlers (6-15, 4-4) scored the first 16 points of the game and cruised to a victory over the host Bears (2-19, 0-8 MEAC).

Shalaunda Burney-Robinson scored a game-high 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting for Florida A&M.

Kaylin Ellis scored six points and Tykyrah Williams came off the bench to add six for Morgan State, which shot 16.1 percent from the field (9-for-56).

Savannah State 59, UMES 58: Kenyata Hendrix's layup gave the Tigers (7-14, 5-4 MEAC) a 57-54 lead with 21 seconds remaining and Deyja Brown made two late free throws to seal the victory.

All nine Hawks scored in the contest, despite shooting only 31 percent from the field (22-for-70). Keyera Eaton had a game-high 15 points for host UMES (8-10, 2-5).

Mount St. Mary's 61, Sacred Heart 59: The Mountaineers (6-15, 4-6 Northeast Conference) rallied for a win over the visiting Pioneers (11-10, 8-2).

Caroline Hummell converted a pair of free throws to put the Mountaineers up 61-59 with just 23 seconds remaining.

Alexis Carter scored a team-high 16 points and five rebounds, while Mikal Johnson and Hummell added 14 points apiece for Mount St. Mary's.