Spartan Echo

Christian Ings and Jalen Myers celebrating (Matthew Patterson/NSU Athletics).

Spartans’ men’s basketball defeated the Howard University Bison on January 25th in Joseph Echols Hall, giving the Bison their first conference loss. The Spartans shot 100% from the free throw line which is the first time in the program’s history.

“It was good to get an in-conference win. Last time we played in-conference, we lost, and it was a heartbreaker against Morgan,” said Spartans men’s basketball Head Coach Robert Jones. “To be able to bounce back against the first-place team was tremendous for us and the program and going forward.”

 

A milestone presentation took place prior to the game to honor Spartan guards Sin’Cere McMahon and Christian Ings. Both McMahon and Ings surpassed their 1,000 career points earlier this season at Hampton and were honored with a commemorative basketball.

The Bison got the first basket of the game by forward, Calvin Robins Jr., from fast ball movement across the court, but was followed by a layup from Ings to give the teams their first tie of the game.

Slight interference occurred for the Bison when a ref found his way in between two bison players trying to pass the ball and ended up being hit by the ball. That mishap didn’t upset the Bison’s structure, as Bison guard Marcus Dockery made a layup with no Spartan defenders in the area to stop him.

The Spartans, not letting that go unnoticed, had a fast break down the court that led to forward, Chris Fields, making a layup and getting an and-one. Soon after, Spartan forward, Kulel Mading, made the first dunk of the game with the assist by guard, Jaylani Darden.

Both teams were aggressive on defense and forced shot clock violations on the other. They fought for the lead having 7 ties and 15 lead changes, but the teams tied to end the first half 35-35.

“I get why people are very interested in this game. Howard is a good team–they’re going to probably be juiced up and to get some get back on us,” said Jones. “By the time we get to the last game of the season, hopefully that game doesn’t mean too much. Hopefully we’ll have a big enough lead to secure our first seed in the MEAC tournament. “

Spartan guard, Brian Moore, came out of halftime determined to take hold of the game getting a two-point jumper, layup, and a free throw.The Bison thought they had a chance to make a basket themselves off of a fast break, but Mading was right behind them and blocked Bison guard Jaren Johnson’s attempted layup

Spartans missed three shots back-to-back giving Bison guard Blake Harper an opportunity to make his own two-point jumper in an attempt to close the gap in score. While the Bison were inbounding the ball, Spartan forward Jalen Myers got a steal which led to a layup by Ings.

The last five minutes of the matchup were filled with dunks by both teams. First an alley-oop from Darden to Ings, then Robins landed a dunk of his own before a timeout, and Darden again with 15 seconds left of the game found Moore to end the game 92-75.

“I posted something recently that I didn’t get on the rim in a minute and just to have that be my last bucket was crazy,” said Moore. “It was just one of those nights. You have to just go with the flow, so it was just good to see.”

 

Spartan leaders of the game were Brian Moore Jr. with 30 points, Jalen Myers with eight rebounds, and Jaylani Darden with five assists. Bison leaders of the game were Cameron Shockley-Okeke with 19 points, Jaren Johnson with five rebounds, and Blake Harper 7 assists.

 

The Spartans next game will be against the South Carolina State Bulldogs on February 1st at Joseph Echols Hall. The game will be at 4:30 and streaming on ESPN Plus.