Men’s and Women’s Basketball Round-up
BCSP Notes
CIAA MEN
In a battle of men’s CIAA division leaders, North Division leader Virginia Union got three free throws from Travis Vaughn with :02 seconds left to pull out a 66-64 win at S. Div. leader Claflin.
Six-one sophomore guard Bobby Gardner and 6-4 senior forward Noah Richardson-Keyes led the Panthers (14-2, 4-1 N) with 16 points each. Claflin (8-7, 5-1 S) was led by 19 points from 6-4, junior guard Ramere Draper. Draper committed the foul on a Vaughn 3-point attempt that led to the winning points.
CIAA WOMEN
Winston-Salem State is the only undefeated team women’s team (4-0) in conference play and has now won a team-record 13 straight games (13-1). The Lady Rams are being led by 6-3 sophomore forward Maia Charles, currently second in the league at 16.4 points per game and third in rebounding at 9.2 per game. Charles also tops the league in field goal percentage (.524) and is second in blocks per game (2.3). She also averages 2.3 steals per game (10th).
MEAC
Maryland-Eastern Shore second-year basketball head coaches, Malikah Willis for the women and Cleo Hill Jr. for the men, are experiencing unprecedented success early in the MEAC season.
Both are 3-0 thru the first week of league play with both scoring wins over preseason league favorites Norfolk State and Howard.
MEN
Hill’s Hawks knocked off Howard 69-57 Saturday and Norfolk State 74-70 Monday. They had four players to score in double-digits in both games.
Against NSU, UMES went into the break with a 32-31 lead but fell down by as many as seven points (60-53) with five-plus minutes to play. The Hawks rallied and took the lead at 69-68 with :21 seconds left on Michael Teal’s layup. Jaden Cooper had 19 points, including 7 points over the final two minutes including four of four clutch free throws in the final :08 seconds. Six-eight senior G/F Zion Obanla came off the bench to lead the Hawks with 20 points and 8 boards.
Vs. Howard, the Hawks broke from a 45-all tie over the final 12 minutes, outscoring the Bison 24-12 to pull out the win. Obanla had a team-high 7 rebounds and was the fourth double-digit scorer with 10 points. Dorion Staples led UMES with 16, Cooper had 13 and Teal 11.
Now at 3-0, tied with N. C. Central, it is the best start to conference play for a UMES team since the school became a Div. I institution in 1981.
WOMEN
Willis’s Lady Hawks’ single-digit wins over Howard and NSU came with balanced scoring.
They clawed their way to the win over the Lady Spartans Monday. UMES led 27-20 at the half only to see NSU outscore them 26-18 in the third quarter to grab a 46-45 lead heading to the final period.
Reserves rescued UMES. The Lady Hawks tied the score at 54 on Jailynn Clayton’s jumper with 6:01 left and took its first fourth-quarter lead on Dakieran Turner’s jumper with 2:15 to play. NSU tied the score at 60 with :31 seconds left but did not score again. Brianna Barners’ layup put the ladies up for good at 62-60 at the :19 second mark and Turner added a free throw with :04 second left for the final points.
Starters Dayshawna Jackson (19 points), Ashanti Lynch (15) and Kalise Hill (11) led UMES.
UMES outscored Howard 23-13 in the final quarter to erase a 43-39 deficit at the beginning of the period to knock off the Lady Bison Saturday. Barnes, a 5-11 senior forward, came off the bench to lead the ladies with 22 points and dished out a team-high six assists. Turner had a team-high 11 rebounds as UMES outrebounded the Lady Bison 45-34.
SIAC MEN
Headed to a showdown with Atlanta rival and second-place Clark Atlanta Wednesday (1/14), Morehouse (8-7, 8-3 E) was on top of the East Division race.
The Maroon Tigers posted wins last week over Allen (81-68, Thursday) and Benedict (58-54, Saturday). They had an array of scoring leaders in the wins. Sincere Moore (17 points) and Omar Farah (12) were the double-digit scorers vs. Benedict. Isaiah Lawson (22 points), Sincere Key (15) and JerMontae Hill (14) paced the win over Allen.
Tuskegee (11-2, 10-1 W) is setting the pace in the West after close wins over LeMoyne-Owen (59-57) and Lane (73-70).
Senior guard R. J. Walker’s 3-point basket off an assist from Kusamae Draper with :19 seconds left was the difference in the win over LOC Thursday. Draper led the Golden Tigers with 15 points and 8 rebounds.
Draper tied junior guard Khalil Genwright with 19 points (and 10 rebounds) in the win over Lane. TU trailed 29-26 at the half as was down by as much as 11 twice in the second half before rallying. The Tigers tied the game at 62 on Draper’s tip-in with 2:46 to play and took its first second-half lead at 67-66 on a 3-pointer by Derek Bolton III with 1:21 left. After Lane canned two free throws to go up 68-67, a Genwright dunk gave TU a 69-68 lead it would not relinquish. The Tigers made 4 of 6 free throws in the final half-minute to secure the win.
SIAC WOMEN
Albany State and Edward Waters are both 8-3 atop the race in the East with Clark Atlanta just a half-game behind at 8-4. CAU got a 73-63 win over EWU Thursday to pull within a half-game and then walloped Savannah State 92-60 Saturday. Five-ten G/F Atreonia Garner led the Lady Tigers in both wins.
At 11-1, Miles has a 2 1/2 game lead over Lane (8-3) in the West. Trailing 35-33 at the half, Miles outscored Lane 41-27 in the final two quarters to pull away to a 74-62 win Thursday. Samarian Franklin’s 15 points and 8 rebounds keyed the win.
SWAC MEN
After a 3-9 start to the season, new Florida A&M head coach Charlie Ward, the former Florida State Heisman Trophy winner and NBA veteran, got his first SWAC wins of the season at home vs. Grambling State and Southern.
Ward’s Rattlers (5-9, 2-1 SWAC) lost their SWAC opener 87-83 to in-state rival Bethune-Cookman on Jan. 3 before defeating Southern 67-59 Saturday and Grambling 91-84 Monday. Six-five senior guard Micah Octave had 12 points and 8 rebounds vs. SU and 20 points and 8 rebounds with five 3s vs. GSU.
FAMU trails Prairie View A&M who tied Arkansas-Pine Bluff at the top of the standings at 3-1 after securing back-to-back wins. PV nipped Miss. Valley State 70-69 Saturday and handed UAPB its first conference loss, 73-61 Monday. Cory Wells had 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals to lead PV over UAPB. Wells had 14 points and 8 boards vs. MVSU backing up the league’s top scorer (23.0 ppg.) Tai’Reon Joseph’s 23 points.
FAMU is at UAPB this Saturday.
SWAC WOMEN
Southern, Alabama A&M and Texas Southern lead the SWAC women’s race at 3-1.
Alabama A&M got 19 points from Kalia Walker and 18 points and 12 rebounds from Moses Davenport in walloping Alcorn State 76-34 Saturday. Walker and Davenport both tallied 12 points to lead a 69-59 win over Jackson State Thursday. Southern dropped its first league game to Florida A&M 60-57 Saturday.
Jordan Marshall was the catalyst for two TSU wins getting 29 points Saturday in a win vs. UAPB and 15 in a win Thursday vs. MVSU.
BCSP NFL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
For NFL Wild Card playoff games of January 10 – 12, 2026
OFFENSE
– #71 TYTUS HOWARD, OL, Houston (7th season, ALABAMA STATE) – In the Texans’ 30-6 win win over Pittsburgh Monday night in the final Wild Card weekend game, Howard started at left guard as the Houston offensive line paved the way for 164 rushing yards on 31 carries (5.3 yards per carry) and one rushing TD and a 21 of 32 passing performance for 250 yards and one TD while giving three sacks for -6 yards. Howard played all68 offense snaps (100%) and five snaps on special teams (20%).
DEFENSE
– #14 COBIE DURANT, CB, Los Angeles Rams (3rd season, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE) – In the Rams’ 34-31 win over Carolina Saturday in the NFC Wild Card game, Durant started at cornerback and had one solo tackle, an interception returned 11 yards, and was credited with two pass break-ups while logging 60 snaps on defense (90%) and five on special teams (16%).
Durant’s video highlight: https://www.therams.com/video/rams-cobie-durant-snags-panthers-bryce-young-deflected-pass-for-turnover-wild-card
– #53 CLAUDIN CHERELUS, LB, Carolina (3rd season, ALCORN STATE) – In the Panthers’ 34-31 loss to the Los Angeles Rams Satuday in an NFC Wild Card game, Cherelus started at linebacker and tied for team high with nine total tackles, four solos with one hit on the quarterback. He was in for 55 defensive snaps (72%) and six on special teams (19%).
SPECIAL TEAMS
– #33 BHAYSHUL TUTEN, RB, Jacksonville (Rookie, NORTH CAROLINA A&T/Virginia Tech) – In Jacksonville’s 27-24 loss to Buffalo in the AFC Wild Card game Sunday, Tuten carried four times for 51 yards (12.8 yards per carry) with a long run of 20 yards. He also had three kickoff returns for 49 yards (16.3 yards per return) with a long return of 21 yards. He was in for 16 offensive snaps (29%) and six on special teams (23%).
