The Norfolk State Spartans secured their second consecutive victory with an 86-61 win over the Elizabeth City State Vikings on Monday evening at Echols Hall.
Anthony McComb III led the Spartans (9-12) with 25 points, shooting 7 of 11 from the field. He added a team-best seven rebounds, three assists and one steal, while connecting on 8 of 9 at the free-throw line. Devon Ellis (15 points), Elijah Jamison (12) and Melo Baines (11) also reached double figures.
The Division II Vikings (2-12) are coached by John Richardson, who coached Woodside High to state championships and was an assistant for Old Dominion and Virginia Tech, among other schools. They opened the contest with a 4-0 run before McComb sparked the Spartans with a jumper to ignite a 16-2 Norfolk State surge.
ECSU pulled even at 26, but NSU took command with a 43-35 edge by halftime. The Spartans then began the second half on a 19-3 run to take a 62-38 lead by the 14-minute mark, and they led by as many as 30 (84-54).
CJ McCord led ECSU with 12 points. Former Woodside star Trevor Smith, whose father, Tim, got his jersey retired recently by Denbigh, added 10 points.
George Mason 69, George Washington 64: George Mason survived a nerve-wracking finish in Fairfax, improving the Patriots to 18-1, 6-0 in the Atlantic 10. Riley Allenspach scored 18 points for the hosts, whose only loss was at Virginia Tech.
Garrett Johnson netted 18 points for GW (12-7, 3-3), which led 15-6, fell behind 38-30 by halftime, then rallied to briefly go ahead. Jahari Long sank a 3-pointer, his first basket of the game, to put the Patriots ahead 63-62 with 1:56 to go. Kory Mincy’s layup clinched the victory with 9 seconds remaining.
VCU 79, Saint Joseph’s 72: Junior Michael Belle scored a career-high 20 points off the bench at sold-out Siegel Center.
Belle added five rebounds and three steals for the Rams (13-6, 4-2 Atlantic 10). Brandon Jennings scored 18 points while going 4 for 4 from 3-point range.
Derek Simpson finished with 27 points and four assists for the Hawks (11-8, 3-3). Saint Joseph’s also got 10 points, nine rebounds and six blocks from Justice Ajogbor.
VCU, which trailed 46-39, took the lead for good with 6:58 remaining on a free throw from Tyrell Ward to make it 60-59, but the game was in doubt until the final seconds.
Cavaliers climb to 14th: Virginia moved up two spots to No. 14, while Arizona (18-0) is the unanimous No. 1 in the men’s Associated Press Top 25 for the first time. The Wildcats received all 61 votes from a media panel in Monday’s poll.
No. 7 Nebraska (18-0) moved up a spot this week to notch its highest ranking ever. No. 24 Saint Louis (17-1) is ranked for the first time since reaching No. 22 in 2021. No. 25 Miami of Ohio is ranked for the first time since a three-week stint in the AP Top 25 in 1998-99.
No. 18 Clemson made the biggest move among teams already in the poll, climbing four places after wins over Boston College and Miami. No. 22 North Carolina had the week’s biggest drop, losing eight places after being swept at Stanford and California.
Women
No. 1 Connecticut 85, Notre Dame 47: Sarah Strong had 18 points, 11 rebounds and three steals as the Huskies (19-0) dominated the Irish (12-6) in Storrs, outscoring them 53-24 in the second half. All five UConn starters scored in double digits, including Azzi Fudd with 15 points.
Hannah Hidalgo had 16 points and three steals for Notre Dame.
No. 5 Vanderbilt 72, No. 7 Michigan 69: Freshman guard Aubrey Galvan hit a late free throw and finished with 20 points in a in the Coretta Scott King Classic doubleheader at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Galvan was 7 of 14 from the field. Mikayla Blakes and Justine Pissott, both New Jersey prep stars, scored 14 points apiece for Vanderbilt (19-0).
Syla Swords and Kendall Dudley each scored 16 points for Michigan (15-3). Swords’ 3-point try from the right corner fell short as time expired.
No. 12 Ohio State 71, No. 9 TCU 69: Also in Newark, Chance Gray scored 22 points, Jaloni Cambridge had 18 and Elsa Lemmila added 17 for the Buckeyes. The game was tied eight times in the fourth quarter before Ohio State (17-2) took the lead for good at 67-66 on a free throw from Cambridge with 1:10 to play. The Buckeyes picked up their sixth straight win.
The game had special meaning for Gray, a senior guard from Cincinnati. Her great-grandfather Benjamin Hooks worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and was once the executive director of the NAACP. Olivia Miles had 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for TCU.
UConn stays at No. 1: Before Monday’s games, No. 10 Iowa cracked the top 10 for the first time in two years, and UConn remained the unanimous No. 1 choice in the AP poll, followed by No. 2 South Carolina and No. 3 UCLA. Duke reentered the poll at No. 21.