By Brittany Webb, Sports Editor
Posted 3:30 PM EST, Fri., Feb. 10, 2017
Track and Field:
Last week, the Howard Bison track and field team traveled to New York for the Villanova Invitational at the Ocean Breeze Track and Field Complex. The team finished with 10 top eight finishes. The women’s long jump contributed to two of the eight, senior Hanah Billups placed fourth and Taleya Harris placed seventh. Billups also finished second in the triple jump. Senior Olujimi Scott placed second in the 200-meter dash, while senior Matthew Colvin placed second in the men’s long jump, followed by junior Landrie Hatcher placing third.
Going above and beyond were sophomore Uchechi Onuoha and Mohammed Bah. Onuoha qualified for the MEAC Indoor Championship Meet, qualifying in two events, while Bah set a new school record in the 1,000 meter invitational run, placing second with a time of 2:29.75.
This past Saturday, Feb. 4, Scott won the 400-meter dash and placed second in the 200-meter dash, breaking his own personal record with a time of 21.85, qualifying for the MEAC. Other qualifiers were junior Cheyenne Bellerand, senior Robert Mercer and freshman Sydney Benson. Bellerand qualified in the MEACs in the shot put, throwing a 12.93-meter, finishing fifth at the meet. Mercer qualified in the pole vault with a jump of 4.55 meters, and Benson qualified for MEACs setting a personal record time of 2:14.23 in her event.
Basketball:
Women: On Saturday, Feb. 4, the Lady Bison’s winning streak was broken, losing to Florida A&M University 51-55. Having played a strong first half, leading 30-19, the Lady Bison struggled to contain the Lady Rattlers come second half. Junior Erin Blaine finished with a double-double, scoring 11 points and getting 13 rebounds. Senior Sydni Johnson finished with 14 points and four steals.
Both teams made less than 50 percent of their shots for the entire game.
On Monday, the Lady Bison took another loss to Bethune-Cookman losing 54-75. The Lady Wildcats (8-1 MEAC) were 60.5 percent (26-43) from the floor, opposed to the Lady Bison who shot 25.7 percent (18-70).
Despite the Lady Bison going back and forth with the Lady Wildcats to lead the game, come the fourth quarter, the Lady Wildcats were 68-47 with 6:01 left on the game clock, and the leading team would change for the rest of the game.
Kendra Cooper finished with a game-high 22 points, while Ashanti Hunt, Kailyn Williams and Alea Godfrey finished with 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The team is now 10-11 overall, 6-3 in the MEAC. Their next game is on Saturday against the Hampton Pirates. Tip-off is at 4p.m. in Hampton, VA.
Recognized Player: Freshman Sarah Edmond was named MEAC Rookie of the Week this past Monday.
Men:
On Saturday, the men’s basketball team failed to break their losing streak, falling short to the Florida A&M Rattlers 71-62.
The Bison had a tough start to the game, trailing the Rattlers in the first half. The Rattlers took advantage of the Bison after James Miller and Charles Williams were taken out of the game due to early foul trouble. Capitalizing off of their foul trouble and the inability of the Bison to get in the game, the Rattlers took a 40-24 point lead.
Come the second half, Solomon Mangham and Tyler Stone would help pick the Bison back up, having an essential role in the score being brought to 55-50, with the Bison trailing by five. However, that was the closest the score would be for the rest of the game. The Bison struggled with turnovers and missed free throws.
Damon Collins and Miller both finished with 14 points, while Solomon and Stone finished with 13 and 10, respectively. Williams finished with five points.
On Monday, the Bison took another loss against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. Williams scored a game-high 21, Collins finished with 18 and Miller with 16. This was the fifth consecutive loss for the Bison.
In an interview with HUBison, head coach Kevin Nickelberry acknowledges the team’s lack of “a true point guard” as a downfall, allowing other teams to have “success exploiting us.”
