Howard women reach final, rally past UMES in a thriller

Brooklynn Fort-Davis’ threepoint play with two seconds left Friday gave the Howard women a 62-60 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore and a berth in the MEAC Tournament championship game at Scope.

The Bison (16-13) outscored UMES 21-12 in the fourth quarter, capped by a thrilling final minute, to advance to face top-seeded Norfolk State in today’s 4 p.m. final.

Aziah Hudson led the Bison with 15 points.

Mahogany Lester, a former Princess Anne High standout, had 14 points for the Hawks (10-20) as her dad, former Maury High, Maryland

Terrapins and NBA star Joe Smith, watched from the stands.

Buoyed by confidence from knocking off second-seeded Morgan State on Thursday, UMES led by as many as seven points in a first half that ended with the Hawks ahead 34-28. They expanded the margin to 48-38 before Hudson sank a 3-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer, making the score 48-41 and igniting a 10-0 run that evened the game at 48.

The game remained close, and the final minute was a roller coaster. Fort-Davis went 1 of 2 at the free-throw line to force a 56-56 tie at the 59-second mark.

In the regular season, Howard lost 64-37 at NSU, but beat the Spartans 60-55 in Washington in their regular-season finale.

Men

Howard 74, Maryland Eastern

Shore 55: Regular-season champion Howard (21-12) pulled away in the second half to defeat fourthseeded UMES (18-13) and reach today’s 1 p.m. final at Scope.

Steve Settle III and Shy Odom had 16 points apiece for the Bison. Settle had five rebounds, four blocks and three assists and Odom grabbed 10 rebounds.

Kevon Voyles and Chace Davis had nine points each for UMES, which had no double-digit scorers.