Bethea powers Pirates to first-round victory
HAMPTON — Raymond Bethea Jr. hit the biggest shot of his career Saturday, a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds left that gave Hampton University a 67-65 victory over Presbyterian in a Big South tournament first-round game at the HU Convocation Center.
By ousting the 10th-seeded Blue Hose, seventh-seeded Hampton earned a ticket west to face second-seeded Radford in a 6 p.m. quarterfinal Monday. The Highlanders beat the Pirates twice in the regular season at Dedmon Center.
Davion Warren scored 19 points and Russell “Deuce” Dean added 17 points for Hampton (11-13), while Bethea, a junior from Atlantic City, New Jersey, finished with 11 points. Dajour Dickens had 11 points and six blocks for HU. Owen McCormack scored a career-high 22 points for the Blue Hose (7-15) of Clinton, South Carolina. Trevon Reddish added 17 points and eight rebounds, and Rayshon Harrison had 13 points.
Presbyterian (7-15) took its first lead since 3-2 on a three-point play by Owen McCormack with nine seconds left for a 65-64 advantage. Hampton called timeout and Warren found Bethea on the wing for his go-ahead shot. A last-second try by Rayshon Harrison was off the mark, and Hampton advanced.
The Pirates took a 36-19 lead on a Dean layup with 97 seconds left in the first half. In the second half, Presbyterian went on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 38-37 on a threepoint play by Trevon Reddish, and the game was close thereafter.
HAMPTON 67, PRESBYTERIAN 65 PRESBYTERIAN (7-15):
Hill 4-6 3-3 11, McCormack 7-8 5-6 22, Harrison 4-16 3-5 13, Reddish 7-14 2-3 17, Younger 0-9 0-0 0, Thrash 0-3 0-0 0, Graham 1-3 0-0 2, Stewart 0-0 0-0 0, Le Gregam 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 13-17 65.
Dickens 5-6 1-1 11, Dean 5-8 7-9 17, Godwin 2-6 0-0 6, Shelton 1-3 0-0 3, Warren 5-8 7-9 19, Bethea 4-7 1-2 11, Anthony 0-1 0-0 0, Seward 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-40 16-21 67.
Half—Hampton 36-25. 3-point goals—Presbyterian 6-21 (McCormack 3-4, Harrison 2-9, Reddish 1-2, Graham 0-1, Thrash 0-1, Younger 0-4), Hampton 7-17 (Bethea 2-4, Godwin 2-4, Warren 2-4, Shelton 1-2, Anthony 0-1, Dean
0-1, Seward 0-1). Rebounds—Presbyterian 29 (Reddish 8), Hampton 25 (Dickens, Warren 6). Assists—Presbyterian 7 (Harrison 3), Hampton 12 (Dean 5). Fouls—Presbyterian 17, Hampton 16.
Liberty 94, Bellarmine 78
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Darius McGhee had a career-high 34 points as Liberty stretched its winning streak to nine games and captured the Atlantic Sun regular-season championship. He shot 8 for 11 on 3-pointers.
Chris Parker had 19 points for Liberty (20-5, 11-2). Shiloh Robinson had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Pedro Bradshaw had 20 points and four steals for the Knights (13-6, 10-3), whose 10-game winning streak ended.
Davidson 65, VCU 57
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Luka Brajkovic scored 15 points and
Kellan Grady 13 for the Wildcats (12-7, 7-4 Atlantic 10), who capitalized on the absence of VCU star Bones Hyland to beat the Rams (17-6, 10-4).
Missing his second game in a row with a leg injury, Hyland could only watch as his team shot just 36.5% (19 of 52). Jamir Watkins had 14 points and 10 rebounds for VCU, though he made only 4 of 16 field-goal tries. Hason Ward had 10 points and 10 rebounds for VCU, which still is in decent position for an NCAA tournament at-large bid.
A 9-0 run gave Davidson a 51-43 lead, and the Wildcats never yielded it.
George Mason 89, La Salle 54
FAIRFAX — AJ Wilson had 16 points as George Mason beat La Salle. Tyler Kolek and Javon Greene added 15 points each for the Patriots (12-8, 8-6 Atlantic 10 Conference).
LOCAL INTEREST
Navy 73, Loyola (Md.) 67
BALTIMORE — John Carter Jr. tied a career-high with 26 points as Navy beat the Greyhounds for the second time this season.
Greg Summers added 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Midshipmen (14-2, 11-1 Patriot League) as Navy forced a seasonhigh 24 turnovers. Santi Aldama had 27 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for Loyola (4-9, 4-9).
Boston University 75, Army 63
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Jonas Harper’s 18 points and six rebounds guided the Terriers (6-9, 6-9 Patriot League) past the Black Knights (10-8, 6-7), who got 17 points from Alex King.
LATE FRIDAY
Saint Louis 72, Richmond 67
ST. LOUIS — Hasahn French and Javonte Perkins had each 15 points for the Billikens (12-5, 5-4 Atlantic 10), who earned their fourth consecutive home victory. Blake Francis had 24 points for the Spiders (13-6, 6-4).
Randolph-Macon 76, Virginia Wesleyan 49
VIRGINIA BEACH — Buzz Anthony had 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Yellow Jackets (7-0, 4-0 Old Dominion Athletic Conference), the nation’s top Division III team, breezed past the Marlins (3-4, 3-1).
Remember the pass-catch combination of juniors Luke Hanson to Donald Gatling because you’ll probably be hearing about it for the next two seasons.
Hanson completed seven passes to wide receiver Gatling on Saturday for 155 yards and two touchdowns in Lafayette’s 35-7 win over Tabb in their Bay Rivers District game at Bailey Field. Hanson completed another three passes for 63 yards to senior tight end Mike Green, a University of Virginia recruit, as he was 10 of 14 passing in the first half for 214 yards.
That’s not a typo. Lafayette, a run-oriented Wing-T team, can sling it.
Strong-armed Virginia baseball pitching recruit Hanson, and athletic receivers Gatling and Green give the Rams a formidable foundation. The pass proved to be a necessity on Saturday because Tabb limited the Rams — a team that routinely runs for 300 yards against Bay Rivers foes — to 113 rushing yards on 36 attempts.
“We’ve got Luke and we’ve got guys he can throw it to and the line protected pretty well, so we were able to throw it,” Lafayette coach Andy Linn said. “And, I’ll tell you, Tabb did a good job playing the run.
“You’ve got to be able to throw the ball if people are going to put eight (defenders) to the run.”
After Hanson completed a 13-yard pass to Green on his first throw, he connected with Gatling on a fade for a 69-yard touchdown to make it 6-0 just 64 seconds after the opening kickoff. The Rams drove 65 yards more traditionally on their next possession — 11 runs and one pass completion — increasing the lead to 14-0 on Sam Bowyer’s 13-yard run.
But, after the Tigers slowed the Lafayette rushing attack at the end of the first quarter, Hanson returned to the air early in the second quarter. The result was an 11-yard completion to Green and passes of 14 and 35 yards to Gatling — the latter on a fade for a touchdown — to make it 21-0.
“I like the way we threw,” Hanson said. “I have some things to improve on, but Donald had a great game and made plays.”
Gatling said, “We didn’t throw this much almost all last season. We look forward to doing this all season.”
As they do, the defense likely will have their back. Lafayette’s defensive starters, led by linebackers Green and Bowyer (three sacks), did not allow Tabb to score.
Gatling scored on a 59-yard fumble return in the third quarter, stripping the ball from a Tabb runner who Bowyer had stopped in his tracks. Moments later, Green tackled Tabb’s punter for a 14-yard loss to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by DeMarcus Lawrence that made it 35-0.
Chad Seider scored for Tabb on a 45-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Great Bridge’s football game against top-ranked Oscar Smith, scheduled for Saturday, was canceled. Great Bridge’s Twitter timeline said several of the Wildcats’ players are quarantined.
“This is an important mitigation strategy intended to ensure the safety of our students and coaching staff,” the tweet read.
Both teams are 1-0 and are scheduled to play other games Friday.
Saturday’s games Norcom 38, Wilson 0
Darian King ran for 156 yards and a touchdown as the Greyhounds breezed past the Presidents in the opener for both teams. Norcom ran for 251 yards in a game that started at 10:30 a.m. at Powhatan Field.
Jaron Ratliff and Marquise Johnson returned interceptions 24 and 25 yards for touchdowns, respectively, in the first half. Jaden Ratliff ran for a touchdown before the intermission, which ended with Norcom ahead 23-0.
Lake Taylor 53, Granby 6
Chuck Fisher ran 25 yards for a touchdown on Lake Taylor’s first play, and the reigning Class 4 champion Titans routed the Comets in a season opener at Powhatan Field.
Lake Taylor led 47-6 by halftime, and the second half was played with a running clock.
Friday’s games No. 5 Ocean Lakes 18, Kellam 9
Carlton Winston III set the tone early for Ocean Lakes, scoring on a 70-yard return on the opening kickoff at Kellam.
Ocean Lakes’ Landon Spell threw a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, including a 60-yard score to Karvelis Scott in the second quarter.
No. 14 Churchland 6, Norview 0
Brandyn Hillman scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper to lead the Truckers past the Pilots.
Cox 24, Kempsville 0
The Falcons broke open a scoreless game with a big second half as they shut out Kempsville in both teams’ Beach District opener.
Dominic Wilson got the Falcons started with a 66-yard kickoff return to start the second half. Cox capped the drive with a field goal, but the spark was lit.
Cox added a safety before the offense got going. The Falcons scored on their next two possessions.
Dylan Hauser had a 1-yard run and threw a touchdown pass to Jacob Rodriguez.
Hunter Waltz capped the scoring with a 28-yard fumble return.
Landstown 13, Tallwood 0
Landstown scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns in a Beach District matchup.
New Kent 23, Jamestown 0
Logan Powell ran for a pair of touchdowns as the Trojans finished with 312 yards on the ground in a win over the Eagles.
New Kent, which earned the shutout in head coach John McCauley’s first win with the team, led 13-0 at halftime.
Western Branch 21, Hickory 7
Kaleb Broadbent’s 65-yard touchdown run helped seal the victory for the Bruins in the fourth quarter against the Hawks in a Chesapeake clash.
Jashaun Fraizer and Desmond Cook also rushed for touchdowns.
Norfolk Academy 21, Catholic 0
Aaron Keels rushed for a 19-yard touchdown in the first quarter to help lead the Bulldogs past the Crusaders in a TCIS clash.
The Bulldogs totaled 191 yards on the ground and 225 yards of total offense.