Hampton ends skid at five
Dean’s 25 points propel the Pirates over Drexel
Russell “Deuce” Dean scored 25 points Saturday as Hampton University defied its last-place standing in the Colonial Athletic Association, overcoming Drexel 75-72 at the HU Convocation Center to end a five-game slide.
Yame Butler scored 30 for the Dragons (15-14, 9-8 CAA), who pulled even after falling behind by 11 in the second half to the Pirates (7-22, 4-12).
Butler’s last basket, a layup with 53 seconds to go, tied the game at 70, but Kyrese Mullen answered with a follow to make it 72-70 with 28 seconds to go.
Butler missed two free throws, and Mullen hit one of two for a 73-70 lead. Butler sank a pair of foul shots with seven seconds to go, and Dean made a pair with six seconds remaining. Mate Okros missed a shot to tie before the buzzer. It was Drexel’s third straight defeat.
Hampton will return to action at home against Monmouth at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Northeastern 69, William & Mary 57:
Jahmyl Telfort rang up 28 points as the Huskies (10-17, 6-10 CAA) defeated the Tribe (10-19, 5-11) in Boston.
Northeastern surged to a 16-2 lead and expanded the margin to 45-25 by halftime. The Tribe stabilized in the second half, limiting the Huskies to 24 points, but never got within single digits.
Telfort hit 12 of 23 shots, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
William & Mary again played without starters Gabe Dorsey and Noah Collier and reserve Jake Milkereit, all of whom are injured. Ben Wight had 15 points and Anders Nelson and Matteus Case added 10 each for the Tribe.
Roanoke 80, Virginia Wesleyan 75:
Efosa U-Edosomwan scored 22 points and Kasey Draper added 19 along with 10 rebounds as Roanoke (19-6, 12-4 ODAC) defeated visiting Virginia Wesleyan (16-8, 8-8) in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Omari DeVeaux paced the Marlins with 20 points, while Jordan Crump had 14 and Eric Rowland 12.
Virginia Wesleyan led 49-39 with 16:42 left, but the Maroons went on a 16-6 run to tie it and pulled away from there.
VCU 80, Fordham 61: Nick Kern’s 17 points helped firstplace VCU (20-7, 11-3 Atlantic 10) defeat Fordham (21-6, 9-5) in a clash of Rams in Richmond.
Kern finished 8 of 9 from the floor. Ace Baldwin added 13 points while shooting 5 of 5 from the free-throw line, and he also had 10 assists and six steals. Jalen DeLoach had 11 points and eight rebounds as he came back from a knee injury suffered in VCU’s last-second victory Wednesday at Rhode Island.
Fordham (21-6, 9-5) was led by Will Richardson, who recorded 21 points. Darius Quisenberry added 15 points for Fordham. Kyle Rose put up seven points and three steals.
VCU led 37-24 at halftime, with Kern racking up 12 points. Zeb Jackson scored a team-high eight points for VCU after the half.
George Mason 70, La Salle 66: Josh Oduro’s 25 points, seven rebounds and three steals and Ronald Polite III’s 15 points guided the Patriots (16-12, 8-7 Atlantic 10) past the Explorers (13-14, 7-7) in Fairfax. Polite put George Mason ahead to stay, 63-60, on a 3-pointer with 2:01 to go and sank a clinching free throw with five seconds left.
Khalil Brantley scored 20 for La Salle.
Longwood 73, Radford 63: Isaiah Wilkins scored 16 points, DeShaun Wade added 15 and Longwood (19-10, 11-5 Big South) defeated Radford (17-12, 11-5) in Farmville.
Josiah Jeffers finished with 16 points to pace the Highlanders.
DaQuan Smith added 11 points and Onyebuchi Ezeakudo scored nine.
Samford 96, VMI 61: Bubba Parham’s 19 points helped Samford (20-9, 14-2 Southern) defeat visiting VMI (6-23, 1-15).
Asher Woods led the Keydets (6-23, 1-15) with 21 points and four assists. Tyler Houser added 13 points and 10 rebounds for VMI. In addition, Taeshaud Jackson had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Samford took the lead with 19:31 left in the first half and did not give it up.