A Roller Coaster MEAC Tournament for the Hornets

For the Delaware State Hornets men's basketball team it was both determenation and heartbreaking.

Last year the Hornets were one and done in a first round of the MEAC Tournament against Hampton University.

This year the Hornets played with heart and intensity to become oh so close from reaching the MEAC Championship game.

In the quarterfinals versus Bethune-Cookman, the Hornets were off to a great start shooting five three pointers, forcing Bethune-Cookman to commit 11 turnovers and fitting the right notes lead by Marcus Neal and have a 32-22 lead going into halftime.

In the second half, the roller coaster started. The Hornets had 43-24 lead until Bethune-Cookman began chipping away the lead by hitting their shots and making a 17 of their 21 free throws. I was saying to myself oh-no this can't be happening.

Delaware State didn't panic until the last 10 seconds of the game when Jay Threatt miss both free throws and Wildcats had the final possession with a chance to win the game or send it into overtime. The problem was that Stanley Elliot of the Wildcats missed a short jumper, and Alexander Starling's tip-in was disallowed after an officials' review determined that time had expired.

Hornets players and coaches were so disappointed after the game because they blew a 19 point lead only to win by only two points.

During the semi-finals against South Carolina State, the Hornets were having trouble shooting the ball and making free throws. Delaware State was fourtune to be down by only seven points at halftime.

During the first 12 minutes of the second half the Hornets were just shooting low percentage shots and the defense couldn't stop the speedy plays of the Bulldogs and just like that they were down 49-34.

I was keeping track of the game on MEAC Sports.com and 1290theticket.com and I was praying for the Hornets to make a huge spark and start a rally.

Just like that during the final eight minutes the Hornets rallied with their defense, making high percentage shots, and making free throws when it counted.

The best one of all is when Delaware State made a 17-2 run which include Marcus Neal and Frisco Sandidge converting three-point plays during the Delaware State rally.

Hornets stretch the lead to to 55-51 with 80 seconds left in regulation.

I was on the edge on my seat hoping that Delaware State will finished the job and play Morgan State in round three instead it went down like crazy.

After Trevor Welcher made two free throws the Hornets were 20 seconds away from a date with destiny until South Carolina State made game tying three pointer and I was like oh no here we go again.

Jay Threatt was running down the court trying to make the game winning basket and draw contact, instead Threatt was called for the offensive foul.

The Bulldogs had five seconds to get a shot off to either tied or win the game.

South Carolina State appeared to win the gave at the buzzer in regulation when a desperation shot near half court by Brandon Smalls went high off the rim and through the net, but the Bulldog bench had called for a timeout before the shot.

So overtime began and I was hoping again that the Hornets would finished the job. I don't know how many times I said that.

Both teams traded baskets until South Carolina State took the lead and pulled away with a victory thanks to the Hornets missing several key buckets and free throws.

It was devastating and heartbroken at the same time. Give Hornets credit, they fought hard to come back and had several chances to put the game away.

However, missing shots, free throws, bad defense, and falling behind through most of the game cost the Hornets the game and the season.

Rest assure the Delaware State Hornets will be back better than ever in the MEAC Tournament.

Lady Hornets Played With Heart in a Losing Effort

I give the lady hornets credit, they fought hard all night versus the University of Maryland of Eastern Shore.

During the lady hornets 58-55 heartbreaking lost on Senior Night the lady hornets we're falling behind all game until early in the second half when the lady hornets took a 10 point lead.

Lets think about it, throughout most of the season the lady hornets were falling behind early but manges to rallied, take the lead, and struggle to get back rhythm.

The lady hornets showed heart all game long, with defense, making some good shots and free throws.

The only thing that doomed the Lady Hornets was the Hawks defense and the let down of the second half by not scoring some good buckets when it matters and letting UMES getting to the free throw line.

Selena Galloway and the Lady Hornets wanted to win so badly because if the lady hornets won the game, they would have gained a lot of momentum for the first round of the MEAC Tournament.

The second half started with the lady hornets scored 15 straight point resulting a 22-1 run. In the final 12 mminutes, the lady hornets were in a six mintue drought until the final four mintues of the game when they had one final push before running out of time.

I feel the lady hornets pain all season with all the injuries and a very struggling offense the lady hornets had always send all their MEAC oppentents the same message: "We show heart and never quit."

That attitude will helped the lady hornets heading into Tuesday's MEAC Tournament win or lose and that's the bottom line.

The Battle of School Spirit: Delaware State University vs University of Maryland Eastern Shore

It was the last home game of the season and what a great way to end a winning season than to have the Delaware State Hornets play against another MEAC rival the University of Maryland Eastern-Shore.

This was more than just a game in the Hornets Nest, it was all who had the most school pride to help guide their team to victory.

I arrived at the lady hornets game first and I saw a long line of Hawks fans trying to get tickets to the game and I'm like when will the Hornet fans will show up?

I kept forgetting the DSU students had classes, rehearsals, jobs, and homework.

None the less I was enjoying the ladies game for a while until UMES fans starting to make a lot of noise and the UMES cheerleaders and dancers got into the act as well throughout most of the ladies game.

I wasn't going to sit there and let UMES take over the Hornets house so I begin standing up and give UMES an earful to get their attention. Quickly the battle had started.

During the first eight minutes of the second half the Lady Hornets had a double digit lead before UMES called timeout. I yelled at UMES fans yelling, "Why yall so quiet?!!!"

After the UMES time out, the lady Hawks chipped away the lady hornets lead and bringing the Hawks crowd back into game for the final 12 minutes of the second half.

As time went down on the Lady Hornets senior night, Hornet fans were slowly coming in filling in the seats to see if the lady hornets rally one more time. All of a sudden I became horsed so I decided to relax for the rest of the second half with the DSU Die Hards.

When the men's game started the atmosphere was loud, rockin', crunk, and down right crazy as fans from both schools duke it out for supremacy.

When UMES did a little chant "We're going make some noise," me and other Hornet fans repeat the same chant they did everytime the Hornets had the basketball. Hawk fans didn't like it one bit so they bring their flyswatters waving them in the air. Luckly for us Hornets fans we took one their flyswatters and threw it in the garbage.

There was more were that came as the war of words escalates in a heated battle.

During one the media time outs of the men's game the UMES Cheerleaders came on to mid-court to do a cheer but Hornets fans was booing so loud you can barley hear what the Hawks cheerleaders was saying.

Hawks fans up the ante by remixing the DSU I thought you knew what chant with UMES but DSU fans countered it very quick with our own DSU chant.

Don't get me wrong but almost most of the fans didn't pay attention to the game or the scoreboard for that matter.

All night long Hornets fans were all over UMES when we chanted "You Suck!!!"

When the second half started, the crowd intensify but soon the Hornet fans took over for the remainder of the game. I was trying to figure out what joke or chant the other Hornet fans were saying to the UMES male Cheerleader. Whatever the joke was the crowd got a big laugh and pointed him out like he got embarrassed on Showtime at the Appollo.

The Hornets fans were greeted to a treat when DSU's Roy from The Approaching Storm Marching Band took his pep band uniform off and show his cheerleading outfit and did conservative jump spits that got the crowd jumpin and loud.

As always we wrap up the night with the Get Up Crackhead song by the band that had the whole gym rockin as the Hornet crowd party the rest of the game and after the game as well as UMES fans sat quietly with nothing else to say.

This was the most fun game since the DSU/Morgan State game back on February 17 and the DSU/University of Delaware game back on December 1.

I'm glad over 1,400 fans had a great time battling against Hawks fans and hopefully next year DSU will bring more fun to the basketball games at a whole different level.

Hornets Defense Held UMES In Check

Thursday night was momentum time for the Delaware State Hornets men's basketball team, and a great way to build momentum is during Senior Night at Memorial Hall versus the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

During the Hornets 57-37 victory, the Hornets offense were making shots left and right shooting 52% from the field. At the same time, the Hornets defense made sure the Hawks can only get to the free throw line one time and forcing them to committed 11 first half turnovers. The Hornets defense made six steals in the first half to make UMES night problematic.

In the second half, the Hornets took their defense to a whole new level by blocking shots, stealing the ball nine times, and forcing the UMES to committed 11 more turnovers, shoot 40% from the field with one assist and poor free throw shooting.

This was the fewest points the Hornets had ever let their opponent score this season.

Plus defense lead to good offense as the Hornets dominated points off of turnovers with 22 points of the teams 57 points.

Even though the Hawks had the crowd hype up most the game, UMES couldn't help themselves as the Hornets outscored UMES 15-1 in the final 3:11 to win the game thanks to some key free throws down the stretch.

Now that the Hornets secured the number two seed, lets see if the Hornet men can do a better job in this year's MEAC Tournament compared to last year.

Lady Hornets Kicking Off the Season 4-0

During the first four games of the 2010 softball season, the Delaware State Lady Hornets Softball team is off to great start with a record of 4-0.

During the first four games of the season the Lady Hornets has scored nine or more runs this season.

No wonder this team is batting .423 with 18 stolen bases, 60 hits, 58 runs scored, 43 RBI's, and a slugging percentage .549.

Plus there are nine lady hornets who are batting .300 or better.

The lady hornets are following the Hornets baseball team formula of scoring more runs than home runs.

Now that March is here, the lady hornets, who predicted to finished third in the MEAC Conference, has a tall order ahead of them with University of Delaware and three classic tournament games to play.

Lets see if the Lady Hornets can continue their winning ways come April and May when the MEAC tournament starts.

Good Start for Hornets Baseball So Far

Batter up!!! Hornets baseball season has started and already Delaware State is off to good start to kick off the 2010 season.

Through March 2 (six games), the Hornets, who were predicted to finished fourth in the MEAC Conference, are playing .500 baseball and putting up good numbers in the MEAC Conference as they continue to strive for a winning season.

The Hornets are second in batting average (.262), fourth in slugging percentage (.387), number one in on base percentage (.429), number one in runs score (61), third in hits (62), number one in RBI's (49), second in doubles (11), fourth in total bases (82), first in walks (40), first in hit by pitches (13), first in sac-bunts (8), first in the batting average with the bases loaded (.400), and first with two-out RBI's (16).

Wow!!! That's a lot stats but hey the Hornets showed the MEAC conference that do a lot a hitting and scoring besides home runs.

Even though their pitching is not too great through six games (5.68 ERA), I'm sure they get that in order as the season continues in to the month of March with massive home games versus Temple, Fairfield, St. Peters, Georgetown, and Savannah State.

Also with key road for Hornets baseball, Delaware State vs University of Delaware March 16 in Newark, Delaware.

Disappointing Saturday for Hornets Basketball

On Saturday February 27, I was keeping track on the final road game of the season between the Delaware State Hornets and the Hampton Pirates. During both games there were miss opportunities, miss free throws, turnovers, and not enough rebounds.

Lets begin on the ladies side. The lady hornets once again had a bad shooting game but the good news is that the defense kept the Pirates under 50 points in a 47-41 loss.

In the first half, the lady hornets shot a dismantle 27% from the field but yet trailed by seven at halftime.

Early in the second half, the lady hornets fell in a deep hole trailing by 14 before the Lady Hornet started a furious rally scoring 14 of their 16 points before running out of gas.

The lady hornets miss key buckets and couldn't finished the rally. This lost must have frustrated the lady hornets after the game. On the flip side the lady hornets show no signs of quitting.
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On the men's side, the Hornets play with no energy at all during an embarrassing 64-45 loss.

When I heard the game on the radio, the Hornets offense keep missing shots, free throws, and making a lot turnovers. Also the defense was went out of sync giving up a lot of shots so much it made head coach Greg Jackson Sr. a headache.

The Hornets offense in the first half was okay when they shot 44% but the defense gave Hampton 48%. In the second half that when things fell apart for Delaware State.

DSU made only six field goals (missing 11), five free throws (missing nine), 10 defensive rebounds, and committed 12 turnovers.

With stats like that, the Hornets were playing like a team predicting to finish ninth place in the MEAC Conference.

Still The Hornets secured for the second seed for the MEAC tournament, but they need this win to build extra momentum for the MEAC Tournament. Now the Hornets really need to beat UMES on Thursday in order to be prepared to whoever the Hornets' opponent is in the quarterfinals.

I'm sure coach Greg Jackson and the Hornets squad will be ready for Thursday and next week's MEAC Tournament.