Thomas Back From Injury

After sitting out two games due to a ankle injury, Albert "A.J." Thomas is back action as the Delaware State Hornets men's basketball team conclude a three game road trip as they take on George Washington of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Thomas made eight points, five assists, and two rebounds during the Hornet's home opener versus Cairn University back on November 2. On that same night A.J. was the named the starter at point guard and was picking up where he left off from last season making plays and learning new ones along the way.

No word yet at this time on whether or not Thomas is in the starting lineup come tip off but none the less he will get a chance a play tonight. The only question I have is how many minutes will coach Greg Jackson Sr. let A.J. stay on the floor?

My guess is not very long due to the fact he might play a little rusty trying to drive to the basket score or passing the ball to his fellow teammates. After the buzzer sounds tonight, win or lose, he will need a lot of rest and practice between Wednesday and Sunday when DSU play University of Delaware this Monday night in Dover. I guarantee Delaware's Jarvis Threatt (the brother of DSU alumni Jay Threatt) will give Thomas a whole lot of problems on offense and defense.

Hornets MEAC Tournament Preview

Well today is the day, its time for the Delaware State Men's and Women's basketball team to showcase their skills during the 2013 Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) tournament here in the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. This morning at 11am the the ninth seed DSU lady hornets will play in the 1st round for the fourth straight year as they take on the number eight seed Bethune-Cookman.

In their 1st and only meeting of the season at Daytona Beach, Florida, the lady hornets blew a nine point lead but prevail in overtime 62-57 in overtime back on January 26 thanks to Jade Washington's game winning lay up with 34 seconds left and Taisha Bristow's four clutch free throws.

The lady hornets finished ninth in the MEAC at 6-10 in Tamika Louis' first year as Delaware State. She knows that her team will have their hands full especially after growing pains the Lady Hornets went through this season. Now the Lady Hornets will have dig deep in order to get to the quarter-finals to face Hampton with their best offense they can.

Think about it the lady hornets are ninth in the MEAC in scoring but their turnovers is hard to watch everytime they play  by averaging almost 21 turnovers a game.  Also their defense has been pretty rough this season finishing third to last in the MEAC in scoring defense. Ever heard of hands up defense? Tierra hawkins and Bristow is going to need a third and fourth scorer in order to help DSU and that has to be Deanna Harmon and Keyanna Tate.

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As for the DSU men's basketball team, they play a night cap as the sixth seed when they play the 11th seed Howard University.

Howard is still having nightmares after getting swept in the season series but the biggest nightmare came back on January 23 when Tahj Tate made two highlighted poster dunks that had Hornet fans going crazy. Howard will never forget and never forgive what happen on that very day. Expect the Bison to give the Hornets a fight like no other and I'm pretty sure Alphonso Leary has a defensive mind set on Tate after being on the wrong end of a poster dunk.

The Hornet men better take Howard lightly, (remember UMES and South Carolina?) or else they will be in for early elimination.

I'm pretty sure coach Greg Jackson Sr. has some new ideas on how the Hornets run this offense because trust me the slow down game will not work with Howard or any other team in the tournament if they advance that far. Also the Hornets biggest weakness is their three point shooting especially when they shoot 27% as a team during the regular season. The hornets has got to attack the paint more due to the fact that other MEAC opponents are turning DSU into a jump shooting team with no balanced scoring due to their opponents height. So what that means is this, Tate has to step up (sixth man or not), Casey Walker has to step up, Maques Oliver has to step up, Kendall Gray has to step up, Miles Bowman, has to step and the point guard of A.J. Thomas, Jabari Joyner, Khali Thomas, and Amere May has to play point guard not shooting guard in order for Delaware State to move to the quarterfinals. The winner of this game will play the third seed Hampton on Thursday night.

Good luck Delaware State, even though I won't be there in Norfolk to support in person, rest assured I will wear my Columbia blue and red today in Newark, Delaware to watch the game online on meachoops.com.

DSU vs UD Again in Hoops This Winter

Even though the Delaware State Men's Basketball schedule has not been release until later in August I took a stroll to the University of Delaware's sports websites (bluehens.com) and found out that DSU will play UD once again in the battle of the 1st state in Newark, Delaware on December 8.

The last time these two teams played in Newark was December 11, 2010 when the Blue Hens beat the Hornets 61-50. The was the year of the free falling Hornets at that time.

Last year here in Dover it was the 1st and only meeting between the Threatt brothers Jay and Jarvis but Jarvis' Blue Hens had the last laugh on the Hornets 58-42. Doing that game the Hornets struggled out of the game and couldn't recover and to make matters worst the Hornets played without their starter Tahj Tate due to suspension.

The hornets 1st and only win versus the Blue Hens was here at home when DSU won 75-67 thanks to Frisco Sandidge's career high of 26 points. Throughout most of the second half Delaware State went to the free throw line 37 times in order to secured the victory.

This year will be different Tahj Tate will get to play the Blue Hens for the 1st time in his career and hopefully the game will be completely different. Until then only time will on how the 2012-2013 season will be for coach Greg Jackson Sr. and his fellow Hornets.

DSU's MEAC Tournament Preview

Well, well Hornet fans here we are at the 2012 MEAC Tournament from The Joel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Sadly this will be the final year that Winston-Salem will host the MEAC Tournament because last month the MEAC Conference announced that the tournament will be held in Norfolk, Virginia next year through 2015.

Now, on to this week, starting tonight, the Delaware State Lady Hornets basketball team will play in the 1st round game versus the same team they beat last Thursday in a buzzer-beater wire to wire victory: South Carolina State University. I can tell South Carolina State is still fuming from their lost last week and will do what ever they can get their payback.

As for the lady hornets they are entering the MEAC riding a two game winning streak and looking to go for third straight win. If the lady hornets want to move on to the quarterfinals versus Howard, they will have make very good offensive plays especially when the shot clock is running down. Limit their turnovers because they make double-digit turnovers in almost every game win or lose, bring their defensive pressure to another level without fouling, and of course rebound, rebound rebound.

On to the Hornets men's basketball team, their quarterfinal game will not be until Thursday night. The #3 seed Hornets is probability still stinging from last Monday's bizarre controversial lost at the hands of Morgan State. They wish they were they were either the #2 seed or #1 seed if it wasn't for a technical foul that was called against the fans, the Hornets would stay in the race with one game left.

However, after last Thursday's win versus South Carolina State, coach Greg Jackson Sr. notices something was wrong with this picture, the Hornets were playing lazy on defense and not rebounding the ball because the Bulldogs made offensive rebounds and scoring second chance points. That is something that coach Jackson does not want to see happen in the MEAC Tournament. DSU will play their quarerfinal versus either Coppin State or Florida A&M Thursday night. I will like to see the Hornets play Florida A&M, because Coppin State is very good this season at three point shooting. Also remember back on February 11, the Hornets were down by double digits before Marques Oliver's game winning three point play help the Hornets win at the buzzer in Baltimore.

The key plays for DSU is similar to the lady hornets, limit their turnovers, make very good offensive plays with the shot clock running down, score points in the paint, cut down on the three point shots, plays very good defense without fouling, make your free throws, and rebound, rebound rebound. I don't know why I kept saying rebound like I'm a cheerleader but its the truth.

Also one more key play for both the DSU men's and women's basketball teams: will their bench production be enough to win the tournament? There's only way to find out and it begins tonight. Good luck to the Delaware State men's and women's basketball team in the MEAC Tournament. Let the madness begin. HORNETS!!!

Winning at the Right Time; Refuse to Quit

Even though the Hornets eight game winning streak came to an end on Saturday night at the hands of Gardner-Webb, the Delaware State men's basketball team is maturing and hitting all the right notes.

After suffering back to back heartbreaking defeats at the hands of University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Bethune-Cookman at home back in January, DSU were saying to themselves enough is enough.

DSU broke a eight game losing streak by beating Florida A&M at home by 14 on January 23rd, and since then the wins kept piling up:

-defeated North Carolina Central by 6 in their only meeting of the season

-held North Carolina A&T to one field goal over the final 13 minutes to win by 13 points in front a tough crowd of The Dawg Pound

-Hornets made a big statement at home vs 1st place Norfolk State without starters Tahj Tate and Kendall Gray due to injuries by winning by 17 points and kept MEAC pre-season player of the year Kyle O'Quinn in check

-DSU made another big statement by defeating the MEAC Tournament champion Hampton in a rivalry game building momentum for their five game road trip

The road trip was full of comebacks, defense, and fantastic finishes at the buzzer:

-Down 12 points to Coppin State with 4:57 left in the 2nd half, Delaware State went on a furious rally, by going a 13-3 run including a poster dunk by Tahj Tate and a game winning three point play (layup & free throw) by Marcus Oliver to complete the comeback leaving the Golden Eagle crowd stunned

-Down 11 points to Morgan State with under 10 minutes left DSU went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead the lead to one point. Then Marcus Oliver delivers again with the game winning tip shot at the buzzer leaving Bears fans crowd stunned

-Norfolk State was en route to winning the game at home but the Hornets stay in the game throughout the 2nd half. In the final seconds, Tyshawn Bell game winning three point shot was misfired until Tate's game tying put back forced overtime. During that overtime period, DSU outscored Norfolk State 14-4 to win the game by 10 points.

Coach Greg Jackson Sr. and his coaching staff is proud of his for their maturely and their defensive pressure since January. Still the Hornets have a long way to go in the regular season and heading into the MEAC Tournament come March 6th. The Hornets are playing with passion, pride, and giving MEAC teams a fight on every given night with chemistry.

Delaware State really miss Kendall Gray due to a knee injury and hoping he will be back for the MEAC Tournament. In the meantime Delaware State needs to fix some things as they start a new winning streak, start the game strong and finish strong, make your free throws down the stretch, and rebound, rebound, rebound.

Also DSU's main guys of Jay Threatt, Casey Walker, Oliver, Tate, James Marcellus, and Tyshawn Bell were playing a lot of minutes during their winning streak. That can only mean one thing, the bench production needs to step up in a huge because if not they will be in a lot of trouble.