Men cut down Bulldogs to advance
By Chris Gasiewski, Delaware State News
RICHMOND, Va - The Delaware State men's basketball team found the strategy late last month.
If the Hornets took South Carolina State's Thurman Zimmerman out of the game, they would succeed.
Zimmerman, a first-team all-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference forward, scored just three points in that Feb. 21 meeting.
And top-seeded DSU had the same formula again Friday afternoon.
The Hornets held Zimmerman scoreless as it beat No. 4 South Carolina State 61-48 in a MEAC semifinal at the Richmond Coliseum.
DSU (18-13) advances to the final, where it will meet No. 2 Hampton today at noon. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
Howard defeated No. 3 Coppin State 62-50 in the other semifinal Friday night. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which begins next week.
At 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, Zimmerman normally provides an inside presence. But he shot a dismal 0-for-5 from the floor and didn't get to the foul line all game.
Zimmerman fouled out with 6:59 left.
"He's so strong inside, not one man can cover him," Hornets coach Greg Jackson said of Zimmerman. "So we wanted to give him difficulty setting double teams and make him put the ball on the floor.
"And when he put the ball on the floor, we got help from the off side and I thought we confused him a lot."
Senior forward Aaron Fleetwood was among the Hornets who stopped Zimmerman.
Fleetwood was often around to the ball when it came inside, blocking four shots.
"He gave us the inside presence, anytime you play a game of this magnitude, you definitely want to have some type of presence," Jackson said. "He did a good job for us keeping them off the board and blocking some shots."
Despite that, the Bulldogs (19-12) also had to play without second-leading scorer Shawn Wiggins, who strained his knee seven minutes into the contest.
"We're not so much concerned about who they have on the floor," Jackson said. "We are with what we do. At this stage of the game, we have to do what we do the way we have to do it."
After Wiggins' departure, DSU was able to exchange baskets and knot the score at 23 heading into the break.
And like the two prior times the Hornets have beaten the Bulldogs this season, they did it in the second half.
Jahsha Bluntt (nine points and six rebounds) hit a jumper with his foot on the line to cap a 7-0 run that spanned the opening three minutes of the second half. The run gave DSU a 30-23 lead, and the Hornets wouldn't look back.
DSU led by as much as 41-33 and South Carolina State cut that deficit to 45-41 on Dwight Dean's putback with 4:15 left.
It seemed the Bulldogs would make a run until Darrin Shine (12 points) hit a baseline 20-footer to give DSU a 53-45 advantage with 1:30 remaining.
"I thought we did an outstanding job in the second half," Jackson said. "We were able to dictate the tempo, we were able to defend. "Any time you are away from home playing for a championship you have to defend and rebound."
Senior point guard Bruce Davis had a bit of a resurgence for DSU. Davis came off the bench and shot 4-for-4 from the floor. He scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.
"I was just trying to do what I do every other game, my shots were just falling," Davis said.
Stingers
The Hornets beat Hampton in both meetings this season ... The win marks the third time in school history DSU will compete in the MEAC final with the last coming in 1993, when they also beat South Carolina State in the semis ... DSU played in a school-record 31 games this season. The previous mark was 30 in the 1990-91 season ... Hunter is the only Hornet to start every game this year ... The Hornets are 17-6 when scoring more than 60 points this season ... DSU is now 4-5 at Richmond Coliseum.
By Chris Gasiewski, Delaware State News
RICHMOND, Va - The Delaware State men's basketball team found the strategy late last month.
If the Hornets took South Carolina State's Thurman Zimmerman out of the game, they would succeed.
Zimmerman, a first-team all-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference forward, scored just three points in that Feb. 21 meeting.
And top-seeded DSU had the same formula again Friday afternoon.
The Hornets held Zimmerman scoreless as it beat No. 4 South Carolina State 61-48 in a MEAC semifinal at the Richmond Coliseum.
DSU (18-13) advances to the final, where it will meet No. 2 Hampton today at noon. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
Howard defeated No. 3 Coppin State 62-50 in the other semifinal Friday night. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which begins next week.
At 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, Zimmerman normally provides an inside presence. But he shot a dismal 0-for-5 from the floor and didn't get to the foul line all game.
Zimmerman fouled out with 6:59 left.
"He's so strong inside, not one man can cover him," Hornets coach Greg Jackson said of Zimmerman. "So we wanted to give him difficulty setting double teams and make him put the ball on the floor.
"And when he put the ball on the floor, we got help from the off side and I thought we confused him a lot."
Senior forward Aaron Fleetwood was among the Hornets who stopped Zimmerman.
Fleetwood was often around to the ball when it came inside, blocking four shots.
"He gave us the inside presence, anytime you play a game of this magnitude, you definitely want to have some type of presence," Jackson said. "He did a good job for us keeping them off the board and blocking some shots."
Despite that, the Bulldogs (19-12) also had to play without second-leading scorer Shawn Wiggins, who strained his knee seven minutes into the contest.
"We're not so much concerned about who they have on the floor," Jackson said. "We are with what we do. At this stage of the game, we have to do what we do the way we have to do it."
After Wiggins' departure, DSU was able to exchange baskets and knot the score at 23 heading into the break.
And like the two prior times the Hornets have beaten the Bulldogs this season, they did it in the second half.
Jahsha Bluntt (nine points and six rebounds) hit a jumper with his foot on the line to cap a 7-0 run that spanned the opening three minutes of the second half. The run gave DSU a 30-23 lead, and the Hornets wouldn't look back.
DSU led by as much as 41-33 and South Carolina State cut that deficit to 45-41 on Dwight Dean's putback with 4:15 left.
It seemed the Bulldogs would make a run until Darrin Shine (12 points) hit a baseline 20-footer to give DSU a 53-45 advantage with 1:30 remaining.
"I thought we did an outstanding job in the second half," Jackson said. "We were able to dictate the tempo, we were able to defend. "Any time you are away from home playing for a championship you have to defend and rebound."
Senior point guard Bruce Davis had a bit of a resurgence for DSU. Davis came off the bench and shot 4-for-4 from the floor. He scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.
"I was just trying to do what I do every other game, my shots were just falling," Davis said.
Stingers
The Hornets beat Hampton in both meetings this season ... The win marks the third time in school history DSU will compete in the MEAC final with the last coming in 1993, when they also beat South Carolina State in the semis ... DSU played in a school-record 31 games this season. The previous mark was 30 in the 1990-91 season ... Hunter is the only Hornet to start every game this year ... The Hornets are 17-6 when scoring more than 60 points this season ... DSU is now 4-5 at Richmond Coliseum.
