Hoopville - Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

NCAA Tournament - Opening Round: No. 16 Mount St. Mary's hit 26-of-32 free throws to overcome a poor shooting night and beat No. 16 Coppin State 69-60 and move into the first round of the NCAA Tournament against No. 1 North Carolina. The Mountaineers will play the Tar Heels Friday evening in Raleigh. Sophomore guard Jeremy Goode led the Mountaineers with 21 points. Senior guard Tywain McKee led the Eagles with 15 points but was 6-of-17 from the field. Coppin State set a record by entering the NCAA Tournament with 20 losses, more losses than any other tournament team in history. [3/18/08]

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament Championship: Senior guard Tywain McKee carried No. 7 Coppin State to a 62-60 with 33 points, including a game-winning layup with two seconds remaining, to give the Eagles a bid to the NCAA Tournament and a MEAC championship. Coppin State is 16-20 and has the most losses of any team to ever make the NCAA Tournament. [3/15/08]

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals: No. 1 Morgan State needed more than 30 minutes to score 30 points, then finished the game with 31 points in the final nine minutes to beat No. 4 Delaware State 61-55. Sophomore guard Reggie Holmes led the Golden Bears with 18 points off the bench in 16 minutes. He was 12-of-14 from the free throw line and collected five rebounds.

No. 7 Coppin State held No. 3 Norfolk State without a field goal in the final six minutes and got four free throws from senior guard Tywain McKee in the final 90 seconds to pull off a 67-65 upset. The win sets up an all Baltimore championship game against city rival Morgan State. McKee led the Eagles with 26 points. [3/14/08]

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Quarterfinals: No. 3 Norfolk State needed senior guard Tony Murphy's monster second half to help turn back No. 6 Florida A&M's upset bid with a 69-61 win. Murphy finished with 29 points, 22 of which came in the second half, including the Spartans' final eight points of the game after they took a 56-55 lead with more than four minutes remaining. Norfolk State will play No. 7 Coppin State in the semifinals.

No. 4 Delaware State got a clutch shot from freshman guard Trevor Welcher with 1.7 seconds remaining to give the Hornets a 64-62 win against No. 5 North Carolina A&T. Delaware State withstood a late 7-0 run that gave the Aggies a one-point lead with a little more than a minute remaining. Junior guard Donald Johnson led the Hornets with 20 points. The Hornets will play No. 1 Morgan State in the semifinals. [3/13/08]

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament: In opening round action, No. 6 Florida A&M beat No. 11 Maryland-Eastern Shore 70-61, ending a miserable season for the Hawks, who finished 4-28 as one of the worst teams in Division I. Florida A&M moves on to play No. 3 Norfolk State. The Rattlers used a 16-3 run to put away the Hawks in the second half. Junior guard Lamar Twitty led Florida A&M with 19 points.

Despite going five minutes without a point in the first half, No. 1 Morgan State led almost wire to wire against No. 8 South Carolina State for a 77-68 win in the quarterfinals. Junior forward Marquise Kately and sophomore guard Reggie Holmes scored 19 points apiece to lead the Golden Bears. Morgan State will play the winner of No. 4 Delaware State and No. 5 North Carolina A&T. No. 7 Coppin State delivered the first upset in the MEAC Tournament with a 75-74 overtime victory against No. 2 Hampton. Senior forward Julian Conyers hit 1-of-2 free throws with four seconds remaining to give the Eagles the one-point victory. Senior guard Tywain McKee had a second consecutive great tournament game with 16 points and 11 rebounds. The Eagles will play the winner of No. 3 Norfolk State and No. 6 Florida A&M. [3/12/08]

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament Opening Round: No. 7 Coppin State outlasted No. 10 Howard 55-54, surviving a late push by the Bison after leading by nine with 10 minutes to go. Senior guard Tywain McKee has 18 points to lead the Eagles, including two free throws in the final 10 seconds that pushed a two-point lead to four. The Bison hit a three-pointer with less than a second remaining to tighten the final margin. Coppin State moves on to play No. 2 Hampton. No. 8 South Carolina State beat No. 9 Bethune-Cookman 78-69 thanks to a huge 53-point second half that allowed the Bulldogs to erase a five-point halftime deficit. South Carolina State advances to play No. 1 Morgan State. [3/11/08]

Spartans Officially Make Evans Coach: Norfolk State has dropped the interim status from head coach Anthony Evans' title. Evans had been interim head coach since the beginning of the season. He signed a three-year contract that will keep him in Norfolk through 2011. The Spartans are 9-9 overall and 5-1 in MEAC play so far. [2/02/08]

New Teams Will Play in Conference Tournament: New MEAC members North Carolina Central and Winston-Salem State are not eligible for the conference's NCAA Tournament bid yet, but they won't be left out of the tournament this year. The conference announced a special game between the two that will be played on March 15, 2008, in between the two championship games. The women's championship game will open the day, before NCCU and Winston-Salem State tip off, followed by the men's championship game. The 2008 MEAC Tournament will be held at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C. [12/11/07]

Rattlers Choose Veteran Assistant as New Coach: Forced to find a new coach late in the off-season, Florida A&M has named Eugene Harris head coach. Harris takes over for the Rattlers after former coach Mike Gillespie was fired late in the summer. Police arrested and charged Gillespie with stalking a former girlfriend in May. Harris has worked as an assistant coach for 23 years, including stints at South Alabama, Clemson, Auburn and Alabama. Under Harris, the Rattlers will look to defend their MEAC title and return to the NCAA Tournament for the third time this decade. [9/21/07]

Rattlers Ax Gillespie Before Stalking Resolution: Florida A&M has fired coach Mike Gillespie because of his involvement in stalking charges. Police issued the charges three months ago after warning him to stay away from a former girlfriend. He was arrested when he drove by her office in May. Gillespie and his lawyer have been working to find an agreeable solution to the charges. But the university acted first by dismissing Gillespie, who led the Rattlers to two NCAA Tournament appearance in six seasons. Gillespie's lawyer is upset that the university mishandled the situation -- some players knew about the firing before Gillespie did. [8/15/07]

Delaware State Star to Stay At School: Co-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year Roy Bright will stay at Delaware State for his senior season after withdrawing from the NBA Draft. The swingman led the team to its third straight MEAC championship and averaged 15 points and five rebounds a game. [6/18/07]

Florida A&M Coach on Leave After Stalking Charge: Florida A&M coach Mike Gillespie Sr. Was placed on paid leave after being arrested on misdemeanor stalking charges. A woman alleged that Gillespie Sr. stalked her at work, and these are not the first complaints of stalking. The Florida A&M coach is free on bond, but will remain on leave until the charges have been resolved. [5/31/07]

Florida A&M Coach Arrested for Alleged Stalking: Florida A&M coach Mike Gillespie Sr. was arrested and released on a $1,000 bond after a woman filed a misdemeanor stalking charge against him. The woman, who said she' d been a victim of Gillespie's advances before, was allegedly stalked at work. A police report indicated the 56-year-old had been investigated under similar charges since March 2005. Gillespie's attorney said his client had no chance to tell his side of the story before being arrested. Tallahassee Police Department spokesman David McCranie dismissed that claim as untrue. Gillespie, who' s married and has two adult children, just completed his sixth year at Florida A&M by leading them to their first 20-win season since 1988-89. [5/27/07]

New Coach Carter Promises Excitement: Former Texas-San Antonio leading man Tim Carter has been introduced as South Carolina State's new head coach. Carter, an assistant coach at Florida State last season, promised South Carolina State fans that they would enjoy watching the team play. He replaces Bulldogs' ex-coach Jamal Brown, fired in March for violations of the federal Title IX law. [5/7/07]

Coach Gets Charges Dropped After Apology: Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman had misdemeanor assault and cursing charges dropped Tuesday following an apology. Bozeman apologized for a Feb. 3 incident in which he became upset at a Mulligan's Sports Grille employee who had packed him the wrong kind of sandwiches. He was at the restaurant with his team, which had suffered an away loss to Longwood hours earlier. Court records show the coach also agreed to a monetary payment to the employee involved in the incident. [5/02/07]