Jan. 26, 2011
Final Stats
FAYETTEVILLE, NC - It wasn't so much the fact that Tyrell Tate set a new career-high in scoring.
It was how he did it.
Their 13-point second-half lead all but gone, the Fayetteville State Broncos nonetheless kept attacking.
And why not? Tate (Fr., Raleigh, NC) was on the floor.
Seth Hawkins (So., Greensboro, NC) slipped into the paint and dished a quick pass to Tate, who was flashing into the lane. He took the pass and rose, his right hand extended. As he descended, Tate threw the ball down with an emphatic dunk, all while being fouled.
He then stepped to the line, and on a night when few Broncos could convert from the stripe, Tate calmly made the foul shot, giving the Broncos a five-point lead with 55 seconds left -- and giving himself a new career-high in points.
Tate finished with a game-high 21 points, making all seven of his shot attempts and hitting on 7 of 10 foul shots as the Fayetteville State Broncos held off Virginia State for the second time this season, prevailing 84-74 on Wednesday night at Felton J. Capel Arena.
"Tyrell is showing his maturation as a student-athlete at Fayetteville State," said Broncos head coach Alphonza Kee. "He gave a tremendous effort tonight."
The Broncos (8-8, 4-4), who matched last season's win total with 10 regular season games still remaining, seemed to be in control midway through the second half. Fayetteville State, with consistent dribble-penetration in the halfcourt set and deft passing in transition, took a 59-46 lead on
Jarmel Baxter's (Jr., Davidson) 3-pointer on the run with 13:07 remaining in the game.
But with their Jekeyll and Hyde foul shooting showing its bad side - Fayetteville State shot a red-hot 58.8 percent from the field (a staggering 64 percent in the second half), but just 53.8 percent from the foul line (21 of 39) - the Trojans (1-15, 0-8) methodically got back into the game. Virginia State, which has lost 15 straight games since opening the season with a victory over Pfeiffer on Nov. 15, used a 15-6 run to cut the deficit to four, 65-61, with 7:36 to go.
The Trojans kept the heat on, eventually cutting the Fayetteville State lead to two points three times in the closing minutes. Virginia State's Brandon Plummer, who led the Trojans with 20 points, buried a tough turnaround jump shot to bring his team to 70-68 with 1:05 remaining.
That set up Tate's heroics, and after Plummer missed two foul shots with 38.8 seconds to go, the Broncos made enough free throws in the waning seconds to pick up their second victory of the season over Virginia State, whose closest loss this year was an 80-76 defeat to Fayetteville State on Dec. 13.
The Broncos' big men enjoyed a big night against the Trojans, with John Herrington (Jr., Jacksonville, FL) adding 15 points and seven rebounds. Tim Plummer (Jr., Apex, NC) added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds while Sidney Evans (Jr., Durham, NC) had 11 points.
Chris Washington and Mike Bynum added 14 points apiece for the Trojans.
Fayetteville State trailed early in the game, falling behind 9-3 in the opening minutes. But in a frenetic first half, the Broncos fought their way back to even the game. Virginia State took a 35-30 edge with 5:50 to go in the opening period.
But Fayetteville State responded with a 15-3 run spanning the break to take a 45-38 lead with 17:22 left in the game. The Broncos kept the pressure on to build their double-digit lead.
