Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Notebook
The season maybe a little over three weeks old, but Howard and North Carolina A&T have already posted some impressive victories against powerhouse teams from the Big East, Ivy League and the Patriot League.
Recently, the Aggies picked up perhaps their biggest win in school history thanks to a breakout night from First Team All-MEAC guard Steven Rush. His career-high 40 points and personal record for three-pointers made (10) helped the Aggies to their best start in 16 seasons with a 96-93 come-from-behind upset of DePaul.
NCAT had to work hard for this one, as the Blue Demons used a 12-4 run to cut into a big deficit late in the contest. Then, Rush took matters into his hands as he converted on a three-pointer, then sealed the win with a pair of free-throws. Teammate Austin Ewing chipped in with 21 points, also a career-best.
As for Howard, they followed up their surprising win at Penn a couple of weeks ago with a victory at home against Navy, thanks to a collective team effort led by Eugene Myatt and Kandi Mukole. They each scored 10 points but keyed a 7-1 run with some critical buckets down the stretch to extend a 49-48 cushion into a 68-62 advantage.
Having shown that they can play with the “big boys”, the remainder of the out-of-conference schedule looks like this for both teams, first with Howard:
12/4 – @ American
12/8 – @ VMI
12/20 – @ Northwestern
12/22 – @ UIC
12/28 – @ St. Mary’s (CA)
Meanwhile, the Aggies will face some stiffer competition to close out December:
12/17 – @ Missouri
12/19 – @ Akron
12/23 – @ Miami (FL)
12/28 – @ Washington State
The contest at American will be the continuation of a long, six-game (and perhaps favorable) road trip for Howard, which begins against MEAC foe Hampton in the second-annual Big Apple Classic at New York’s Madison Square Garden. A win would cap what was nonetheless an impressive start for the Bison, considering they had to overcome the injury bug to a few key reserves early on.
The Aggies could put up a fight against Missouri and Akron, but will undoubtedly need another standout performance from Rush to pull off more upsets.
Maybe beating the likes of Navy, Penn and DePaul won’t give the Bison and Aggies a substantial boost in their RPI. But it will show that, come conference play in January, they would’ve had a great tune-up for what should be a fierce and competitive two months of action in the MEAC.
