College Basketball Roundup : Syracuse Stops Pittsburgh, Still Leads Big East

Dwayne (Pearl) Washington scored 23 points, including six key points down the stretch, as ninth-ranked Syracuse held off host Pittsburgh, 69-62, Monday night to remain atop the Big East Conference. Syracuse has won eight of its last nine games.

“When he (Washington) wants to score, he can score,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said. “A lot of people expect miracles from him, and sometimes he delivers. When the game is on the line, you want the ball in his hands.”

Washington scored 16 points in the second half as Syracuse, trailing, 55-54, got six straight points to take a lead it never lost.

“(Washington) took charge of the game, got them the points when they needed them,” Pitt Coach Roy Chipman said. “That’s why he’ll be a first-round NBA draft choice. We don’t have somebody like him who can take charge, take control of the game in the second half.

“You know he’s going to penetrate inside, but it’s still difficult to stop him,” Chipman said. “You’re better off letting him take the shot from the outside because you can’t let him penetrate.”

Said Washington: “You have to take what they give you, and in the first half they took the fast break away. In the second half, I was able to take the ball inside. Somebody had to do the scoring, so I decided to take control.”

Syracuse is 7-1 against Pitt in the Big East. Syracuse improved its record to 21-3 overall and 12-1 in the Big East.

Demetreus Gore led Pitt with 22 points, and Curtis Aiken had 18. Pitt is 14-9 overall and 5-7 in the conference.

Maryland 91, Maryland Eastern Shore 44--Senior Len Bias, back after a one-game suspension because of a curfew violation, scored seven of the first nine points as the host Terrapins walloped Maryland Eastern Shore, a branch of the university.

Maryland (14-11) took a 29-9 lead with 8:53 remaining in the first half before Donnell Boney scored five straight points for the Hawks.

The Terapins led, 44-22, at halftime and extended their margin to 58-26 early in the second half, with Terry Long scoring six points during a 14-4 streak.

John Johnson led Maryland scorers with 15 points. Bias and Tom Jones had 13 each for the Terapins. Jeff Baxter and David Gregg each scored 10. Johnson and Baxter also were suspended along with Bias after missing a curfew following Thursday night’s game at North Carolina State, and they were kept out of Saturday’s game against Clemson.

Clemson 75, Furman 57--Senior forward Glenn Corbit scored 22 points, 16 in the second half, to lead host Clemson to an easy win.

The Tigers, of the Atlantic Coast Conference, are 17-10 overall. Furman, of the Southern Conference, is 10-16.

Navy 66, William & Mary 51--David Robinson had 19 points, 14 rebounds and 8 blocked shots to lead No. 17 Navy to its eighth straight win in a Colonial Athletic Assn. game that was played at Annapolis, Md.

Robinson, a 6-foot 11-inch junior center, who entered the game rated first in the nation with an average of 6.1 blocks per game, scored five of his points during a 17-0 run in the first half that gave Navy a 31-12 lead.

Navy has won 15 of its last 16 games and is 22-4 overall and 12-1 in the conference. William & Mary, which lost to Navy for the eighth straight time, is 7-17 overall and 3-10 in conference.

Louisville 83, Southern Mississippi 74--Senior forward Billy Thompson scored 19 points, including 8 in the decisive final minutes, to lead 16th-ranked Louisville to a win in a Metro Conference game at Louisville, Ky.

Louisville’s record is 19-7 overall, 7-2 in conference.

Sophomore Derrek Hamilton led Southern Mississippi with 27 points. Southern Mississippi is 14-10 overall and 4-6 in conference.

Alabama Birmingham 70, North Carolina Charlotte 54--Jerome Mincey scored 17, including 6 straight free throws in the closing minutes, and grabbed 11 rebounds to pace the Blazers to a Sun Belt Conference victory at Charlotte, N.C.

James Ponder added 14 points for the Blazers, who improved to 22-8 overall and 9-4 in the Sun Belt.

The 49ers were led by Mike Milling’s 18 points. Guard Keith Williams added 11 for North Carolina Charlotte (7-18 and 1-12).

Creighton 74, DePaul 61-- Kenny Evans had 23 points and 8 rebounds to lead hot-shooting Creighton to the win at Omaha, Neb.

Creighton is 10-13, while DePaul fell to 13-10. Dallas Comegys led DePaul with 17 points. Rod Strickland added 13 for the Blue Demons,

Wichita State 65, Tulsa 62--Cedric Coleman sank two free throws with 29 seconds left, and Tulsa’s Byron Boudreaux followed with a crucial charging turnover to give host Wichita State a three-point Missouri Valley Conference win.

Wichita State led, 57-51, with 2:13 remaining before Tulsa, led by David Moss’ seven consecutive points, rallied with a 9-4 spurt to trail 61-60 with 41 seconds to play.

Moss, who finished with 15 points, then fouled out with 29 seconds left, sending Coleman to the free-throw line for his winning baskets.

San Jose State 81, Utah State 69--Reggie Owens scored 21 points to lead the host Spartans over the Aggies.

The Spartans (15-10 and 8-8 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.) led all the way, holding a 43-28 advantage at halftime.

Herb Simon scored 17 points for San Jose State while Ward Farris had 11 and reserve George Puou had 10. Greg Grant scored 22 points to pace the Aggies, 9-14 and 5-9. Kevin Nixon added 16.