Howard Wins Amid Turmoil

Howard won its first game of the season Saturday, beating North Carolina A&T;, 69-62, at Washington D.C., one day after its coach and two assistants were fired, and two players were declared ineligible for being in violation of NCAA and school rules.

Howard (1-9) ended a losing streak at 22 games.

Coach Kirk Saulny, in his second season at Howard, was fired Friday after an investigation that the school said determined he had broken NCAA and school rules. Assistants Darryl Bruce and Lamont Franklin were also fired, while volunteer Eric Saulny, a cousin of Kirk Saulny, was told by the school his services were no longer needed.

Junior forward Donte Lincoln--a former Ventura High player recruited out of Los Angeles Trade Tech--and sophomore forward Darren Kennedy were declared ineligible.

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Temple (8-3, 2-0 in the Atlantic 10) used a 13-0 run midway in the second half of a 64-61 victory over St. Joseph’s (6-5, 1-1) at Philadelphia. Forward Mark Karcher had 17 points and 11 rebounds and guard Pepe Sanchez had six steals for Temple, which has won the last 10 games against St. Joseph’s. . . . Forward Lavor Postell and Guard Erick Barkley each had 26 points and combined to make 16 of 25 shots to lead St. John’s (10-2, 2-0 in the Big East) to an 86-74 victory over West Virginia (7-5, 0-2) at Wheeling, W.Va. The rest of the Red Storm players made only 11 of 32 shots but the Mountaineers had 22 turnovers and made 14 less free throws (25-11).

Freshmen guards LaVell Blanchard and Jamal Crawford scored 11 of Michigan’s 12 points in the second overtime as the Wolverines (10-3, 1-1 in the Big Ten) beat Purdue, 88-86, at West Lafayette, Ind. The Boilermakers (9-5, 0-1) had come from behind to tie the game in regulation and the first overtime, but missed three shots in the final 12 seconds of the second overtime. . . . Guard Marques Maybin’s layup with five seconds left was decisive for Louisville (10-3, 2-0 in Conference USA) in a 69-67 home-court victory over Southern Mississippi (10-3, 1-1). The Cardinals have won 10 of 11. . . . Senior guard Stevie Johnson had a career-high 20 points as Iowa State (13-2) tied a school record with his 10th consecutive victory--an 86-81 decision over Missouri (7-6) in the Big 12 opener for both teams at Ames, Iowa.