Friday, January 2, 2009

Saturday: Kent State at Hampton Pirates

Courtesy: Kent State Athletic Communications

Complete Notes in .pdf

The Game
Kent State (6-6) rings in the new year with games at Hampton on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and at Temple on Monday. The Golden Flashes are beginning a three game road swing looking for their first win away from home since a Nov. 19 overtime victory over Saint Louis.

Coming off a 93-42 win over Shawnee State on Tuesday, Kent State has won three of the last four. Six players reached double figures in the game for KSU led by 2008 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year Al Fisher with 16 points. Fisher, who played just 22 minutes for the game, tied a career high with four three-pointers - all coming in the first half. The Golden Flashes well balanced offense was fueled by a season high 30 assists - including seven from senior Jordan Mincy - on 36 made field goals. In the his first start of his KSU career, junior guard Tyree Evans scored 12 points and is now averaging 15.0 points and 2.0 steals in his three games Evans is also shooting 50.0 percent (9-18) from three. Freshman Justin Greene led the team with a career best eight rebounds in just 15 minutes of action.

Hampton (6-6) is coming off a 58-56 win over Yale on Tuesday. Led by a season high 21 points from Christopher Tolsen the Pirates snapped a three game losing streak with the win. Tolsen is averaging 19.5 ppg in the last two games, while Vincent Simpson leads the squad with 10.0 ppg this season.

Series Notes
• Kent State leads the series 1-0. The Golden Flashes won the only other meeting 77-71 last season at the M.A.C. Center.
• Kent State is 4-2 all-time against the MEAC after wins against Hampton and Coppin State last season.
• This is just the third game in Kent State history in the state of Virginia (George Mason, 2007; James Madison, 1987).

TV/Radio WNIR 100.1 FM (Tom Linder)

Next Up For Kent State
Kent State heads up east coast for a game at Temple on Monday.

Pdf. Game 13 - at Hampton (1/3/09)

Thursday, January 1, 2009

A&T keeps football coach a secret


GREENSBORO -- N.C. A&T athletics director Wheeler Brown said Tuesday he knows who he wants as the Aggies' next football coach. But here's the rub: State hiring guidelines prohibit him from announcing his decision until Jan. 6. Brown said he interviewed three candidates for the job -- interim coach George Ragsdale and two coaches from outside the program.

Brown declined to name the other two candidates. A source with knowledge of the search process who declined to be identified said one of those interviewed was Morgan State defensive coordinator Alonzo Lee, a former A&T assistant coach. "Unless I get another resume that really impresses me," Brown said, "I could be happy with one of the three as our coach." Asked if one candidate stood out over the other two, Brown said, "I believe so, yes." Neither Lee nor Ragsdale could be reached for comment Tuesday.

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Happy New Year AggieNation! While you guys are sorting through the hiring process with suspects-- George Ragsdale, Alonzo Lee and the mystery man--Division II, North Alabama goes out and hire Terry Bowden for less than A&T paid Lee Fobbs. The former Auburn, Samford University and Salem College head coach is the son of Florida State coach Bobby Bowden and brings a 111-53-2 record to North Alabama, which finished the 2008 season 12-2 and reached the semifinals of the Division II playoffs.

Can't wait to see who Wheeler Brown selects that will make a winner out all of that great talent in Aggieland. Anything less than Prairie View head coach Henry Frazier III will be a huge disappointment. Please, no more trainees for the MEAC...

SDSU Aztecs pummel road-weary (UAPB) foes

UAPB first year head coach George Ivory accepts that economic reality dictates that the Golden Lions play all of their OOC games on the road for a paycheck to support the basketball program. Results: 1-10 record!

They are opponents that pose minimal risk of marring one's record but offer little reward in terms of RPI. They are mercenaries bouncing from gym to gym, picking up paychecks while paying dearly in the process. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which has yet to work up so much as a bead of sweat in its own building this year, playing its first 11 games on the road, exited another town in tatters last night in being leveled by San Diego State 93-61.

“These are hard games for coaches, because you want to make sure your players are prepared mentally,” Aztecs coach Steve Fisher said. “Often times, players look at (opponents') records and they come out and don't perform.” Before 4,441 at Cox Arena, SDSU improved to 10-3, matching its best record after 13 games since 1984-85. The road-weary Golden Lions, preseason favorites to win the Southwest Athletic Conference, fell to 1-11.

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Dolphins/Former HU Pirates Kendall Langford Unfiltered

Dolphins rookie DE Kendall Langford attempts to knock the snot out of Bills QB J.P. Losman in road game several weeks ago.

Kendall Langford has stood tall all season, anchoring one end of the Dolphins' front line. The Hampton University product, who has contributed 31 tackles, two sacks and three pass deflections this season has been one of the Dolphins' four rookie starters who have held their own this season. His steady play as a run stuffer has not only provided hope for the future, but the present looks pretty bright.

During this unfiltered Langford, the Dolphins' third-round pick, explains why he wouldn't do anything different with his football career if he had to do it all over again, he breaks down the other rookie contributors, and he talks about his team's storybook turnaround.

I'm disappointed to inform you that Langford did dodge my bar fight question, calling it a "trap." Considering he beat out Matt Roth for the starting spot during training camp it's hard to believe he's scared of the team's resident tough guy. But exactly how am I going to force a guy twice my size to answer a question. I tried, but much like this season, Langford held his ground.

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Pirates' defense smothers Yale Bulldogs

Junior guard Vinny Simpson left shooting game at dorm, going 0-8 in game against Yale.

HAMPTON, VA - Hampton University has developed the habit of smothering opponents on defense and making do with marginal shooting. Entering Tuesday night's home contest against Yale, the Pirates (6-6) had held foes to 39.4 percent field-goal shooting, while making only 38.3 percent of their shots. With 32.3 percent shooting Tuesday, the offensive touch eluded Hampton again, but in the final five minutes, freshmen Chris Tolson and Kwame Morgan drained three successive 3-pointers to lift Hampton to a 58-56 come-from-behind win.

Morgan gave Hampton its first lead and capped a 9-0 Pirate spurt when he fired in a trey from the right wing for a 50-48 advantage with 5:18 remaining. Until that basket, Hampton had made only one of 15 attempts from beyond the 3-point line. Yale's Travis Pinick tied the score at 50 with a basket, and then Tolson, who led all scorers with 21 points, pumped in the next eight Pirate points. Tolson made a 3-pointer with 4:41 left to regain the lead at 53-50. He then drew a foul while shooting from long-range and made two of three free throws. When he drilled a 3-pointer with 3:05 left, Hampton led 58-52.

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No. 23 Georgia Tech Routs Florida A&M

ATLANTA, Ga. - Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph was a little concerned about how her team would respond after a 10-day holiday layoff. She shouldn't have been. Jacqua Williams led four double-figure scorers with 16 points as No. 23 Georgia Tech routed Florida A&M 77-42 for its seventh consecutive victory on Tuesday night. FAMU (4-6) missed 21 of its first 24 shots while falling behind 24-7 and trailed 40-17 at halftime. The Rattlers were down by as many as 42 points in the second half.

"I was pretty pleased defensively the way we came out," said Joseph, who said she "didn't expect the fast start against the Lady Rattlers." Instead the Yellow Jackets (11-2) dominated defensively and shot 51.7 percent from the field, going 30-for-58. Williams, a senior guard, led the way, making 7 of 9 shots, including two 3-pointers, to go with five assists and four steals.

"She filled up the stat sheet," Joseph said, "and she does so many intangible things out there as well. … I was impressed with her leadership." The Yellow Jackets also got 13 points from Brigitte Ardossi, 12 from Alex Montgomery and 10 from Deja Foster. Stephanie Foster scored 18 points for FAMU. The Rattlers shot just 20.6 percent from the floor (7 of 34) in the first half and 24.6 percent (16 of 65) for the game.

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A Fire Karl Hobbs Site: Coppin State 57, George Washington 53

What happens when a middle-of-the-pack Atlantic 11 team goes on a three-game losing streak thousands of miles from home, capped off by a 26-point loss to Hawaii and a narrow decision against a previously 1-10 MEAC squad whose only W came against Wilmington College? Well, among other things, the coach of that middle-of-the-pack team will be honored with possibly the first "FireThisCoach.com" Web site in Atlantic 11 poll history.

And so, meet Fire Karl Hobbs!, which was launched amid yesterday's Coppin State disaster, in a frenzy of pre-New-Year's cheer. Six posts in eight hours on Dec. 30! Pace yourself, guys.

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