NCCU Dominates Savannah State Tigers, 42-14

DURHAM, North Carolina -- The North Carolina Central University football team created an explosive 42-14 victory against the Savannah State University Tigers Saturday, Oct. 25 in O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium.

NCCU junior wide receiver Anas Hasic had a game-high and season-best of 174 receiving yards; the most by an Eagle since Oct. 3, 2009, when Will Scott accumulated 179. Hasic also managed three touchdowns with 10 catches during Saturday's showdown.

Eagles quarterback Malcolm Bell passed for 287 yards and was responsible for five out of the six NCCU touchdowns. Saturday's game was Bell's sixth straight contest with more than 200 passing yards and a touchdown.

"I think our team is making strides in the right direction on offense, defense, and special teams," said NCCU head coach Jerry Mack. "They went out there and executed our game-plan to the best of their ability, and that's all I ask for from those guys."

The Tigers were hungry for a win, sitting 0-4 in the MEAC and 0-7 overall, but the NCCU defense—led by Jordan Miles with 10 tackles and 1.5 for a loss—would only allow one touchdown in the first half.

Savannah State quarterback Tino Smith II executed a 56-yard touchdown pass on third down and 18 with 2:06 remaining in first-quarter play.

The Eagles were scoreless in the first quarter, but refused to remain silent as their second quarter opening drive resulted in a tight, six-yard touchdown catch by Hasic. With the extra kick from Eric Fenton, the Eagles and Tigers were tied up at seven with 12:41 on the clock in the first half.

A quarterback sack by Miles and Tre Smith pushed the Tigers back to third down and 18, yet again, only this time the Tigers were unsuccessful on their conversion as the clock ticked down to 5:23.

Bell capped the first half scoring with a one-yard rushing touchdown after 12 plays and 74 yards, leaving only 12.7 seconds until halftime. NCCU took the lead over Savannah State at 14-7 by the end of the second quarter.

With 9:49 left in the third quarter, Bell launched a 50-yard touchdown pass to Hasic, who slipped just past a tackle to run it in the end zone. Hasic's connection with Bell gave the Eagles their 21-7 lead over the Tigers.

The Eagles didn't stop. Bell broke free for a six-yard touchdown continuing the domination and widening the score to 28-7 with 4:16 in the remainder of the quarter.

Michael Jones caught a leaping interception in the end zone with 2:59 to play in the third, but the Tigers decided they weren't going to give up just yet.

On a 47-yard punt by Nathaniel Tilque, Savannah State's Ker-Sean Wilson returned the ball for 54 yards. Two plays and 15 yards later, the Tigers trimmed the lead to 28-14.

Lineman Felix Small contributed to the NCCU defense with seven tackles and three sacks, giving him the most in the last 15 years.

NCCU's fourth quarter was a success, holding the Tigers scoreless and bringing about two more touchdowns.

Andre Clarke got some touchdown action with a two-yard run into the end zone early in the fourth quarter, followed by Hasic's third touchdown of the day with 4:28 left in the game.

Savannah State running back Richard Williams ran around the NCCU defense with 87 rushing yards and 58 receiving yards, but couldn't give the Tigers enough to come out on top.

NCCU finished the game at 42-14 against the Savannah State Tigers, and will return to the field in Daytona Beach, Florida against MEAC opponent Bethune-Cookman Saturday, Nov. 1 at 4 p.m.

Written by Staci Green
COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Albany State rips Clark Atlanta 34-12 for Homecoming

ALBANY, Georgia -- They hugged. Dished out high-fives. Then offered words of congratulations.

On this picture-perfect afternoon, the final regular-season season home game at the Albany State University Coliseum served as Senior Day and Homecoming. And no matter how many blown assignments, penalties or turnovers the Rams compiled, this was a day for Albany State.

The Rams scored three first-half touchdowns and routed Clark Atlanta 34-12 before 9,736 on Saturday.

What was even better was the Albany State defense, with the exception of a few busted plays, shut down Clark’s tricky triple-option offensive attack.

Even head coach Mike White had to smile about this one.

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Two Florida A&M Players Dismissed Amidst False JUCO Transcripts Probe

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Former Radford head coach Byron Samuels is having to build from the ground up at Florida A&M. Seven Rattlers transferred out this summer and the whole roster was basically rebuilt. FAMU is also suffering from a postseason ban due to APR violations handed down by the NCAA. It was already expected to be a tough season in Tallahassee but now it may even be tougher for Samuels.

NCAA scholarships yanked, WCC coach fired in transcript probe  

Two JUCO transfers, Jamell Walker and Damien Davis, are off the Rattlers roster and have had their scholarships pulled after it was discovered they had false transcripts. The Journal News of Westchester, New York explains the situation:

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AL LAWSON CENTER
FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY

NCAA scholarships yanked, WCC coach fired in transcript probe

VALHALLA, New York -- Florida A&M University has yanked full athletic scholarships from two men's basketball players who used to play at Westchester Community College and a WCC assistant men's basketball coach has been fired amid a criminal investigation into transcript fraud, an investigation by The Journal News has found.

FAMU, already banned from postseason play by the NCAA because of academic performance issues, pulled the scholarships of Jamell Walker, a former standout at Mount Vernon High School, and Damien Davis, a sought-after player from Wings Academy in the Bronx, said Alvin Hollins, the university's assistant sports information director.

WCC assistant basketball coach Richard Fields was fired Oct. 16 after admitting he provided a phony transcript for Walker and forged the signature of an administrator on an eligibility form for Walker, said WCC spokesman Pat Hennessey. Walker and Davis were juniors at FAMU, an NCAA Division I program in Tallahassee, Florida.

"He manufactured a fake transcript," Hennessey said of Fields. "Jamell took one course here. The transcript said he earned a full degree and graduated."

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Hampton blanks Delaware State in MEAC loss

DOVER. Delaware — The offense barely crossed midfield and the defense couldn’t stop the run.

The punting game looked good though — well, for the most part.

Delaware State was thoroughly outplayed in a 23-0 MidEastern Athletic Conference loss to Hampton on Saturday afternoon. The Hornets (2-3 MEAC, 2-7) only had the ball in Hampton territory four times.

“When you’re as inconsistent as we were today you expect to get your butt whooped,” said DSU coach Kermit Blount. “And we got our butt whooped.”

It was Hampton’s (1-3, 2-6) first win over a Division I opponent this season and the first time the Pirates recorded a shutout since 2009.


COURTESY DSU HORNETS ATHLETICS


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Howard Women's Soccer Shuts Out UAPB To Earn SWAC Regular Season Title

VESTAVIA HILLS, Alabama  --  A dominating performance worthy of a champion served as the fitting conclusion to the Howard women's soccer team's inaugural regular season in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Led by a balancing scoring effort, the Lady Bison won the SWAC regular season championship with a 6-0 shutout of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Sunday afternoon at the Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM
2014 SWAC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 
ROSTER 

With the win, Howard (10-8-1) completed a 9-1 first run through the SWAC conference and an undefeated 4-0 home slate at their neutral site home field in Vestavia Hills, 15 minutes outside of Birmingham. The victory also ties the program record for of 10 wins in a season, set by the 2001 Lady Bison team.

Howard's win holds other significance as well:

- The championship is the first by any Howard sport since 2007 (Softball, MEAC Regular Season & Tournament);
- With one regular season non-conference game left before the SWAC Tournament, Howard ensured its first overall record of .500 or better since the record-setting 2001 squad;
- Howard's six goals and six-goal victory are the largest totals of the season and the most since a 10-0 shutout of Washington Adventist on October 7, 2013.

Senior midfielder Nia Walcott and junior forward Nikanya Clark each scored a pair of goals and assisted one another while junior forward Rasheeda Ansari and freshman Noelle McCullom added a goal apiece. Walcott and Clark are currently tied for the team lead with eight goals, three assists and 19 total points. Senior Ayanna Carter and freshmen Whitney White & I-sis Wilson recorded assists as well.

Howard scored three goals within a 3:36 span early on and added a fourth in the 36th minute to take a 4-0 over UAPB (2-15, 1-7 SWAC) into halftime. The Lady Bison would add a pair in the 68th and 87th minutes to set the final margin.

COURTESY HOWARD UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION 

TU Golden Tigers delight packed house for homecoming

TUSKEGEE, Alabama – Tuskegee turned in its sharpest performance of the season, coasting to a 38-9 homecoming victory over Kentucky State on Saturday.

The quarterbacks also played their best game of the year, combining to go 16-for-18 passing for a season-high 291 yards.

Sophomore Kevin Lacey was 10-for-11 passing with 180 yards, and rushed for 19 yards and a touchdown. Senior Justin Nared went 4-for-4 with two touchdowns, and added 24 yards on the ground.

"I've really been focusing on making the right reads and making sure I check where the safeties are when the ball is snapped," Lacey said. "All week, we've been working on this, just trying to get better of making corner reads, safety reads. A lot of the play calls were putting us in a position to make great throws and execute the offense."

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Arkansas-Pine Bluff overcomes deficit to defeat TSU

HOUSTON, Texas -- Benjamin Anderson connected with Willie Young on fourth-quarter touchdown passes of 60 and 69 yards to lead Arkansas-Pine Bluff past Texas Southern 38-37 on Saturday night at BBVA Compass Stadium.

Anderson completed just 12 of 23 passes but finished with 288 yards passing and three touchdowns. Young had three receptions and 142 yards.

Brian Handley, who came into the game with just 179 yards on 46 carries this season, ran for 193 yards and two touchdowns for UAPB (2-5, 1-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference).

TSU (5-3, 3-3) trailed 26-17 at halftime but used touchdown runs by Jimmy Potepa and Daveonn Porter to take a 31-26 lead into the fourth quarter.

The teams combined for 1,096 total yards and just four punts.

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