NORFOLK, Virginia -- It's been a roller coaster season for Hampton Roads' two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference schools. Ups and downs, and some unexpected turns, but the time where you look forward to the next game has come and gone, it's win or go home. Norfolk State is looking for their first MEAC Championship since 2012 while Hampton, is going for their first three-peat in school history.
The Spartans (15-15) regular season was riddled with early-season injuries, 12 losses in 15 games, and an almost insurmountable hole to dig their selves out of. However, they've reeled off 12 wins in the last 15 games to snag the #2 seed in next week's MEAC Championship.
Hampton's (14-15) season started out similarly. A barrage of losses, that would later even out with a solid string of conference wins. "One thing we teach all year is that no win is too big, no loss is too small until the times come that there is no more," said Hampton head coach Edward Joyner. "You are at that time, so there is a sense of urgency to it."
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Saturday, March 4, 2017
City of Grambling honors football program with commemorative sign
GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- Anyone leaving Grambling State's campus from now on will be left with a championship impression.The city of Grambling, led by mayor Edward Jones, unveiled and dedicated a commemorative sign Friday to honor the football program and its 2016 HBCU national championship. The sign, which is about 10 feet wide, sits between two metal posts facing campus on the corner College Avenue and RWE Jones Drive.
"Oh wow," Grambling coach Broderick Fobbs said as he and his wife, Kim, lifted a tarp to unveil the sign to a group of 50 or 75 supporters that included Grambling city council members, GSU supporters, the entire coaching staff and a group of players.
The sign reads "Home of Champions" in gold letters with three lines of accolades — 2016 HBCU national champions, SWAC champions and Hero Sports Coach of the Year. Fobbs is prominently featured on the bottom left of the sign, holding up one finger to the sky. Quarterback DeVante Kincade and running back Martez Carter, two key members of the 2016 team and returners for 2017, are pictured in the top left and top right corners, respectively.
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North Carolina A&T's Cohen among leaders in 40-yard dash at NFL combine
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — Greensboro native T.J. Logan, a North Carolina alum, had the best time in the 40-yard dash at 4.37 seconds during Friday’s workouts at the NFL scouting combine, while N.C. A&T’s Tarik Cohen was third in 4.42 seconds.
Christian McCaffrey didn’t fare well on the bench press, managing 10 repetitions of the 225-pound test.
That’s about half of what running backs usually average at the annual gathering and it immediately set social media abuzz over the 2015 Heisman Trophy runner-up’s upper body strength.
The Stanford star running back, however, made up for that poor performance by running a 4.48 in the 40-yard dash, ahead of LSU’s Leonard Fournette, who ran a 4.51.
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Wednesday, March 1, 2017
University of the District of Columbia Wins Historic Men’s Lacrosse Game vs. HBCU Division I Rival Hampton
HAMPTON, Virginia -- In the historic first ever meeting between the nation's only NCAA Division I HBCU Men's Lacrosse program – Hampton University, and the nation's first and only NCAA Division II HBCU Men's Lacrosse program – University of the District of Columbia, the visiting Firebirds came out on top by a final score of 19-15 on Saturday afternoon at Armstrong Stadium.
The Firebirds (1-1), a fourth-year program under first-year head coach Rodger Colbert, were led offensively by five multiple-goal scorers and aided tremendously by a combined 24-for-37 on faceoffs by junior midfielder Teilen Celentano (16-of-23) and freshman midfielder Jose Leon (8-of-14). Junior midfielder LaRon Hinton tied for the game-high with five goals and added one assist while sophomore midfielder Tyler Mace was UDC's point-leader with four goals and three assists. UDC, for the 2nd straight game, set a program record for goals scored in a game with 19.
Defensively, sophomore transfer goalkeeper Nikolas Lund-Murray improved to 1-1 on the season by stopping nine of 24 shots faced in a complete game effort. The Firebirds also combined for 10 caused turnovers, including two apiece by Hinton, Mace and freshman midfielder Connor Mosby.
Hampton, a 2nd year program which has opened both its seasons with losses to Division II East Coast Conference school Roberts Wesleyan, fell to 0-2 this season with today's loss. The Pirates were led offensively by attack John Tarver's game-high eight points on five goals and three assists, and fellow attack Kendall Sapp's four goals and one assist. Goalkeeper Kevin Mondy, Jr. stopped 15 of 34 shots faced in the loss.
UDC's freshman attack Alan Singleton scored the game's first goal a little over two minutes into the action on a man-up opportunity off of an assist by Hinton. Hampton responded with a goal 20 seconds later by Sapp, but Hinton began and ended a 3-0 burst by the Firebirds with a man-down goal at 13:06 and an unassisted goal at 8:43 to put UDC in front, 4-1 still in the 1st quarter.
Hampton's Lemuel Randolph then kicked off a 5-0 Pirate surge with an unassisted goal at the 8:43 mark, and with Sapp's 3rd goal of the day at 4:29, the Pirates jumped ahead, 6-4. The Firebirds answered though with three straight unassisted goals to end the quarter by Mace, Hinton and Singleton, and they led 7-6 at the end of the first period.
Sophomore transfer attack Zach Hart (four goals, two assists) scored the first of his multiple goals just over five minutes into the 2nd quarter to push the UDC lead to 8-6 with a 4-0 run that spanned the 1st and 2nd quarters. But back came Hampton with four straight goals – the final two of which were man-down goals that came within 13 seconds of each other – and the Pirates were back on top, 10-8. Junior midfielder Syrrus Nash scored the first of his three goals on the day to stop the bleeding, but UDC still headed to halftime trailing 10-9.
Hart quickly opened the scoring in the 2nd half with a man-up goal just over 20 seconds into the 3rd quarter off of an assist by Singleton and evened the score at 10. Then, following a Hampton man-up goal by Darrel Kidd, Hinton and Mace each tallied unassisted goals at 13:34 and 11:21, respectively, to give UDC back the lead, 12-11.
Hampton would force two more ties at 12 and 13,but Nash's 2nd goal of the day at the 3:50 mark in the 3rd quarter would put the Firebirds ahead to stay. UDC closed out the 3rd period on a 4-0 run and took a 17-13 lead heading into the final quarter.
The two HBCU rivals traded goals twice with Hampton never coming any closer than three goals in the final quarter. Nash's 3rd and final goal gave UDC a 19-15 lead at the 5:33 mark, and that remained the score at the final buzzer.
UDC out-shot Hampton 58-34, won the ground ball battle, 21-11, and converted 4-of-10 man-up opportunities compared the Pirates' 3-of-5.
Next up, the Firebirds visit Georgian Court on Wednesday, March 1st at 3:30 p.m.
BOX SCORE
UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPORTS INFORMATION
TSU Falls to SEMO, 78-75, in Overtime in OVC Tournament First Round
NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- The eighth-seeded Tennessee State men’s basketball team suffered a 78-75 overtime loss to fifth-seeded Southeast Missouri in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament First Round at Municipal Auditorium on Wednesday night. Wayne Martin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led four Tigers in double figures with 19 points and eight rebounds.
TSU (17-13) held a 34-28 halftime edge over Southeast Missouri (15-17) before the Redhawks outscored the Tigers by a 36-30 margin in the second half. In the five-minute overtime period, Ken’Darrius Hamilton (Montgomery, Ala.) drilled a three pointer with 7.2 seconds left to level the scoring, but SEMO’s Tahj Eddy answered with the game-winning three with 2.2 seconds to go to pull out the victory.
For TSU, Armani Chaney (Chicago, Ill.) tallied 14 points with Tahjere McCall (Philadelphia, Pa.) adding 12 and Hamilton scoring 10. The Tigers held a 49-30 rebounding edge and limited the Redhawks to 35.0 percent shooting.
Southeast Missouri jumped out to a 16-8 lead eight minutes into the contest before pair of Chaney three-pointers got the Tigers back in the game.
Another Chaney three with 7:38 left in the opening half put the Tigers up 24-21 as part of a 10-0 run over a three-minute span. McCall’s layup with 2:10 remaining before halftime gave TSU its largest lead of the opening half of eight points at 34-26.
TSU, which shot 52.0 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, carried a 34-28 lead into halftime.
Out of the break, Tennessee State stretched its lead to 14 at 44-30 thanks to a 10-2 run to open the half.
The Tigers continued to lead by double figures until SEMO’s Trey Kellum hit a layup to trim the TSU advantage down to 48-39 with 11 minutes to play. The Redhawks continued to press and cut the deficit to just two at 51-49 with 7:18 left.
With four minutes to play, TSU led 58-54 and the game remained close throughout the rest of regulation.
TSU found itself down by two with 27.8 seconds left when Chaney tied things up at 64-64 with two made free throws. The Tigers came up with a stop on the defensive end on SEMO’s final offensive possession to force overtime.
TSU trailed by five points in overtime when Delano Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) hit a free throw and Darreon Reddick (Belleville, Ill.) followed with a layup to put the Tigers down just two at 72-70 with 27.5 seconds to go.
After SEMO made one free throw on the other end, Reddick hit two from the line, again cutting TSU’s deficit down to one point at 73-72. Two more SEMO free throws put the Tigers down three until Hamilton tied the game at 75-75 and Eddy answered with the winner.
SEMO’s Denzel Mahoney led all scorers with 34 points.
GAME NOTES: TSU is 12-25 all time in the OVC Tournament… TSU was the eighth seed in the OVC Tournament for the fifth time… The Tigers are now 25-20 in the all-time series versus Southeast Missouri.
TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS
TSU (17-13) held a 34-28 halftime edge over Southeast Missouri (15-17) before the Redhawks outscored the Tigers by a 36-30 margin in the second half. In the five-minute overtime period, Ken’Darrius Hamilton (Montgomery, Ala.) drilled a three pointer with 7.2 seconds left to level the scoring, but SEMO’s Tahj Eddy answered with the game-winning three with 2.2 seconds to go to pull out the victory.
For TSU, Armani Chaney (Chicago, Ill.) tallied 14 points with Tahjere McCall (Philadelphia, Pa.) adding 12 and Hamilton scoring 10. The Tigers held a 49-30 rebounding edge and limited the Redhawks to 35.0 percent shooting.
Southeast Missouri jumped out to a 16-8 lead eight minutes into the contest before pair of Chaney three-pointers got the Tigers back in the game.
Another Chaney three with 7:38 left in the opening half put the Tigers up 24-21 as part of a 10-0 run over a three-minute span. McCall’s layup with 2:10 remaining before halftime gave TSU its largest lead of the opening half of eight points at 34-26.
TSU, which shot 52.0 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, carried a 34-28 lead into halftime.
Out of the break, Tennessee State stretched its lead to 14 at 44-30 thanks to a 10-2 run to open the half.
The Tigers continued to lead by double figures until SEMO’s Trey Kellum hit a layup to trim the TSU advantage down to 48-39 with 11 minutes to play. The Redhawks continued to press and cut the deficit to just two at 51-49 with 7:18 left.
With four minutes to play, TSU led 58-54 and the game remained close throughout the rest of regulation.
TSU found itself down by two with 27.8 seconds left when Chaney tied things up at 64-64 with two made free throws. The Tigers came up with a stop on the defensive end on SEMO’s final offensive possession to force overtime.
TSU trailed by five points in overtime when Delano Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) hit a free throw and Darreon Reddick (Belleville, Ill.) followed with a layup to put the Tigers down just two at 72-70 with 27.5 seconds to go.
After SEMO made one free throw on the other end, Reddick hit two from the line, again cutting TSU’s deficit down to one point at 73-72. Two more SEMO free throws put the Tigers down three until Hamilton tied the game at 75-75 and Eddy answered with the winner.
SEMO’s Denzel Mahoney led all scorers with 34 points.
GAME NOTES: TSU is 12-25 all time in the OVC Tournament… TSU was the eighth seed in the OVC Tournament for the fifth time… The Tigers are now 25-20 in the all-time series versus Southeast Missouri.
TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS
HU Spring Football Practice Begins March 13
HAMPTON, Virginia -- The Hampton University football team will start its Spring Practice schedule on Monday, March 13 and will run for 15 dates throughout early April.Practices will be held at Armstrong Stadium starting on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday schedule. Saturday practices will be at noon, while the rest of the practice times will be from 6:30 – 8 a.m.
The spring season will conclude on April 7 with the Spring Game at Armstrong Stadium at 3 pm.
Hampton will hit the practice field after finishing tied for third in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with a 5-3 mark and a 5-6 overall record.
For more information on Hampton University football, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5757 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.
HAMPTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
Ben Ellzey's streak ends, FAMU gets by Mercer 9-6
TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Last season, Florida A&M’s offense was one of the best in the nation – third baseman Ben Ellzey’s .388 batting average helped with that.He led the conference in batting average, was tied for fourth in the MEAC with 69 hits and was tied for fifth in the conference with 42 RBIs.
Now a senior, the third baseman is picking up exactly where he left off.
Ellzey on Monday was named the MEAC’s Player of the Week. He went 8-for-17 last week and hit a walk-off RBI single to give the Rattlers a 3-2 series-opening victory over George Washington. FAMU would go on to sweep the Colonials.
Ellzey also stepped up against SEC foe Auburn (two hits and an RBI) in FAMU’s midweek game.
“All of us are just picking it up, one right after the other,” he said. “We’re getting hits in a row. We’re getting bunts down when we need to. It’s just a nice chain reaction and I’m just glad we’re still winning. It feels good to just keep winning.”
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