MVSU basketball inks eight for 2009-2010

Help is on its way for Coach Sean Woods and the MVSU Delta Devils (7-11 SWAC, Overall 7-25) with first signing class.

ITTA BENA - The Mississippi Valley State Department of Athletics announced that it has signed eight student-athletes for the 2009-2010 season of Delta Devils' men's basketball. “This is where the revitalization and rebuild of our program begins,” said MVSU head coach Sean Woods. “We worked hard during the recruiting period and the players we signed should become important pieces of the program when they join us in the fall.”

Entering his second year as head coach, Woods - along with his staff - will be hoping that the eight signees will make immediate and intense impacts on the team. Along with the signees and an experienced group of returning players, Mississippi Valley State is in the midst of not only retooling, but restoring the pride and legacy known as Delta Devil basketball.

Below are the initial signees for the class of 2009-10:

Jason Sabb 6-foot-3 guard, Angelina Junior College in Lufkin, Texas.
Darian Donald 6-foot-5 forward from East Mississippi Community College.
Chris Hamblin 6-foot-6 forward, Western Nebraska Junior College.
Mark Holmes 6-foot-6 combo forward from Guerin College Prep School in Illinois.
Ricky Lamb 6-foot-6 combo player from Raines High School, Jacksonville,Florida.
Michael Mayo 6-foot-3 guard from Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona.
D'Angelo Jackson 6-foot-1 point guard from Arkansas-Fort Smith Community College.
Jason Holmes 6-foot-9 post player from Conchise College.

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Mississippi Valley rallies past instate rival JSU

For Jackson State, wins are hard to come by in Itta Bena. That fact was evident Saturday night before a standing-room-only crowd (Attendance: 4,719) at the Harrison HPER Complex as Mississippi Valley State erased a 16-point second half deficit to rally past JSU for a 73-67 victory. "We've been able to fight back all year, but we haven't been smart enough to finish games," Valley head coach Sean Woods said. "We finished tonight. This shows we're getting better."

Valley first year head coach Sean Woods gets big win over Tigers.

Eric Petty helped lead the comeback for Valley (6-23, 6-10 in the SWAC) with 14 of his team-high 18 points coming in the second half. Shannon Behling also played a key role in the Delta Devils' rally, going for 10 of his 15 points after the break. JSU (13-14, 12-3), which hasn't won at Valley since 2006, saw its SWAC-high eight-game win streak snapped by its instate rival. Julius Cheeks came off the bench to score 13 for Valley, and point guard Dewayne Harmason had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.

JSU center Jeremy Caldwell fouled out in the second half but not before scoring a team-high 25 points.Petty's strong play inside helped draw four second-half fouls on Caldwell.

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Southwestern Athletic Conference Update 3/1/09
TEAM CONF. W-L OVERALL W-L
Alabama State 14-1 17-8
Jackson State 12-3 13-14
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 10-6 11-16
Prairie View A&M 9-6 13-15
Southern University 8-8 8-20
Mississippi Valley State 6-10 6-23
Alabama A&M 5-10 7-16
Texas Southern 5-10 5-23
Grambling State 4-11 6-20
Alcorn State 4-12 6-23

MVSU Devils head West to take on UCLA Bruins

Valley faces long odds - 16th seeds are 0-92 against No. 1s

Hours after Mississippi Valley State had earned its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1996, the fourth in school history, coach James Green was on the road.

He decided to just make the 4-hour trek home immediately after winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament - making a quick stop at a Waffle House in Tuscaloosa for bacon, eggs and coffee.

"I felt like I wasn't going to sleep anyway," chuckled Green, who arrived at 3:26 a.m. "It was good. I talked on the phone most of the way."

Little over 14 hours later Green and his team learned they will travel to Anaheim, Calif., to play No. 1 seed UCLA inside the Honda Center at 8:55 p.m. (CDT) on Thursday. The Bruins (31-3) are the Pac-10 champions and have won an NCAA-record 11 men's basketball championships.

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MVSU Delta Devils roast Jackson State Tigers

ITTA BENA, Miss. - Despite a game-high 15 points from Darrion Griffin the Jackson State men's basketball team fell 81-53 to the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils in SWAC action Saturday night before standing room only crowd of 4,798. From the tip-off, the game appeared to be paced for another classic SWAC battle with the lead going back and forth. JSU held a 31-30 lead with just over three minutes in the first half. Valley then went on a 7-0 run to take a 38-31 lead into halftime. Valley took control in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 43-22.

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The Delta Devils (7-12, 5-3 SWAC) will return to action Monday when they host Grambling State at 6 p.m. live on ESPNU.

Featured Gallery: Mississippi Valley State University vs. Jackson State University

Jackson State University Sonic Boom of the South Marching Band

Freshman RB Brewer bright spot for MVSU with 148-yard game

Photo:Valley quarterback Paul Roberts hands off to Ronald Brewer in the first half.

By Rusty Hampton, Clarion Ledger

ITTA BENA — Mississippi Valley State lost the football game by a wide margin Saturday, but in the process the Delta Devils took another step in developing a potential star at running back.

Ronald Brewer, a freshman from Germantown, Tenn., led all rushers during Jackson State's 50-16 victory with 148 yards on 28 carries.

Brewer scored on a 4-yard run to give the Delta Devils a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter. By halftime, he had 71 yards on 11 carries. His longest run covered 23 yards and he ripped off several others of 10 or more yards.

Afterwards, coach Willie Totten questioned the play of his quarterbacks - "Right now, I don't know where our quarterbacks' heads are," he said - but he had no questions about the running game.

Brewer improved his season rushing average to 85 yards per game.

"We know that Ronald can run the football," Totten said. "He's a very unselfish kid. The thing is, he trains like that in practice, and if we can get a few more guys to train like that in practice we'll be better."

Brewer's 148 yards were more than half of MVSU's total net offense.

"But my production wasn't enough," he said. "We've got to start getting better every week."

JSU had four sacks and chased MVSU starting quarterback Paul Roberts all over the field. Totten tried two others in the second half. Overall, MVSU threw for just 99 yards.

"I can't make the system any simpler," said Totten, a college Hall of Fame quarterback in the 1980s for Valley. "But right now, we're making a lot of mistakes. A lot of bad reads, and then they're getting down on themselves too quick."

Photo: Ronald Brewer scores a Delta Devils touchdown past JSU's Marsellus Speaks.

Battle of Bands: 2007 Chicago Football Classic- Southern U. vs. MVSU Valley Band

Southern University Human Jukebox Marching Band, Half-Time Show @ 2007 Chicago Football Classic


Mississippi Valley State University Delta Devils, Half-Time Show @ 2007 Chicago Football Classic

Final: Southern U. 23, MVSU 6

CHICAGO - Bryant Lee threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns to lead Southern to a 23-6 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday in the Chicago Football Classic at Soldier Field.

Lee, a red shirt sophomore, connected with three different receivers as the Jaguars (2-0, 1-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) built a 14-6 halftime lead.

Southern scored first early in the second quarter on a 54-yard toss from Lee to Gerard Landry. Later in the period, Lee found Kendrick Smith in the end zone with a 12-yard pass.

Mississippi Valley (1-1) got on the board on a 20-yard pass from quarterback Paul Roberts to Clarence Cotton with six seconds left in the half. The point-after by Jamie Whitworth was wide right.

"We really showed a lot of character coming back in the second half," said Jaguar head coach Pete Richardson, who admitted he feared the game's momentum had shifted to Mississippi Valley with their score late in the first half. "We were able to come back and shut them down."

Southern scored again midway in the third quarter on a 20 yard strike from Lee to Smith. The point-after kick by Josh Doran was blocked. Doran later connected on a 30-yard field goal.

Brian Threat led the rushing for Southern with 106 yards on 11 carries. Del Roberts was the leading receiver for the Jaguars, catching seven of Lee's passes for 74 yards.

"We really couldn't get anything going offensively when we needed to," said Delta Devils coach Willie Totten. "However, give them credit. They played a great game and were able to hold off our offense."

Southern's defense held Mississippi Valley to 162 yards and 11 first downs. Roberts accounted for 121 yards of the Delta Devils offense, completing 17 of 31 passes.