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New Orleans, Louisiana - Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) improved their record to 3-4 on Sunday with a 95-82 victory over Johnson & Wales (Fla.). Six Knights-Clyde Moore, Merlin Walker, Kevin Dukes, Nicholas Washington, Jared Lewis, and Jeremy Montgomery-scored in double digits to guide the Knights to victory in The Castle. After multiple lead changes in the first half, which ended in a 41-41 tie, the Knights outscored the Wildcats 54-41 in the second half to get the win.
In front of a sparse but energetic crowd SUNO shot 52% from the field, made 38% of their three-pointers, and made 71% of their free throws to overcome Johnson & Wales' perimeter attack. In the first half, the Wildcats' 40% three-point shooting threatened the Knights consistently. Johnson & Wales led by as many as seven points but SUNO hung in to keep pace with the Wildcats. Only minutes into the second half, the Knights jumped ahead 45-42 and never looked back. The Knights shot 60% from the field, made 50% of the three-pointers, and made 72% of their free throws in the second half.
Moore led the Knights in scoring with 23 points. He was also one of the team leaders in total rebounds with seven and in steals with two. Dukes also had seven total rebounds while Lewis and Carlos Arango had two steals, each. Dukes also had SUNO's only blocked shot on the afternoon.
The Wildcats had five players in double figures. David Jean Jacques led the way with 19 points, Myles Smith had 15, both Craig Wong and Carlos Montilla had 14, and Joseph Lopez had 11. Montilla led in rebounds with nine and Wong led the team with two steals.
New Orleans, La. - The Southern University at New Orleans Lady Knights will open their 2011-2012 seasonon November 5th in Dallas, Texas against Paul Quinn with the home opener on November 12th against Concordia-Selma. SUNO's women will also play two exhibition games, one at Southern on November 11th and the other at Nicholls State on November 30th. SUNO will also participate in the University of St. Thomas Tournament in Houston, Texas on December 19th and 20th.
SUNO's women finished the 2010-2011 season 18-5 and 3-4 in conference. A team made up mostly of underclassmen, Coach Elston King is licking his chops at the prospect of taking his young team's performance to the next level after a record-breaking season.
Forward Christine Conner, who will be a senior, was named an NAIA Honorable Mentiona All-American. She and former standout guard/forward LaTiondra Smith both made the All-GCAC team while guard Lydia Ross grabbed GCAC Co-Freshman of the Year honors.
Coming off the most impressive one-season turnaround in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, the SUNO Lady Knights are preparing for what promises to be an intense season. After finishing their inaugural 2009 season with one win, SUNO achieved the improbable by reaching the finals of the GCAC Tournament in 2010. The season features matches against NCAA opponents the University of New Orleans and Alcorn State University.
The Lady Knights will also renew acquaintances against former conference rivals. The season opens in The Castle against Loyola on August 27th with Spring Hill College also on the docket. SUNO's conference schedule will consist of three in-season tournaments at Philander Smith, Talladega, and Dillard.
For Coach Naomi Washington the name of the game will be hustle and communication on the court. Washington feels that freshman signee, Christal Hollins, will add an athletic spark to the team. Plus she brings championship experience from the high school level. The Lady Knights also promise to be a more diverse team, which Washington feels will add an air of professionalism on the court. German setter Stephanie Bruhl will add to the mix in addition to players from two other countries.
The Knights' 2011-2012 schedule features the season opener at home against Florida Memorial University on November 4th. Other non-conference match-ups include former GCAC rivals Loyola, Spring Hill, and William Carey. SUNO will also get a visit from Johnson & Wales (North Miami) on September 11th in The Castle.
Having finished 11-14 and 4-3 in conference, SUNO will move forward inspired by individual contributions. Former point guard Brent Leduff was an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American and a Louisiana Sports Writers Association Honorable Mention All-Louisiana team member. He, former center Andre Davis, and former shooting guard Ricardo Porter were all named to the GCAC All-Conference team.
Although all three players have played their final games in Knights uniforms, Coach Dale Valdery, will be looking to refine the current talent on the roster in addition to bringing energy to the team with new blood.
The GCAC was established in 1981 and recently (2010) went through a major transformation with the six (6) non-HBCU institutions leaving for the Southern States Athletic Conference and the Red River Athletic Conference. This move left six (6) small, mostly private HBCUs institutions under the GCAC banner.
The president of the GCAC is Dillard University's Athletic Director and head women's basketball coach Kiki Baker Barnes. Barnes was unanimously voted in by her peers as the 17th president of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference at the 2009 fall meetings, making her the first African-American woman to hold the position.
She is one of only two African-Americans named to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' (NAIA) newly formed National Administrative Council and a member of the Black Coaches and Administrators (BCA) professional organization. Upon her installation as conference president, Barnes stated, "now is a critical time in the history of the conference as it attempts to draw new members and build new rivalries, and I look forward to the challenge."
Talladega College will be leaving the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) and will be rejoining the GCAC in 2011-12 academic year, along with Philander Smith College (Little Rock, AR). Voorhees College decided in July 2010 not to accept an invitation to join the conference. Further expansion of the GCAC remains one of the conference's most important goals, in addition to raising its profile and sports branding by member institutions.
The conference fields 13 sports programs--Men's Basketball, Golf, Soccer, Cross Country, Track and Field, Tennis and Baseball; and Women's Softball, Volleyball, Basketball, Cross Country, Track and Field, and Tennis. Not all institutions are able to field teams in each sport, and may have as few as three programs, like Fisk University. Playoff bids for sports like tennis, soccer, baseball and golf will have to come by way of play-in tournament games with the NAIA's Association of Independent Institutions.
Current GCAC member institutions are: (click each name for auto link to each college athletic website)
Edward Waters College is the only football playing member of the conference and plays as an NAIA Independent for football. The EWC Tigers recently selected Bethune-Cookman University's assistant Brad Bernard as its new head football coach. Bernard tapped B-CU assistant coach Greg Ross as the Tigers new offensive coordinator and Millsaps College (Miss.) assistant Lane Powell as his defensive coordinator.
The basketball powerhouses this season are Tougaloo Bulldogs (27-4) and Xavier Gold Rush (men) (27-5) that are bracketed in the NAIA Division I National Championship Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri on March 16-22. The Xavier Gold Nuggets women's team (26-6) are also participants in the national championship tournament in Kansas City.
Many thanks to Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director at Xavier University of Louisiana who has been sending us stories on the Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets nationally ranked Tennis Teams. This pushed us to take a closer look at what was going on with the GCAC and examine the historic academic powerhouses that are charter member institutions, i.e., Dillard University, Tougaloo College and Xavier University of Louisiana.
Check back often for links to articles on our student-athletes from the fifth HBCU conference -- the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.
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Moore led the Knights in scoring with 23 points. He was also one of the team leaders in total rebounds with seven and in steals with two. Dukes also had seven total rebounds while Lewis and Carlos Arango had two steals, each. Dukes also had SUNO's only blocked shot on the afternoon. 
