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| Coach Lafayette Stribling is still building winners in his 54th year of coaching basketball. |
Junior guard Marquise Mems registered a game-high 23 points and added seven rebounds to help lead the Bulldogs to their 13th consecutive victory. Tougaloo pushes its season record to 28-4 and moves to Friday's second round for an 8 p.m. CT game against either No. 5 seed Martin Methodist College (Tenn.) or William Jewell College (Mo.). This will mark the second trip to the round of 16 for the Bulldogs, with the other coming in 2009.
Emmanuel scored the first eight points of the contest and eventually built a nine-point advantage before Tougaloo began to battle back. Trailing 18-9, the Bulldogs reeled off 15 consecutive points to grab the lead for good, 24-18, with 5:38 left in the first half. After the Lions pulled to within three points, Mems hit a three-pointer and another basket to spark an 8-0 run to end the first half and give the Bulldogs a 32-21 lead.
Tougaloo extended its advantage to as many as 21 points in the second half on its way to the first-round victory. Junior guard Donteeno Todd came off the bench to record 14 points for the Bulldogs, including four three-point field goals. Senior forward Mario Luckett added 13 points, while junior forward James Carter just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Juan Gray pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for Tougaloo, which held a 46-32 advantage on the boards.
Senior guard Tedrick Hudson led Emmanuel with 15 pionts, while junior forward Asmatiek Fields helped out with 11 points. Freshman guard Michael Stanley led the Lions with seven rebounds. Emmanuel, which was making its second appearance at the NAIA Naitonal Championship, closed out its season with an overall record of 26-8.
BOX SCORING
Tougaloo College coach Lafayette Stribling and assistant Harvey Wardell took only seven players to the nationals in Missouri -- Mario Luckett, Marquise Mems, Donteeno Todd, Jurmond Cattenhead, Juan Gray, Kadon Day and James Carter. The 'Magnificent Seven' Bulldogs move on to the Sweet 16, after bouncing Emmanuel College (Ga.) 73-58.
Who is this 76 Year Old Dynamo?
The legendary Coach Stribling coached at Mississippi Valley State University, in Itta Bena, Mississippi for 22 years. The team won its first SWAC Championship in his third year as head coach. He retired with 7 SWAC championships, a Black College Championship, and 3 NCAA Division I Tournament berths. Stribling is also a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Hall of Fame.
Game Notes:
Tougaloo: Bulldogs overcame not scoring for the first four minutes and 27 seconds to lead by 11 at the half ... Outscored Emmanuel 14-3 over the final nine minutes of the first half ... Limited Emmanuel to 32.2 percent from the floor after being ranked No. 15 in scoring defense at 65.5 PPG during the regular season ... The 58 points surrendered by the Bulldogs is the lowest point total given up through 13 games of the opening round.
Emmanuel: Second opening-round loss by Emmanuel in their second tournament appearance ... Leading scorer Tedrick Hudson finished two points shy of his season average of 17.2 PPG with a team-high 15 points ... Averaging 72.0 PPG during the regular season, the 58-point final total for the Lions was their fourth-lowest output of the season.
NEXT GAME: FRIDAY, 8 p.m., CDT, TOUGALOO BULLDOGS (28-4) VS. MARTIN METHODIST REDHAWKS (32-2)
Amanda Dahl, NAIA Manager of Sports Information & Media Services
