The "unofficial" meeting place for intelligent discussions of Divisions I and II Sports of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC).
America's #1 blog source for minority sports articles and videos. The MEAC, SWAC, CIAA, SIAC and HBCUAC colleges are building America's leaders, scholars and athletes.
With all five starters returning, Tigers hope to contend in OVC
Nashville, Tennessee -- Of the three transfers eligible to play men’s basketball at Tennessee State this season, Muniru Bawa stands taller than the others. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Indiana transfer and Ghana native is pretty hard to miss. But like the other two transfers, Bawa will not be counted on to do anything more than contribute and find a role on the team, TSU Coach John Cooper said.
“My biggest concern is that I really worry about the expectations that he faces,” Cooper said. “Any time you’re at this level and you come in with that size there’s an expectation from the fan base and everybody around that he just comes in and he’s the savior.”
Beginning his third season, Cooper has five returning starters and adds three transfers and redshirt freshman M.J. Rhett to the mix. “I don’t even know who’s starting Friday,” Cooper said of the opener at Saint Louis. “Guys are going to play and guys are going to get minutes. I want them to be ready."
Undefeated Winston-Salem State earned a first-round bye in the NCAA Division II playoffs, while Albany State and Elizabeth City State received at-large bids. ASU (8-3) and ECSU (8-3) were both runners-up for the SIAC and CIAA championships respectively.
Miles (7-4), which defeated then 15th-ranked Albany State, 20-17, in the SIAC championship Saturday, missed the playoffs. Of the 24 teams selected (six each in four regions), Concord (7-3) had the worst record.
Albany State will travel to North Greenville (9-2) for a noon contest on Saturday. The winner will face Mars Hill Nov. 26 at noon.
Elizabeth City State goes to California (Pa.), the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference winner, for a first-round game Saturday at noon as well. The winner between those two meets Winston-Salem State Nov. 26 at noon. WSSU is undefeated at 11-0 and dominated ECSU this past weekend, 38-18, in the CIAA championship.
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — Xavier University of Louisiana will get a rematch with Spring Hill on Saturday in the 2011 NAIA Volleyball National Championship Opening Round.
The NAIA announced Sunday the 32 qualifiers and pairings for 12 first-round matches. Xavier (23-6) and Spring Hill (38-1) will meet at the Arthur Outlaw Rec Center on Spring Hill's campus in Mobile, Ala. Starting time has not been determined.
The Gold Nuggets earned an automatic bid to nationals after beating SUNO 25-12, 25-17, 25-20 Saturday in the championship match of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at Nashville, Tenn. The appearance at nationals is Xavier's first in four seasons of intercollegiate competition.
Xavier beat SUNO 25-12, 25-17, 25-20 Saturday to win the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at Nashville, Tenn.
(click on photo to enlarge)
Spring Hill defeated Xavier 25-10, 25-20, 25-12 at Mobile on Sept. 6. Since then the Gold Nuggets have won 22 of 26 matches, including a pair of school-record eight-match win streaks. The Nuggets also set program records for victories, home victories (8), conference victories (10) and victories on opponents' courts (6). Xavier was 11-26 a year ago.
The Badgers won 38 in a row before losing 25-22, 25-17, 20-25, 25-21 Satruday to third-ranked Lee (Tenn.) in the title match of the Southern States Athletic Conference Championships at Biloxi, Miss. Spring Hill beat Lee in five sets in mid-September.
"Spring Hill is a strong program. To be ranked 16th and have an astounding 38-1 record is very respectable," said Xavier first-year coach Christabell Hamilton. "We have grown a lot as a team since our first meeting, and I am excited for the match this weekend. This will be a good challenge for us."
Xavier is 0-10 all-time against Spring Hill, with the six most recent losses occurring in straight sets.
Saturday's other first-round matches are Carroll (Mont.) at College of Idaho, Montreat at Indiana Wesleyan, La Sierra at Vanguard, Robert Morris (Chicago) at Missouri Baptist, Point Park at Indiana Tech, Cal State San Marcos at Point Loma Nazarene, Lindsey Wilson at Taylor, Oklahoma Baptist at Kansas Wesleyan, MidAmerica Nazarene at Bellevue, Grand View at Olivet Nazarene and Freed-Hardeman at Indiana East. First-round byes went to Azusa Pacific, Biola, Columbia (Mo.), Concordia (Calif.), Embry-Riddle (Fla.), Fresno Pacific, Lee, Lewis-Clark State, Morningside, Rocky Mountain, Southern Oregon and Texas at Brownsville.
The winners of the Saturday matches will advance with the 12 teams with byes to the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa, for the NAIA National Championship presented by CNOS Foundation Nov. 29-Dec. 3.
DURHAM, North Carolina — Now that the picture is clear as to whom is the MEAC champion, coach Joe Taylor wasted little time explaining the significance of Saturday's game that has turned into a little bit more than a rivalry between Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman.
Norfolk State won the league title, leaving the Rattlers to fight for the No.2 spot, which might actually mean something as far as an at-large bid to the NCAA playoffs. If nothing else, they will be playing for state bragging rights in the nationally-televised game at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
"Now this game down there has significant value to it," said Taylor following the Rattlers' 31-10 victory Saturday over North Carolina Central. "We will get back and we will prepare. It's going to be electric for the classic; it always is but (the stakes) are going to add some things to it."
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana -- The NCAA Division II Football Committee announced Sunday the field of 24 teams for the 2011 NCAA Division II Football Championship.
Eight first-round games will be conducted on the campus of one of the competing institutions. In addition, two teams per super regional have earned first-round byes. The first-round winners will all advance to face a bye team in their super regional in the second round on the campus of one of the competing institutions. Second-round winners will meet in the quarterfinals at various campus sites. Quarterfinal winners will advance to play in the semifinals on the campus of one of the competing institutions. Six teams selected per super regional make up the field of 24 teams.
Dates, sites and pairings
Nov. 19 at Livingston, Ala.
North Alabama (8-2) at West Alabama (8-3)
Nov. 19 at Tigerville, S.C. Albany State (Georgia) (8-3)at North Greenville (9-2)
Nov. 19 at St. Joseph, Mo.
Northwest Missouri State (9-2) at Missouri Western State (9-2)
Nov. 19 at Topeka, Kan.
Abilene Christian (8-2) at Washburn (9-2)
Nov. 19 at California, Pa. Elizabeth City State (8-3) at California (Pa.) (9-2)
Nov. 19 at Kutztown, Pa.
Concord (7-3) at Kutztown (10-1)
Nov. 19 at Duluth, Minn.
Saginaw Valley State (7-3) at Minnesota-Duluth (9-2)
Nov. 19 at St. Cloud, Minn.
Wayne State (Michigan) (8-3) at St. Cloud State (9-2)
Super Regional/School
Super Regional One Winston-Salem State (11-0)
New Haven (10-1)
Super Regional Two
Delta State (9-2)
Mars Hill (8-2)
Super Regional Three
Colorado State-Pueblo (11-0)
Nebraska-Kearney (10-1)
Super Regional Four
Midwestern State (10-0)
Pittsburg State (9-1)
Institutions earning first-round byes in each super regional will host a second-round game on Nov. 26, 2011.
All contests shall start at noon local time. Other times may be established if approved by the committee.
Minnesota-Duluth defeated Delta State in the 2010 national championship game to claim last year’s NCAA title.
The championship game will be played Dec.17, at 11 a.m. ET at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Ala., and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 HD/ESPN3.com.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After winning their season-opener at home on Friday night, the Stetson Hatters will take their show on the road for the first time for a two-game swing through the state capital.
Stetson (1-0) will square off with Florida A&M (0-1) on Monday night at the Al Lawson Center on the FAMU campus with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. The Hatters will then face Florida State (1-0) at the Donald L. Tucker Center on the FSU campus on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
The Seminoles will also be in action on Monday, hosting UCF at 7 p.m.
The Hatters are looking to make major improvement in the area of ball protection during this road trip. Stetson turned the ball over 29 times in a 65-60 victory over Bethune-Cookman on Friday, the most in a game for the Hatters since January of 2002 in a game at Troy when Stetson turned it over 32 times.
“Our staff wants to see our guys be more sound and more consistent,” Stetson head coach Casey Alexander said. “We thought our shot selection was a lot better, when we actually got shots against Bethune. We just didn’t get enough of them because we kept throwing the ball to them and turning it over.”
The Hatters shot a respectable 54.8 percent from the field against B-CU, but managed just 42 shots in the game, as compared to 73 for the Wildcats. Bethune managed to hit just 19 of those shots, a 26 percent clip.
“I think we played hard and I think our guys tried to execute our defensive game-plan,” Alexander said of his team.
Stetson will likely see a similar type of team from Florida A&M, which opened the season on Friday with a 92-59 loss at Georgia Tech. The Rattlers shot just 37.7 percent from the field in that game, and got outrebounded 46-19.
“I think we will see a lot of the same from FAMU,” Alexander said. “I think they have more quality depth than we saw on the Bethune team, but they are not a team where we should not expect to go in and win the game. It won’t be easy and we aren’t favored, but it is a chance for us to get a road win, which would be great for us going forward.”
For the Hatters to be successful, they will have to continue to focus offensively on getting the ball inside to 6-9 junior center Adam Pegg. The Clearwater native tied for the team lead with 14 points on Friday, and got six of those from the free throw line.
“We wanted to get the ball to Adam, and we want to do that this year,” Alexander said. “He is the best chance we have of getting off to a good start by getting some interior points and getting to the free throw line. That is a focus for us, we talk a lot about that and our guys did that.”
After getting established on the inside, the Hatters should be able to get some open looks from the perimeter, which is what happened in the second half of the opener. Both Aaron Graham and Joel Naburgs connected on a trio of three-pointers, with five of the six bombs coming in the second half.
Alexander said Naburgs is almost back to full strength after missing an extended stretch during the preseason with an injury.
“I think Joel is OK,” Alexander said. “He made a big one late. He is a guy who plays with confidence, which we need. I am not worried about him. I think he will be fine over the course of the long haul.”
BALTIMORE, Maryland -- It took Norfolk State 14 years to put itself in a position to win a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship. It took the Spartans five minutes to clinch it. Norfolk State defeated Morgan State 47-14 Saturday thanks to a 17-point scoring flurry in the first five minutes of the second half.
The win clinches the school's first MEAC championship and earns the Spartans an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. It is the school's first FCS playoff appearance. "I feel great for them," Norfolk State coach Pete Adrian said. "They'll go down in history for the first MEAC title, and that's a great thing."
Norfolk State led 20-14 at halftime. It looked as though Norfolk State would run away with the game early on, but the Spartans had two drives stall out in the red zone in the first half. Norfolk State (9-2, 7-1 MEAC) struck quickly after the break, though.
Running back Randy Maynes scored on the first play from scrimmage in the quarter, a 56-yard run off right tackle that Maynes cut back for a touchdown. A defensive stop, a 28-yard field goal from kicker Ryan Estep and a Morgan State (5-5, 4-3) fumble on the ensuing kickoff quickly followed.
BALTIMORE, MD - Randy Maynes took a hand-off on the first play of the second half and handed back history. With Norfolk State leading by six and only one half of football standing between it and the playoffs, Maynes took the first play of the second half and rushed 56 yards up the middle of the Morgan State defense, erasing more than a quarter-century of football failures.
The touchdown, an inside run that Maynes bounced off-tackle, set off an avalanche of points for the Spartans in a 47-14 win over Morgan State (5-5, 4-3) and began a quick transition from close contest to championship celebration. Maynes' run made the score 27-14 and the Spartans (9-2, 7-1) tacked on 10 more points over the next five minutes, making the fourth quarter a victory march.
Prairie View, Texas -- Prairie View A&M could advance to the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game under two scenarios. But the Panthers care mostly about the main one - beating Alabama A&M.
Prairie View (5-5, 5-3 SWAC) is in control of its destiny as it prepares to face Alabama A&M in the teams' regular-season finale Saturday at Blackshear Stadium in Prairie View. The Panthers are tied with Grambling State (6-4, 5-3) for first place in the Western Division but hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with their 31-23 win in the teams' Oct. 1 meeting.
Alabama A&M (7-3, 6-2) also needs a win to clinch the Eastern Division and advance to the title game. A loss would end the Bulldogs' championship hopes.
"The bottom line is that both teams are playing for their postseason lives right now," Prairie View coach Heishma Northern said. "As a football player and a coach, you want to play for all the marbles."
Orangeburg, South Carolina -- S.C. State officially announced the signing of five men's and women's basketball players for the 2012-13 season.
The newest Bulldogs include Orangeburg-Wilkinson point guard Patrick Myers, Timberland forward Darryl Palmer, Baptist Hill point guard Shaquille Mitchell and junior college guard Louis Adams.
S.C. State women's basketball coach Doug Robertson Jr. announced the signing of Spring Valley point guard Shaquita Walker. The 5-5 point guard averaged 7.1 points 3.6 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 4.1 assists for the defending Class 4-A champions last year.
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- David Blackwell didn't know he would be Bethune-Cookman's starting quarterback Saturday until the very last minute.
He said he was informed of the decision "coming out of the bathroom (after warmups) when I was putting the equipment on." Minutes later, he ran the first snap from scrimmage 80 yards for a touchdown and the rout was on. By the time, the final buzzer sounded, B-CU had amassed 625 yards of offense in thrashing Savannah State 59-3 before 4,964 fans at Municipal Stadium.
The Wildcats (7-3 overall, 5-2 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) won their fifth in a row in their final home game of the season. They will meet Florida A&M in the annual Florida Classic next Saturday in Orlando in their final regular-season game. Savannah State fell to 1-8, 1-6.
Blackwell ran for three touchdowns on runs of 80, 59 and 37 yards and added two touchdown passes of 46 yards to Isidore Jackson and 16 yards to Johnathan Moment. In less than three quarters of play, Blackwell gained 206 yards rushing on just six carries and completed 8-of-10 passes for 147 yards.
Orangeburg, South Carolina - The surreal scene around Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center spoke for itself Friday.
Cars filled the parking spaces both outside the gymnasium and stretching all along the fences adjacent to the football practice field. Posted on the entrance door window was a white paper with the words "Sold Out" while streaming fans from South Carolina State and Claflin brimmed with excitement and anticipation as they filled the 3,100-plus gymnasium seats.
After a 10-year hiatus, the Garden City Basketball Classic was welcomed back with open arms. While the public response pleased organizers, it was S.C. State which came away all smiles as the men's and women's teams swept Claflin to earn college bragging rights in Orangeburg and season-opening victories.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the doubleheader with a 76-59 victory, while the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half with a 70-53 win over the Panthers.
Durham, North Carolina -- North Carolina Central University’s second half efforts were not enough to combat the first half deficit against Florida A&M University who won 31-10 on Senior Day at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium.
FAMU amassed 261 total offensive yards in the first half, outscoring the Eagles 28-0 before intermission, including three touchdowns in the second quarter. Junior running back Lavante Page gave FAMU an early lead on the opening drive scoring on a two-yard touchdown run, giving the Rattlers a 7-0 lead at 7:55 of the first quarter.
The Eagles’ opening drive was a four-and-out on three plays for a gain of only two yards ending with a punt by redshirt sophomore punter Matthew Cornelius. That trend continued for the Eagles as they only had five first downs in the first half compared to 15 by FAMU.
When the Eagles were not giving the Rattlers the ball off of punts, NCCU turned the ball over twice, fumbling and then on an interception, both times resulting in touchdown drives for FAMU.
DATE: November 14, 2011
TIP‐OFF: 6 p.m.
LOCATION: Bradley Center (18,600) ‐ Milwaukee, Wisconsin
TELEVISION: Sports32 will feature the broadcast with Steve “The Homer”
True” (play‐by‐play) and former MU standout Jim McIlvaine (analyst) call‐
ing the action.
RADIO: 540 ESPN is the flagship station for the Marquette Radio Network.
Kent Sommerfeld (play‐by‐play) and George Thompson (analyst) will call
the action.
The Marquette University men’s basketball team wraps up a two-game homestand Monday night at 6 p.m. CT when the squad entertains Norfolk State at the Bradley Center in non-conference action. Sports32 will feature the live television broadcast, with Steve “The Homer” True (play-by-play) and former MU standout Jim McIlvaine (analyst) calling the action. Kent Sommerfeld (play-by-play) and George Thompson (analyst) will be courtside for 540 ESPN’s radio coverage. The Golden Eagles will depart Wednesday night for the U.S. Virgin Islands and open play Friday at 7:30 p.m. CT against Winthrop at the Paradise Jam.
Spartans To Make Bradley Center Debut
For the second-straight game Marquette will be facing an opponent for the first time ever. Norfolk State, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, is making its first appearance at the Bradley Center.
The Golden Eagles are a perfect 23-0 against programs currently in the MEAC, having faced nine of the 13 teams on at least one occasion. The most recent matchup came against Maryland Eastern Shore in the second game of the 2009-10 campaign and resulted in an 86-60 Marquette victory.
Norfolk State returns two starters and 11 letterwinners from last year’s squad, including Preseason MEAC Player of the Year Kyle O’Quinn. The 6-10 center claimed the league’s defensive player of the year award in 2010-11, the first-ever selection for NSU.
Orangeburg, South Carolina -- "Seniors Day" for Devonne Quattlebaum and his fellow 17 South Carolina State honorees was not going according to form Saturday at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.
With the Bulldogs down 11 points to North Carolina A&T in the first half, the senior DOG safety was determined to change things in his fellow seniors' favor during their final home game.
"At the moment, I was talking to my guy (linebacker) Donovan Richard," he said. "I told him either me or you were going to make a play, so one of us had to make a play."
It was Quattlebaum who reached out to intercept Aggies' quarterback Lewis Kindle and returned the football 55 yards for the touchdown. He injured his hamstring on the score and did not return to action, but ignited a rally of 30 unanswered points for S.C. State, which held on for a 30-22 victory before 16,224 fans.
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - As Norfolk State turned the fortunes of its program around on Saturday by clinching its first-ever MEAC football title, a North Carolina A&T team looking to change its losing image this season could only sit back and think about what could have been.
Coming through on a 1st-and-goal at the 3-yard line, making a catch in the end zone or converting in the final seconds, and the Aggies might be celebrating an historic season. Instead, they lost another close one on Saturday.
S.C. State came back from an 11-point deficit and won its 11th straight over the Aggies with a 30-22 victory at Oliver C. Stadium Saturday afternoon. S.C. State head coach Buddy Pough remained undefeated (10-0) against the Aggies.
"I don't think we've accomplished anything this season," said N.C. A&T head coach Rod Broadway. "Here we are sitting at 4-6 even though we had an opportunity to have a really good football team. But we're not coached well enough and we don't play well enough. But we're going to get this fixed."
One of Broadway's main concerns is the Aggies inability to score points. For the third straight week, the Aggies offense failed to score any second-half points. Playing without starting running back Mike Mayhew most of the game didn't help matters.
N.C. A&T's defense gave the Aggies a chance as safety Travis Crosby intercepted quarterback Richard Cue's pass and returned it 55 yards to put the Aggies within eight with 12 minutes remaining. But the Aggies could not advance the football beyond the S.C. State 43.
The Aggies last attempt started at its own 20. After two completions to Demonta Brown, quarterback Lewis Kindle's last-second effort to Larry Raper only went 19 yards as the Aggies (4-6, 3-4) dropped their fourth straight.
DURHAM, North Carolina – I didn’t hear any complaints from Winston-Salem State fans about that failed move to Division I. From the looks of how much fun approximately 8,000 Rams’ fan were having at the CIAA championship game on Saturday Division I was probably the furthest thing from their minds.
The Rams, who are two years into their transition back to Division II, won the school’s ninth CIAA title by dispatching Elizabeth City State 38-18 in front of around 10,000 fans. WSSU fans were all over the place, including about 200 who watched from a hill outside of the stadium. (It was cheaper to watch from there.)
There was plenty of controversy in September of 2009 when chancellor Donald Reaves and the board of trustees pulled the plug on the move to Division I and the MEAC for financial reasons.
Elizabeth City State Marching Band and the Winston-Salem State University Marching Band "Red Sea of Sound" performs at halftime of the 2011 CIAA Football Championship game on November 12, 2011.
2011 MORGAN STATE BASKETBALL Game 2 Monday, November 14 – 7 p.m. (ET) Morgan State (0-1, 0-0 MEAC) vs. Murray State (1-0, 0-0 OVC) Baltimore, Md. – Hill Field House Live Coverage Television: N/A Radio: Sirius Channel 137, Lamont Germany (Play-by-Play)
BEAR FACTS Head Coach: Todd Bozeman Alma Mater/Year: Rhode Island/1986 Record at MSU/Year: 102-66/6th Career Record: 137-128 Basketball SID: Leonard L. Haynes IV Office Phone: 443-885-3831 E-Mail: lhaynesiv@aol.com Ticket Info: 443-885-3830
2011 MSU SCHEDULE & RESULTSOFFICIAL MURRAY STATE WEBSITEGAME TIME• Morgan State will host Murray State in their home-opener at Hill Field House on Monday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live by Sirius Channel 137. There will also be a LIVE stats of the game at www.MorganStateBears.com. Last Friday, Kevin Thompson posted 14 points and 10 rebounds, but the Bears fell 74-63 at #14/15 Xavier. Murray State's Donte Poole scored a career-high 18 points as the Racers won 76-49 in their season- pener against Harris-Stowe at the CFSB Center. READ MORE
Hampton, Virginia -- The Hampton University football team scored 28 points in the fourth quarter on its way to a 42-6 rout of the Hornets of Delaware State at Armstrong Stadium on Saturday.
Turnovers were the key in the game for both teams. On the second play of the game, Delbert Tyler got his first of two interceptions on the day and took it back 40 yards for a touchdown. Hampton’s defense would force four turnovers in the first half, with three interceptions and a fumble recovery. Following Tyler’s interception, Destin Route forced a fumble before Tyler got his second interception of the game. Micah Pellerin would also get in on the action, when he got an interception to stop a Hornets drive.
After some back-and-forth between the two teams, Hampton went into the half with a 7-0 lead.
Hampton came out in the second half moving a lot quicker. Following a forced punt by the defense and a great punt return by Justin Blake, the Pirates went 45 yards in just three plays for their second score of the day, going up 14-0 when quarterback Bradford Hudson threw his first career touchdown pass to Dyrri McCain.
HAMPTON, Va. — Delaware State committed seven turnovers, including a school-record six interceptions, in a 42-6 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference loss to Hampton on Saturday. The Hornets (2-8 overall, 0-7 MEAC) dropped their eighth straight game.
Delaware State trailed 14-6 after scoring its lone touchdown on a 16-yard run by Travis Tarpley with 12:56 left to play. The score capped a 10-play, 81-yard drive. Hampton scored 28 unanswered points in the last 8:41 to put the Hornets away.
Josh Bailey, a former junior college quarterback who has competed at running back most of the season, played the entire game at quarterback for the Hornets. He completed 17-of-39 passes for 134 yards and six interceptions.
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Organizers estimate that this year's Magic City Classic packed an economic impact of $24.3 million, shattering previous records for the event. "We were projecting anywhere between $13 million and $15 million, and we would have been happy with that," Birmingham Mayor William Bell said.
Traditionally, the annual clash between Alabama State University and Alabama A&M has an economic impact between $15 million and $16 million, according to Gene Hallman, chief executive of the Alabama Sports Foundation, which organizes the Classic. The Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau, which routinely calculates economic impact figures for major events, came up with the $24.3 million figure for this year's game.
Organizers say:
• Corporate sponsorship amounting to $890,000 was the most ever.
• The 66,473 tickets sold was not a record, but when combined with the estimated 40,000 tailgaters that remained outside Legion Field during the game, Hallman said it set a new mark.
• The 2.75 night average hotel stay was higher than in previous years.
• The $450,000 paid to each school was a new record, blowing past the $425,000 paid last year.
Possible future plans for Hale Stadium on the campus of Tennessee State University.
Nashville, Tennessee -- Former Tennessee State defensive end and recent NFL Hall of Fame inductee Richard Dent said he supports the Tigers moving their home games back to Hale Stadium and will help fund the project.
Dent said he already has made his first financial donation earmarked for the renovation of Hale Stadium, where the Tigers last played in 1998. The former Chicago Bear said he also met with university officials and informed them he was setting up a campaign in which he will match donations from other alumni.
“I’m starting a matching fund with my Make A Dent Foundation … and I’m really looking forward to helping the school,” Dent said. “I think it’s important to play games on campus.”
Dent attended Saturday’s game with UT Martin as co-grand marshal of TSU’s homecoming festivities. TSU has played at LP Field since 1999.
DURHAM, North Carolina -- Nic Cooper scored three touchdowns and ran for 163 yards Saturday in leading unbeaten Winston-Salem State to a 38-13 victory over Elizabeth City State in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship game at Durham County Stadium.
Cooper, a senior and former Clinton High School star, scored on a 3-yard run in the first minute of the third quarter, a 1-yard dive later in the period and a 20-yard dash in the fourth period. Quarterback Kameron Smith threw a touchdown pass to Tehvyn Brantley. Smith completed 12 passes for 111 yards.
Defensive back Alton Keaton, a former Douglas Byrd High star, led the Rams with seven tackles, including a sack. He also recovered a fumble. Keaton was named CIAA Defensive Player of the Year earlier. The CIAA championship was the first for the Rams since 1978.
DURHAM, North Carolina -- It had been 11 long years since the last CIAA title, but Winston-Salem State was very comfortable on center stage Saturday in front of about 10,000 fans at Durham County Stadium. WSSU defeated Elizabeth City State 38-18 to win the school's ninth football title.
"Our theme is 'Return to Glory,' and we are back to those glory days and back to winning rings," coach Connell Maynor said. "We are back to winning championships…."
The Rams won the championship with a tough defense that put the clamps on running back Daronte McNeill and an offense that produced when it mattered most. The Rams (11-0) held the Vikings (8-3) to a season-low 210 yards, and Nic Cooper ran for 163 yards on 24 carries and scored on a 20-yard run midway through the fourth quarter to ice the Rams' victory.
Elizabeth City, North Carolina -- It’s been a crazy few weeks here with the end of fall sports and winter teams getting started. Because of that, time and space has been kind of limited, so I guess we have some catching up to do.
But first let’s start with the Elizabeth City State football team, which lost to Winston-Salem State 38-18 in the CIAA title game Saturday.
One of these days the Vikings are going to break through, but this just wasn’t the year. Seems like every time ECSU gets this far, its runs into a team with a little more to play for. Each of the three CIAA championship losses have been to teams that were ranked pretty high in the national polls and had legitimate shots at moving on the Division II playoffs. Not that the Vikings couldn’t have taken that mantle in any of those years, but the power of the opposition has been pretty large ...
Montgomery, Alabama -- It was there for the taking. But it was Southern, not Alabama State, that took it. The Hornets followed the formula that had spelled success all season. They forced four turnovers, they brought in the injured Greg Jenkins at quarterback to provide the spark. They even got 92 yards rushing from tailback Tim Clark.
But while Jackson State was demolishing Alabama A&M 34-6 -- giving ASU a berth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game provided they won -- the Jaguars were weaving their own brand of voodoo magic.
Alabama State highlights vs. Southern University: Nov. 12, at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery. Watch game highlights and postgame interview with ASU coach Reggie Barlow. (Video courtesy ASU)
And when Brian McCann landed in the end zone from a yard out with nine seconds left, it was Southern, not Alabama State, that pulled out a 26-23 victory on Saturday afternoon in front of 8,255 stunned fans at the Cramton Bowl.
"It hurts," said Jenkins, who sparked the Hornets to 16 fourth-quarter points. "I'm ready to play right now, just to get that bad taste out of my mouth."
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The moment of truth was at hand. Moments earlier, in what looked like another trademark collapse, the Southern football team fizzled on offense, made too many late mistakes on defense and gave away a fourth-quarter lead to Alabama State.
But before freshman quarterback J.P. Douglas led the Jaguars to a game-winning touchdown with 9 seconds left in a 26-23 thriller at the Cramton Bowl, he and his teammates had a short meeting with coach Stump Mitchell on the visitors sideline. So many times, the Jaguars had been in this spot before. So many times, they caved under pressure.
“Coach told us we needed to come together as an offense,” Douglas said. “He told us, remember all the times that we lost the close ones. Win this close one.’ “ They did. Southern took over at its own 27-yard line with 2:59 remaining.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Suspended two weeks for his role in a postgame brawl, Southern linebacker Jamie Payton was despondent. In losing his cool at the wrong time, he’d prevented himself from doing the one thing he loved most: playing football.
So when Payton returned Saturday in the Cramton Bowl, he played with passion. He tried to get the most out of every snap in a 26-23 upset win against Alabama State. It showed.
Though Payton and the Jaguars defense were sloppy in the fourth quarter, they made enough key plays to help Southern win - and for much of the sunny, mild afternoon, Payton was anything but mild. He led the charge, finishing with a team-high 10 tackles to go along with an interception and a 48-yard fumble return.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Last week, Southern football coach Stump Mitchell said he planned to use freshman J.P. Douglas as his starting quarterback for the rest of the season. He changed his mind, starting sophomore Dray Joseph when the team faced Alabama State in the Cramton Bowl on Saturday.
Before long, it didn’t matter. Out of necessity, Douglas came in - and that turned out well for Southern, which scored with 9 seconds left to top the Hornets 26-23.
Joseph suffered a concussion in the second quarter when, after throwing an incomplete pass, his smacked the hard artificial turf. He eventually returned to the visitor’s sideline and watched the game in warmups. Joseph completed seven of 16 passes for 72 yards before his exit.
Nashville, Tennessee -- For the second consecutive week, Tennessee State overcame a double-digit deficit to keep alive its hopes of posting a winning record. After falling behind 17-0 in the first quarter, the Tigers scored four consecutive touchdowns, then had to hold UT Martin off for a 35-30 victory.
The Tigers (5-5, 4-3 OVC) end the season next week at home against Jacksonville State. An LP Field crowd of 19,537 watched TSU claim its fourth win in five games. The Tigers’ last winning season came in 2008 when they finished 8-4.
Last week, TSU fell behind Eastern Illinois 17-5 in the third quarter and battled back for an 18-17 win. “The Cardiac Kids is taken, the Comeback Kids is taken; I don’t know what you should call us,” TSU Coach Rod Reed said. “But I don’t want us to have a nickname like that. I don’t want us to have to win like this anymore.”
UT Martin (5-5, 4-3) scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns and threatened to take back the lead when it recovered an onside kick with 2:47 remaining and then drove into TSU territory.
NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Moira Kirk knew it during warmups Saturday. Taylor Reuther knew it during the first set. Coach Christabell Hamilton knew it late in the third set.
All three were confident, though at different points, that the Xavier University of Louisiana's women's volleyball team was going to win the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. The Gold Nuggets concluded a 4-0 run through the three-day, double-elimination event with a 25-12, 25-17, 25-20 victory Saturday against city rival SUNO.
The victory was the school-record-tying eighth in a row for the Gold Nuggets (23-6), who earned the GCAC's automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship, which will begin next Saturday at 12 campus sites. Teams and pairings will be announced early next week. It's the first conference tournament championship and bid to nationals for the Gold Nuggets' 4-year-old program which began in 2003, then took a hiatus in 2005 because of Hurricane Katrina before resurfacing a year ago.
Reuther, who shared tournament MVP with Talladega's Shalitha Swain, had 10 kills and 18 digs in the title match. Kirk, Xavier's other all-tournament selection, hit .609 -- 16 kills in 23 attacks with no errors -- and had seven blocks. Both Reuther and Kirk are among seven Xavier freshmen this season, four of whom started in the title match.
Chinedu Echebelem, another freshman, and Iva Bobkova had five kills apiece, and Celeste Poe had 13 digs for Xavier.
Third-seeded SUNO (20-11) eliminated defending champion and second-seeded Dillard 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-22 and had just 30 minutes to replenish calories and prepare for a championship round in which the Lady Knights would need two more victories to prevent a Xavier championship. But the Gold Nuggets -- who sent Dillard into the losers bracket Friday with a one-for-the ages rally from two sets down -- started strongly with 5-0 and 15-5 first-set leads. SUNO's only leads in the final were at 2-1 and 4-3 in the third set, and the Lady Knights finished second for the second consecutive year.
"We had energy and an excitement to win," said Kirk, announced Wednesday as GCAC Freshman of the Year. "We had fought too hard against Dillard last night. We didn't want to give up after fighting for it so much.
"I just felt in the warmup we were going to win. We're always high energy when we warm up, but this time it just felt different."
Reuther couldn't make any predictions until after the Nuggets' blazing start in which they produced seven kills, two aces and a block in the first 18 rallies.
"We crushed SUNO's momentum from the beginning," said Reuther, who had 11 second-set digs en route to her team-leading 12th kill-dig double-double. "We stuck together after that and played Xavier volleyball. I had confidence we were going to finish strongly."
Hamilton didn't feel confident until the final 10 rallies, and before that she kept reminding her team "that if we didn't stay focused we could easily end up the way Dillard did last night -- winning the first two sets and not being able to finish. We had to finish strongly."
Kirk led the way in that department. Her final six swings in the third all went for kills. Xavier hit .320 with 39 kills and seven errors in 100 attacks.
Xavier won all 14 of its matches this season against the GCAC -- the Nuggets were 10-0 in the regular season and won that championship too -- in a rags-to-riches climb from 11-26 in 2010. Hamilton, hired in mid-June, is in her first season as a collegiate head coach. She'll turn 30 Christmas Day.
"This has been a great experience," Kirk said. "Learning and becoming a better volleyball player . . . and bonding as a team."
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — Casey Therriault threw for 428 yards and four straight touchdowns as Jackson State defeated Alabama A&M 34-6 on Saturday, snapping the Bulldogs' seven-game winning streak.
The Tigers (8-2, 6-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) trailed 6-0 after Chance Wilson kicked field goals of 49 and 45 yards. Then Therriault threw a 7-yard TD pass to Renty Rollins with 2:33 left in the first quarter, followed by a 30-yarder to E.J. Drewery just 42 seconds into the second. He hit Rico Richardson with a 67-yarder to take a 21-6 lead into halftime.
Therriault, who was 23 of 41 with no interceptions, threw his final scoring pass, a 15-yarder to Rollins, with 8:59 left in the third quarter.
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- On an office wall in the Alabama A&M football building is a fading photo, 17 years old now, with mug shots of the Bulldogs' coaching staff. At the far right are photos of two dark-headed, smiling young men.
As dusk crept over Louis Crews Stadium Saturday, after Alabama A&M's 34-6 loss to Jackson State, the same men, one now with hair of cotton, the other with hair long since departed, greeted each other in a hug on the 30-yard line.
In 1994-95, Brawnski Towns and Earnest Wilson were Alabama A&M assistant coaches. On Saturday -- indeed for an entire week's worth of plotting -- they were on opposite sides of a chessboard.
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Alabama A&M's hopes of winning the Eastern Division title and advancing to the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game appeared all but over late Saturday afternoon at Louis Crews Stadium.
While the Bulldogs were getting blown out 34-6 by Jackson State, Alabama State was rallying from a 12-point deficit against Southern. An A&M loss and an Alabama State win would give the Hornets the Eastern Division title.
A&M coach Anthony Jones was aware that Alabama State had the lead as he prepared to walk across the field to shake hands with Jackson State coach Rick Comegy. But, before Jones took off his headsets, he had a conversation with offensive coordinator Cedric Pearl.
"His words were we're not done," Jones said. "This is a special team and we still have special things ahead of us."
Hampton, Virginia -- The Hampton University men’s basketball team opened the 2011-12 season against the Tribe of William & Mary in front of a crowd of more than 4,000 at the HU Convocation Center, winning 73-58. Hampton (1-0) handed the Tribe their second loss of the season.
“It was a good first game and we still have a lot that we are trying to find out about the team,” said head coach Edward Joyner Jr. “We got out to a really slow start and William & Mary is a really good team and they shot the ball really well, so we knew that we had to play good defense.”
The Pirates started the game on a 5-0 run before the Tribe would get on the board by a score by Marcus Thornton. Hampton shot 38 percent from the floor in the first half, making 12 of 31 shots taken and going five-of-14 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Pirates were led by guard Darrion Pellum, who scored 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
Thornton scored 11 to lead the Tribe at the half.
Hampton took the lead at the 5:54 mark in the first half and never looked back, going into the half leading 32-26. The Pirates opened the second half on a 19-8 run, on their way to scoring 41 second-half points. William & Mary would follow that run by going on a 10-4 run to cut Hampton’s lead to 55-45.
With all five starters returning, Tigers hope to contend in OVC
