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MURFREESBORO, North Carolina -- With the impact of a major winter storm spreading across most of North Carolina, the Chowan Basketball contests against CIAA foe Johnson C. Smith has been postponed announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Chowan was scheduled to host Johnson C. Smith in CIAA action on Thursday evening with the women's contest tipping off at 5:30pm and the men's contest following.
The Hawks' meeting with the Golden Bulls has been pushed until Monday, February 12. The women will tip-off at 5:30pm with the men following.
Chowan will shift their attention to Winston-Salem State as the Hawks host the Rams on Saturday, January 6.
ETTRICK, Virginia – The Winston-Salem State University Rams women's and men's basketball teams will have to wait one more day to return to action as Thursday's doubleheader at Virginia State has been postponed until, Friday afternoon. The postponement is the result of the threat of inclement weather in the Ettrick, Virginia area.
The Rams and the Trojans will instead play on Friday, January 5th. The Rams women's basketball team will take the court in a 4:00 p.m. game while the Rams men's team will take the court in a 6:00 p.m. game.
With the postponement, the Rams basketball teams will play two games in less than 24 hours with the two teams heading to Murfreesboro, N.C. to take on the Chowan Hawks, Saturday with the women's team scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start while the men's team is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start.
For more information on Rams basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or log on to www.WSSURams.com.
HAMPTON, Virginia -- Time heals, but it doesn’t erase. Hampton University men’s basketball coach Edward Joyner Jr. has come to accept that.
It’s been four weeks since he discovered his unresponsive father on a sofa in the coach’s office. Edward Joyner Sr. had stretched out for an afternoon nap but never woke up. He died of natural causes at the age of 69.
It was a horrible night for everyone. Because the Pirates were to play a home game that night, the players arrived as ambulances were pulling into the Convocation Center parking lot. They witnessed the frantic scene in Joyner’s office.
Joyner lost the most important man in his life — his namesake, his mentor, his best friend. He’ll never get over that, but he’s ready to move on.
“It’s a day-by-day process, but life goes on,” Joyner said Wednesday in his office. “I believe he was what and where he wanted to be. It was his time to go, and he went the way he wanted to.
“I feel like the last couple of weeks, I haven’t been able to give 100 percent to my team. Now, I’m at the point where I think I can.”
NORFOLK, Virginia – The Norfolk State-North Carolina A&T men's and women's basketball games set for Saturday at A&T's Corbett Sports Center in Greensboro, North Carolina have been postponed due to winter weather conditions in the Hampton Roads area. NSU was scheduled to leave on Friday morning for North Carolina A&T. The games will now be made up on Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. at the Corbett Sports Center. NSU's games at North Carolina Central on Monday are still set to be played. School officials will reassess the situation should conditions warrant. NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
NORFOLK, Virginia – Six players scored at least eight points on the night, and the Norfolk State men's basketball team never trailed in a 75-67 win over Coppin State on Wednesday night at Joseph Echols Hall.
In the MEAC opener for both teams, the Spartans overcame 18 turnovers but held a big edge on the glass to win their second straight game. Only twice did Coppin State pull even with NSU, once at the beginning and once in the second half when the Eagles made a run.
NSU only had two players in double figures, led by freshman Mastadi Pitt's 17 point-night on 3-of-7 shooting. He made 9-of-10 from the free throw line with three assists off the bench.
Norfolk State (3-12 overall, 1-0 MEAC) made 10-of-24 from the 3-point line while holding Coppin State to 37.5 percent shooting on 21-of-56 field goals.
The Eagles remained winless on the season at 0-16 overall as well as 0-1 in the league.
The Spartans led by seven at the break after going up by as much as 11 early on. They again led by double digits early in the second half before CSU's Lamar Morgan hit one of his six 3-pointers on the night to cut the Spartans' lead to three, 36-33. A little later, Cedric Council's 3-point play got the Eagles to one. Morgan then knocked down a 3-pointer but could not complete the 4-point play, but nevertheless it tied the score at 41-all at the 12:39 mark.
Sophomore Nic Thomas had six points during an 11-3 run for the Spartans to push their lead to 52-44. It later became a 62-51 ballgame after a pair of buckets from senior Bryan Gellineau. Morgan, however, made a pair of free throws and capped an 11-3 run with yet another 3-pointer to get the Eagles to within three, 65-62. But with just two minutes left, NSU got baskets from senior Preston Bungei and junior Alex Long before making 6-of-8 from the free throw line in the last minute.
Long was the only other Spartan in double figures with 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting with six rebounds. Thomas, senior Kyle Williams and junior Derrik Jamerson each scored nine, while Bungei added eight points and 12 boards.
Williams (seven) and sophomore Steven Whitley (eight) also played big roles on the glass. NSU held a 47-28 advantage in rebounds. It included a 14-6 edge on the offensive side, which led to the Spartans outscoring the Eagles 13-5 in second-chance points.
Long had six points early on, and Jamerson knocked down a pair of treys to give the Spartans an early 17-6 lead in the game, the largest of the night. But after a slow start, the Eagles started heating up from deep. Morgan hit a couple, and Tre' Thomas knocked one down from long range with 4:51 before the half to get the Eagles all the way back to within one, 23-22.
Pitt had a couple of buckets to keep the Spartans ahead, and his two free throws with 46 seconds left made it a 33-26 contest heading into the half.
Morgan totaled 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting, 6-of-14 from deep. Karonn Davis and Adam Traore added 13 and 11 points, respectively. Council stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, five rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals. BOX SCORE
NSU shot 24-of-60 (40 percent) from the floor and 17-of-22 from the free throw line.
The Eagles made 10-of-35 from deep.
NSU will make the conference's North Carolina trip this weekend, beginning at N.C. A&T on Saturday and finishing it up at N.C. Central on Monday. NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- The Florida A&M Rattlers (2-15, 1-0 MEAC) used a pressing defense and efficient shooting to tame the hot shooting of the Howard Bison (3-14, 0-1 MEAC) en route to an 84-76 win in the MEAC home opener.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my team. We did it the hard way. We fell down by 14 points, but I think we’re really growing. Previous games when things started going bad, you could look at our guys’ body language and you could see it. Tonight, I never saw that,” said head basketball coach Robert McCullum.
The Rattlers were led by senior Desmond Williams, who scored 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting. Williams also led the team with 12 rebounds, carding a double-double. Point guard Elijah Mayes has his best game as a Rattler, carding 22 points on efficient 7-of-10 shooting from the field, including going .500 from the three-point arc, making two of four. Marcus Barham and Nick Severado rounded out the quartet of players in double figures as they each chipped in 10 points each.
The Rattlers shot just 32.3 percent in the first half, regrouping to shoot 54.5 percent in the final period. FAMU also out-rebounded Howard 39 to 31. The Bison committed 12 turnovers, while the Rattlers committed but seven.
HU was led in scoring by the duo of RJ Cole and CJ Williams. Cole was the game-leading scorer with 30 points, going 3-of-7 from three point range. Williams was 3-of-5 from three point range, adding 21 points for Howard. Kyle Foster rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 points.
The Bison shot 54.5 percent from the field in the first half, including 7-of-11 (63.6%) from the three point range. That shooting cooled in the second half as they shot just 28.6 percent, going 2-of-7. HU shot 60 percent from the free throw line.
FAMU shot an efficient 78.6 percent from the charity stripe, which was crucial in the final stretch of the game as the Bison tried to recover by fouling in the final minutes. Howard outscored FAMU 39-34 in the first half, but with a pressing defense and efficiency on the
offensive end, the Rattlers outscored the Bison 50-37 in the second period.
McCullum hopes to carry the momentum into the heart of the MEAC schedule. When asked how good the win felt after the brutal non-conference early season schedule, McCullum replied “I don’t know if my vocabulary will allow me to expound. It feels really good. When you get a win, it has a way of making it all seem worthwhile.”
What’s next: FAMU is closely monitoring the winter storm set to move up to the northeastern United States as they are slated to travel to Baltimore this weekend to play Morgan State and Coppin State. FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana moved closer Tuesday to a spot in the NAIA Division I men's basketball top 25 when the Gold Rush topped the list of "others receiving votes."
The Gold Rush (11-4) collected 34 points from the nine voters and are 13 points behind Cumberlands and William Carey, which tied for 24th. The national rank is XULA's highest since it was 25th in the preseason poll of Oct. 25, 2016. XULA tied for 33rd in the previous rankings Dec. 5.
Boosting the Gold Rush was a 5-0 December — XULA's first perfect record during that month since 2003.
Georgetown (Ky.) received eight first-place votes and remained No. 1.
The next XULA game will be the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference opener — 7:30 p.m. EST Monday against Edward Waters in Jacksonville, Fla. The next rankings will be announced Jan. 16.
2017-18 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – No. 2 (Jan. 2, 2018) RANK PRVS^ SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) 2017-18 RECORD TOTAL POINTS
1 1 Georgetown (Ky.) (8) 15-0 219
2 4 Carroll (Mont.) (1) 14-0 209
3 3 William Penn (Iowa) 12-1 202
4 2 LSU Shreveport (La.) 12-1 195
5 5 The Master's (Calif.) 14-1 189
6 8 Pikeville (Ky.) 15-0 185
7 6 Columbia (Mo.) 14-1 181
8 9 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 14-0 171
9 10 Hope International (Calif.) 14-1 163
10 11 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 13-1 149
11 12 Faulkner (Ala.) 12-1 143
T12 20 Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 9-2 140
T12 16 Central Methodist (Mo.) 13-1 140
14 23 Oklahoma City 9-2 122
15 21 Campbellsville (Ky.) 15-1 120
16 17 Montana Western 12-2 106
17 14 LSU Alexandria (La.) 10-4 103
18 13 Dalton State (Ga.) 10-3 102
19 18 Missouri Baptist 13-2 100
20 7 Science & Arts (Okla.) 10-2 84
21 15 Wayland Baptist (Texas) 10-2 77
22 NR William Jessup (Calif.) 14-2 66
23 NR Arizona Christian 12-2 65
T24 RV Cumberlands (Ky.) 12-2 47
T24 RV William Carey (Miss.) 9-3 47
Others Receiving Votes: Xavier (La.) 34; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 30; Graceland (Iowa) 27; Menlo (Calif.) 17; Life (Ga.) 17; Langston (Okla.) 17; Montana State-Northern 13; Central Baptist (Ark.) 8; Grand View (Iowa) 5.
DOVER, Delaware – North Carolina Central University had to withstand a strong second-half run by Delaware State, but the Eagles were the last team standing with a 65-62 win to open Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play at Memorial Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 3.
NCCU (7-8, 1-0 MEAC) hopped out to a 5-0 lead to start the game, boosted by one of four first-half treys by Reggie Gardner, Jr. (Bowie, Md.) but DSU (2-14, 0-1 MEAC) responded early and turned the game into a seesaw contest for the first 20 minutes. The score stayed tied at 29 for a few minutes, but DSU broke the deadlock with a free throw, before the Eagles captured the last five points of the half to go to the intermission ahead 34-30.
NCCU was able to spread out the lead in the midway point of the second half on some strong defensive plays from Marius McAllister (Durham, N.C.) and buckets from Brandon Goldsmith (Raleigh, N.C.) and Raasean Davis (Chicago, Ill.).
DSU wouldn't go away quietly as the Hornets closed the gap and pulled within one with just over three minutes to go, but the Eagles were able to hold off the initial charge with some timely buckets from Alston Jones (Kansas City, Mo.).
The Eagles and Hornets spent the final frames within three points of each other with the Eagles making clutch free throws to keep the cushion. DSU had an opportunity to send the game to overtime with 3.5 seconds remaining, but the Hornets couldn't hit a long three-pointer to extend the game, and the Eagles came away with a 65-62 win.
Jones exploded for 13 points in the second half alone and finished with a joint team-high along with Gardner, Jr. Davis chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds, and Jordan Perkins (Greensboro, N.C.) put in 10 points as well. BOX SCORE
Artem Tavakalyn (Moscow, Russia) came up with a game-high 15 points for the Hornets, and Kavon Waller (Chester, Va.) was close behind with 13 points. Pinky Wiley (Chesterfield, Va.) contributed 10 points and four assists, and Simon Okolue (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) had a solid game with seven points and seven boards.
The Eagles will take the weekend off before opening the home MEAC schedule on Monday against Norfolk State. NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- The FAMU Women's Basketball team built an early lead and never relinquished it Wednesday night in rolling past Howard University, 74-59 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener for both teams at the Al Lawson Center.
FAMU (3-11, 1-0 MEAC) led from start ot finish Wednesday, nudging ahead 12-11 over the Bison after one quarter, then riding a 23-17 second period surge to forge a 35-28 halftime lead.
The Rattler Women used relentless pressure on defense, forcing Howrard (4-10, 0-1 MEAC) into 29 turnovers on the night, led by guard Florence Ouattara, who had six steals, while guards Dawn King, Ecenure Yurdakul and De'Aytra Davis had two steals each.
The pressure helped FAMU to a 38-31 scoring edge in the second half, as they held the Bison to 34 percent floor shooting in the final two quarters, and 35 percent overall for the game.
Ouattara led the way for FAMU with 16 points, six steals, five assists and four rebounds, splashing a trio of three-pointers as well. Yurdakul finished with 12 points and three assists, while Dy'Manee Royal had 10 points and three rebounds.
Forward Shakyrra Morrison had a game high 11 rebounds to go with her nine points, while center Shalunda Burney-Robinson, who was slowed with foul trouble, had nine rebounds and seven points before fouling out.
WHAT'S NEXT: FAMU will head north to Baltimore for a Saturday-Monday swing at Morgan State (Saturday, 2:00) and Coppin State (Monday, 5:30).
DOVER, Delaware — Sophomore Paulina Afriyie and freshman Kieche White were instrumental in rallying North Carolina Central University from a 21-point, second-half deficit and secure a 74-67 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) women's basketball road win at Delaware State University on Wednesday evening in Memorial Hall Gym.
Afriyie recorded her fourth double-double, including a career-high 22 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. White tallied a career-high 20 points, canning five 3-pointers in the process, while adding three steals.
The Eagles trailed 48-27 at the 7:41 mark of the third quarter before outscoring the Hornets 47-19 from that point. DSU continued to lead 59-54 just over five minutes left before NCCU finished on a 20-8 surge. The final flurry included nine points by White and seven by Afriyie.
A pair of free throws by MEAC Preseason Player of the Year NaJai Pollard gave the hosts their last lead of 63-62 with 2:31 on the clock. White responded with a layup on the Eagles next possession that ignited a decisive 11-0 run. White capped that outburst with a dagger three-pointer from the left wing.
The Eagles shot 66.7-percent (8-12) from the floor and 81.8% (9-11) from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to complete the improbable comeback.
NCCU (3-11 Overall, 1-0 MEAC) snapped an eight-game losing streak. Delaware State (1-13, 0-1) has lost nine consecutive games.
The maroon and gray only had six scorers, with each playing a big part in the triumph.
Junior Sami Oliver-Alexander hit a trio of treys for nine points. Her third trifecta started the NCCU comeback when the Eagles were trailing by 21 points. Classmate Deja McCain supplied season-best totals of nine points and seven rebounds, with seven of her points coming after the intermission. Fellow juniors Caira Benton and Rodneysha Martin tacked on 10 and four points, respectively. Benton was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter while Martin made a big fast-break layup down the stretch.
The Eagles flew out to a 12-8 lead with the help of two baskets by Afriyie and a pair of three-pointers by Oliver-Alexander. However, DSU outscored NCCU 9-0 from that point to build a 17-12 edge after one quarter.
The Hornets shot 47.1-percent from the field in the first half while holding the Eagles to just 28.6% to double up their lead, 33-23, at halftime. Benton hit a pair of 15-foot jumpers to pull NCCU within six at 27-21, but Delaware State score six of the final eight points heading into the loc
ker room. The run was finished off with a transition five-footer by junior Arion Jackson at the buzzer off an Eagle turnover.
NCCU committed 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes that led to 10 extra points at the intermission, which was the DSU cushion. The Hornets started the third quarter on a 15-4 run to build their 21-point advantage. However, NCCU only committed seven turnovers in the second half and forced DSU into 17 second-half mistakes that aided the rally.
Pollard returned from a six-game absence to lead the Hornets with 21 points. Jackson and freshman Ryan Jones each bucketed 12 points for the hosts.
NCCU returns home to host MEAC foe Norfolk State University on Monday at 5:30 p.m.
BALTIMORE, Maryland -- Adre'onia Coleman grabbed a game- and season-high 16 rebounds and added 14 points to record her second consecutive double-double, as the Morgan State Lady Bears defeated the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 63-50 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opener both for teams at Hill Field House.
Coleman, who was coming off an 11-point, 10-rebound performance at UMass Lowell (12/28), grabbed 11 defensive rebounds Wednesday night against Eastern Shore, while adding two steals, two assists and a block.
Lexus Spears fell shy of a double-double, finishing with a game-high 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting and nine rebounds, as Morgan State (8-6, 1-0 MEAC) improved to 6-0 at home this season.
The victory also marked career coaching win No. 360 for Morgan State head coach Edward Davis Jr.
Eastern Shore (3-10, 0-1 MEAC) was led by Bairesha Gill-Miles and Ciani Byrom, who both scored 15 points in the loss. Keyera Eaton grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Dominique Walker tallied a game-high three blocks.
Morgan State out rebounded the Hawks, 50-37 and held a 23-7 advantage in second chance points.
The Lady Bears finished the game shooting 88 percent (23-
of-26) from the charity line, while MDES went 16-of-30 (53 percent).
Morgan State will welcome the Rattlers of Florida A&M on Saturday, Jan. 6 for a MEAC contest at 2 pm.
BOX SCORE MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
NORFOLK, Virginia – The Norfolk State women's basketball team received a stern test in its MEAC opener, surviving an upset bid from Coppin State in a 71-57 victory at Echols Hall on Wednesday night. The Spartans led for the majority of the evening but struggled to gain separation from the scrappy Eagles.
Genesis Lucas shined for Coppin State (1-12, 0-1 MEAC) with a career-high 29 points in the losing effort. The redshirt-senior made a career-best 11 field goals while pouring in 17 points in the second quarter. Only four other Coppin State players scored in the contest and none had more than Maraiyah Smith's 11.
Norfolk State (8-5, 1-0) relied on a balanced attack, as nine Spartans scored four or more points, including three in double figures. Kayla Roberts scored a team-high 18 points while also grabbing seven rebounds. The senior guard/forward also blocked two shots and recorded three steals.
NSU owned the boards in the game, setting a season high with 49 rebounds. The Spartans corralled 17 of their own misses and held a decisive 17-6 edge in second-chance points. Khadedra Croker came down with nine boards to lead NSU.
The first half of action featured a duel of two stars as Roberts and Lucas, both preseason first team All-MEAC selections, put on a show.
Roberts scored 10 points in the first quarter, including eight of Norfolk State's first 13. Alexys Long tied the game at 3-3 with a trey at the 7:44 mark, then Roberts took over and netted eight points as the Spartans went on a 10-0 run.
The Miami, Florida native got going with a 3-pointer at the 6:09 mark, then followed with layup less than a minute later. Gabrielle Swinson laid it in 15 seconds later to put NSU up 10-5, then Roberts converted a 3-point play to increase the Spartans' margin to eight.
Lucas halted the run with a jumper at the 3:47 mark. From there the NSU lead oscillated between six and eight points as both teams traded baskets. Chance Graham scored in the paint with 14 seconds left in the period to make the score 17-11 heading into the second quarter.
The second quarter was where Lucas went off, scoring 17 of Coppin State's 19 points in the period. The redshirt-senior guard made seven of her 12 attempts in the quarter while her teammates combined to go 0-of-5 from the field.
Even with Lucas' outpouring, the Eagles shaved just one point off the deficit and entered the intermission trailing 35-30.
Norfolk State shot 41.7 percent in the second quarter and also made eight of their nine free throws. For the game, the Spartans made a season-high 22 shots from the charity stripe while shooting 81.5 percent, also a season-high.
The Spartans appeared poised to finally pull away in the third quarter, but the Eagles willed their way back into the contest. Long made two free throws at the 6:35 mark to put NSU up 43-33, but the Spartans went scoreless for nearly two minutes while Coppin State went on an 8-0 run.
Lucas converted an and-one opportunity to make the score 43-38, and Smith hit from deep to pull Coppin State to within two points, 43-41, with 3:55 remaining in the quarter.
The Spartans countered and built a seven-point advantage with 1:19 left in the period, but once again the Eagles rallied to make it a one-possession game heading into the final period. Lucas hit two free throws in the final minute, and Smith knocked down another clutch 3-pointer to make it a 52-49 ballgame.
In the fourth quarter, Norfolk State slowed down Lucas and continued its success from the free throw line to finally gain lasting separation.
Lucas scored just two points in the period on 1-of-7 shooting. As a team, the Eagles made only three of their 12 shots in the quarter.
NSU made eight of nine free throws in the final quarter, including a 4-for-4 effort by Swinson. The senior guard turned in her second double-figure scoring game of the season with 10 points while also contributing eight rebounds and a game-high six assists.
The Spartans opened the fourth on an 8-2 run and built a 61-51 lead with 7:08 left in the game, and the lead never dipped below 10 points again.
Norfolk State assisted on 15 baskets in the game but also committed 22 turnovers, breaking a streak of five-straight games with less than 20 giveaways.
Once again, the Spartans protected their basket and blocked nine shots. Three players had multiple blocks, and Croker led all with three rejections.
Norfolk State takes to the road for a pair of away contests this Saturday and Monday. The Spartans face off with North Carolina A&T at 2 p.m. on Saturday before facing North Carolina Central at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. BOX SCORE NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
HAMPTON, Virginia -- A fourth quarter rally and late defensive stand that saw Columbia miss two shots in the last five seconds helped Hampton snap a six-game losing skid with a 60-58 win on Wednesday night.
With the win, head coach David Six tied the school's all-time wins mark with his 183rd in his nine-year career. He ties the mark held by James Sweat who went 183-40 from 1981-88. Six is now 183-87 in his ninth year at Hampton.
In the fourth quarter, a layup from Columbia's Madison Pack put the Lions ahead 48-43 with 6:50 left, but Hampton wouldn't go away quietly. Ashley Bates hit a pair of free throws at the 5:27 mark to put Hampton back up 49-48. That run was capped by a pair of Jephany Brown free throws with 5:03 left as Hampton finished an 8-0 flurry to lead 51-48. BOX SCORE
Columbia regained the lead as leading scorer Camille Zimmerman converted a three-point play to lead 53-51 with 4:05 left. Once again Hampton went on a spurt scoring the next seven points to take a 58-53 lead with 2:20 left on a stickback by Bates. Brown got the run going with a jumper and then a 3-ball from the corner before Bates put back a missed 3-pointer.
The Lions responded with the next five points as Zimmerman went 1-of-2 from the line with 53 seconds left to tie the game at 58. Monnazjea Finney-Smith went 1-of-2 with 45 seconds left to put Hampton up 59-58 and K'lynn Willis also went 1-of-2 with 11 seconds left for a 60-58 lead.
Columbia had two shots in the last five seconds as Zimmerman missed a baseline jumper and Stephanie Flynn missed her putback attempt from the foul line.
Both teams struggled in the first quarter as Hampton (3-9) scored the first six points as a layup from Finney-Smith gave the Lady Pirates a 6-0 lead with 5:20 left. Columbia scored the next seven points to take a 7-6 lead on a 3-point play from Zimmerman with 59 seconds left. Finney-Smith scored on another layup to put Hampton back up 8-7 after one.
In the second, the lead changed hands six times in the first seven minutes as a free throw from Allina Starr put Hampton up 19-16 with 2:44 left. Starr hit two more free throws with 1:44 left to keep Hampton up by three at 21-18, but Camille Zimmerman hit a pair of foul shots with nine seconds left to trim the halftime score to 21-20.
Columbia scored the first eight points of the third quarter to take its largest lead of the night at 28-21 on a 3-pointer from Paige Tippet with 6:57 left. Tippet answered a triple from Madison Pack to put Columbia up.
Hampton turned its press up a notch and worked back into the contest trailing 35-34 with 3:09 left on a layup from Dejane' James. Two Starr free throws with 26 seconds left followed by a steal and layup with 18 seconds left brought Hampton to 42-41 heading into the fourth.
Brown was the leading scorer for Hampton with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Bates added 12 points, six rebounds and four steals. Hampton outrebounded Columbia 44-42, but held an overwhelming 23-7 advantage on the offensive boards. Defensively, the Lady Pirates forced 24 turnovers and had 14 steals.
Zimmerman was the lone double figure scorer for Columbia with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
Hampton now turns its attention to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference action as they'll visit Princess Anne, Md. to take on Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday at 2 pm.
For more information on Hampton University women's basketball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5757 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Emily Williams scored a career-high 25 points as Bethune-Cookman opened Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play with a 68-50 victory over South Carolina State Wednesday evening in Historic Moore Gym.
Angel Golden added 19 points, 14 in the first quarter as she and Williams combined to hit seven of eight three-pointers as the Lady Wildcats (9-4 overall, 1-0 MEAC) jumped out to an early 27-8 lead.
South Carolina State (5-8,0-1) closed to 33-26 on two Bryesha Blair free throws with 2:04 remaining in the half, but B-CU closed the half on a 7-2 run and held the Bulldogs to seven third-quarter points to pull away.
Ashanti Hunt had 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Lady Wildcats, who now have won 11 consecutive regular season conference games dating back to last season.
Williams, a senior, was 7-9 from three-point range while also contributing seven assists and seven rebounds.
Kemoni Jenkins led South Carolina State with 14. BOX SCORE HEAD COACH VANESSA BLAIR-LEWIS
"I like the way we came out as a team. Angel and Emily set us on pace. Both have put the work in and they were able to knock down shots."
"We knew they [SCSU] are a third-quarter team. We worked on the third quarter.
EMILY WILLIAMS
"It seemed like SCSU wanted to clog the paint and shut down our bigs. It left us wide open."
ASHANTI HUNT
"This was very important that we start conference play strong."
NOTES: B-CU's 13 three-pointers matched opening night against Edward Waters for the season-high … Williams' seven three-pointer were a career high and the most for a B-CU player this season … The Lady Wildcats have made a three-pointer in 135 consecutive games … South Carolina State was just 2-12 from the field in the third quarter. BETHUNE-COOKMAN UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Treshawn Bolden scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds and his go-ahead layup with 1:42 left gave Jackson State a 59-56 win over Alabama A&M on Wednesday night at the Lee E. Williams Athletic and Assembly Center. With the win JSU remained undefeated in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.
Maurice Rivers came off the bench to score 12 points and pull down seven rebounds for the Tigers. Paris Collins added nine points and Julian Daughtry finished with nine points as well.
The back-and-forth game featured four lead changes and five ties. Jackson State led 14-8 with 10:50 left in the first half before Alabama A&M went on an 18-12 run, sparked by De’Ederick Petty, with a three-pointer, which sliced the Tigers’ lead to 30-26 before intermission. Jackson State extended their lead to 44-36, with 13:06 left in the second half. The Bulldogs battled back with an 8-0 run and cut the Tigers deficit to two, 46-44, with 10:37 remaining. Alabama A&M took their first lead of the half, 56-55, when Tracy Burnett drove in for the layup. After the Bulldogs gained the lead with 2:14 on the clock, the Tigers hit a layup with 1:42 left, giving Jackson State a 57-56 lead and made a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left for a 59-56 lead. Petty’s last second three-point attempt caromed off the backboard as the time expired. BOX SCORE
JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
GRAMBLING, Louisiana | Trailing by seven at halftime, Alabama State took their first lead of the second half with under six minutes to play and ran past Grambling State 74-66 in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play Wednesday night at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
Branden Johnson led Alabama State (1-13, 1-1 SWAC) with his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds. Jacoby Ross led Alabama State with 14 points, while Reginald Gee added 11 and Ed Jones 10 in the win.
The Hornets shot 34.3 (23-of-67) percent from the floor and 25.0 (7-of-28) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 70 (21-of-30) percent from the free throw line.
Alabama State trailed for over 20 minutes and as last as 6:22 to play in the game until a lay-up by Ross tied the game at 57-all with 5:05 remaining. The Hornets took their first lead of the half when Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back up with 4:33 to play for a 59-57 lead.
The lead was pushed to four on a lay-up by Jones with 3:53 to play, and after Grambling State pulled to within a pair of 3:39 to play, Ross extended the lead to six at 66-60 with 2:18 to play. Grambling State could only get as close as four as Gee put the lead to 68-62 on a pair of free throws with 1:57 to play. Another pair of free throws from Tobi Ewuosho with 1:15 to play extended the lead to 70-62 that proved too much for the Tigers to overcome.
Ivy Smith, Jr. led Grambling State (4-11, 0-2 SWAC) with 17 points and five rebounds, also adding four steals and three assists. Anthony Gaston added 13 and Axel Mpoyo added 13.
The Tigers shot 39.6 (21-of-53) percent from the floor and 20 (3-of-15) percent from beyond the arc, and 60 (21-of-35) percent from the free throw line, while turning the ball over 19 times.
Alabama State won the rebounding battle 46-44.
The Hornets return to action Saturday against Mississippi Valley State at 5 pm, returning to the Dunn-Oliver Acadome. The game will be carried by the Hornet Sports Network, with pregame starting 15 minutes prior to the game. It will be the first of three consecutive home games, and it is Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night at the 'Dome.
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For complete coverage of Alabama State University men's basketball, please follow the Hornets on social media @BamaStateMBB (Twitter), /BamaStateSports (Facebook) and @BamaStateSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Alabama State athletics at BamaStateSports.com.
ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- The Prairie View A&M men's basketball team remained undefeated in Southwestern Athletic Conference play with a 78-74 win over Southern Wednesday night in the William J. Nicks Building.
Gary Blackston scored a team-high 24 points and added four rebounds as the Panthers (5-11 overall, 2-0 SWAC) win back-to-back games to open conference play since opening 3-0 in 2010.
Zachary Hamilton scored 18 points, Austin Starr added 14 points with five rebounds and six assists, and four steals, and Dennis Jones scored 11 points with three rebounds, five assists, and five steals.
There were seven ties and six lead changes in the game. After the final tie of the half at 26-26 with just over nine minutes to play in the first half, the Panthers went on a 20-5 run to end the half. A three-pointer by Hamilton started the run and his three before halftime ended the spurt as Prairie View A&M led 46-31 at halftime.
The teams traded baskets to open the second half, as Blackston's three-pointer gave the Panthers their largest lead of the game at 49-33 less than a minute into the second half. BOX SCORE
After Southern (4-11, 0-2) gradually erased the deficit and tied the score at 60-60 with just over eight minutes to play, a Jones layup put the Panthers back in front, starting a series of plays in which the lead changed hands. After a three-point play gave Southern the lead, two free throws by Hamilton put PVAMU back in front 64-63 with 6:56 remaining.
Following a basket by the Jaguars, a pair of free throws by Blackston put the Panthers ahead to stay at 66-65 with 6:03 remaining. The lead eventually increased to six at 75-69 on a pair of Blackston free throws with 2:25 to play, and Prairie View A&M would not lead by less the four points down the stretch.
The Panthers return to action Saturday at Texas Southern in a doubleheader. The women's game begins at 5:30 p.m., and the men's game at 7:30 p.m. The PVAMU Sports Network broadcast begins with the pregame show at 5:15 p.m. at pvpanthers.com/sportsnetwork. PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
HOUSTON, Texas -- The Texas Southern Tigers battled back from a 14 point first half deficit to defeat the Alcorn State Braves 85-70 as they captured their second win of the season.
After falling behind double digits TSU started to piece things together toward the end of the first half.
TSU took a two point advantage into the break fueled in large part behind the scoring production of guard Derrick Bruce who once again provided the Tigers with a steady force offensively contributing 25 points.
Bruce was 8-of-18 from the field including a 5-of-12 from behind the three point line. Trayvon Reed tallied 17 points and guard Cainan McClelland erupted for 12 second half points to help lead Texas Southern to victory. BOX SCORE
McClelland got things going initially on the defensive end of the floor as he was able to slow down Alcorn State's guards with solid defense on the perimeter.
"We got off to a sluggish start," said TSU head coach Mike Davis. "Obviously anytime you dig yourself into a hole you have to start by getting stops on the defensive end of the floor. We were able to get those stops and that helped us cut into their lead in the first half after we made some adjustments on both ends of the floor."
Texas Southern forced 13 Alcorn State turnovers which in return netted the Tigers 17 points.
"I thought we really started to execute better after we settled down in the first half," said Davis. "We have to start the game off with the right level of intensity if we want to continue to be successful in league play."
The Tigers will host rival Prairie View A&M on Saturday, January 6th at 7:30 pm at the HPE Arena in a game that will feature two undefeated teams in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
ATLANTA, Georgia -- It took four years for the College Football Playoff to bring its national championship game to Atlanta. What took so long?
If the Bill Hancocks of the world wanted a major American city -- one with an NFL-sized stadium and at least 26,000 hotel rooms, and one with a heart that belongs once and forever to college football, they could have searched from Seattle to Miami without a finding a city more gaga about Saturday football than this one.
"It's easy to call it a love affair, but it's a lot more than that," said Bill Curry, 75, who grew up in the Atlanta suburb of College Park, played at Georgia Tech and served both his alma mater and Georgia State as head coach. "It's a cultural expectation."
Georgia and Alabama will play the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on the edge of downtown Atlanta, four miles from Piedmont Park, where Auburn and Georgia played for the first time in 1892, and exactly where they played for the 122nd time just four weeks ago.
The Bulldogs and the Tide will play two miles from Grant Field, the oldest on-campus stadium in the FBS, where in the 1950s all of Atlanta gathered in the west stands on autumn Saturdays to watch how Bobby Dodd's undersized Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets would outsmart and outluck some hapless SEC visitor.
And they will play two miles from Georgia State Stadium, nee Ted Turner Field, nee Centennial Olympic Stadium, the new home of the Georgia State Panthers, who this season won seven games and a bowl for the first time in the school's short history.
Georgia and Alabama will play within one mile of the College Football Hall of Fame, the 3-year-old museum with the helmet facade that stands as a love letter to the sport. The teams will also be playing within a one-mile radius of Morris Brown, Morehouse and Clark Atlanta, historically black colleges and universities with rich football traditions of their own.
Atlanta is a metropolitan area of 7 million people, all of them with a college football flag in their front yard. Atlanta is big enough to support six professional sports teams, yet it's still a city that cares more about college football than any of them. Put it this way: When the Falcons designed Mercedes-Benz Stadium, they included two additional oversized (100-locker) locker rooms for the college teams that will play in it.
No, the Falcons didn't think of everything. They forgot staircases from the seats to the field for the bands to get to the field for halftime. NFL teams don't have bands. You can bet, after the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games exposed the oversight, the stairs are there now.
The point is, everyone thinks of college football here.
"College football's crossroads is essentially in this market," said Wes Durham, the voice of Georgia Tech sports for 18 years before he began calling ACC games on Fox Sports Net. "You've got everybody here."
Everybody? Not only does Atlanta sit at the geographic heart of the SEC and the ACC, two of the conferences that make up the Power 5, but five years ago, when the Big Ten expanded to 14 teams, the league didn't take Rutgers until it had been turned down by Georgia Tech. Atlanta has brought in so many transplants that nearly half of the Power 5 schools have alumni watch parties on autumn Saturdays.
The Ohio State Alumni Club of Atlanta regularly draws 150 people to the Hudson Grille in Sandy Springs, an Atlanta suburb. Four times that many Buckeyes have gathered to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game, according to club president Shawn Murnahan, an attorney for the SEC (no, not that one; the Securities and Exchange Commission).
"The manager here said to me, 'Y'all are the reason I got a bonus last year,'" Murnahan said.
It has always been like this. The city's rich and famous may not all gather in the west side stands of Grant Field these days. But The Atlantan, a glossy, oversized magazine for those who want to see and be seen (the average income of its 50,000 rate base is nearly $400,000), keeps an eye on college football the same way it monitors charity galas.
"We treat it as a cultural event," said Lauren Finney, the magazine's editor-in-chief. "Saturday is kind of a sacred time. I treat it as I would a museum or gallery opening, a show coming to the Fox Theater. It's something to have on our social calendar."
Crossroads? Go to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world's busiest airport, on a fall weekend and you'll see a crossroads. Stand at the middle of Concourse A for one hour on a Friday morning in October and you will count fans sporting the gear of 28 different schools.
And while it may a bit hyperbolic to say that every Atlantan flies a school flag in his or her front yard, it is true that many of those transplants, once they understand how important college football is here, feel the imperative to mark their territory.
"You can drive through my neighborhood and you'll see Michigan flags, Michigan State flags, Alabama, Clemson," Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson said.
"In my neighborhood," Durham said, "there's a Kentucky flag, a Georgia flag, a Tennessee flag, a Georgia Tech flag. There used to be a Furman flag. On one of the cul-de-sacs there is a USC flag."
It's not just in the neighborhoods, either. Find another hotel in a major American city like the Atlanta Marriott Buckhead, which this season has flown the flags of the AP top 10 schools, in order, over its front door. A lot of coaches stay at that hotel when they come to Atlanta to recruit. And they all come to Atlanta to recruit.
If Atlanta is nothing else, it's a recruiting crossroads. Of the 65 Power 5 schools, 54 of them listed a player from metro Atlanta on their 2017 rosters. "I tell people all the time, if you want to get offers, and you're a good player, just move to metro Atlanta," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said, "because every team in the country comes in, and you're going to get seen by somebody."
Johnson began his head-coaching career at FCS Georgia Southern 20 years ago.
"It's not like it once was," the Georgia Tech head coach said. "If Georgia and Georgia Tech and Auburn weren't recruiting them, you had a really good chance to get them at Georgia Southern. ... Now that's not the case."
The population explosion in Atlanta has been reflected in the quality of player that the area has produced. From 1942, when the NCAA first compiled a consensus All-America team, to 1997, metro Atlanta produced 14 All-Americans. In the past 20 seasons, the area has produced 24, including, for the first time, three in one season this year: defensive end Bradley Chubb of North Carolina State, wide receiver Michael Gallup of Colorado State and offensive tackle Orlando Brown of Oklahoma.
None of them went to Georgia. None of them even stayed in the SEC.
The crossroads is reflected in TV ratings for college football. Atlanta is the only one of the nation's 10 biggest cities that also ranks among the nation's 10 biggest college football markets, as determined by Nielsen ratings.
Atlanta is certainly the financial crossroads of college football. For one thing, the sport is good for Atlanta. The fourth-biggest convention city in the nation will host five "conventions" of more than 76,000 attendees at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 18 weeks. Stokan estimated a total economic impact of $250 million, including some $50 million in direct tax revenue to the city.
For another, College GameDay is presented by The Home Depot, headquartered in Atlanta. And Chick-fil-A, headquartered in College Park, has used college football as the marketing vehicle to transform itself from a regional chain to a national one.
Chick-fil-A attached its name to the two Kickoff Games on opening weekend and to the Peach Bowl, which celebrated its 50th year this season. In the old pre-Georgia Dome days, Stokan joked, the title sponsor of the Peach Bowl was Weather Plagued. Every December, it seemed, the cameras would show sleet and rain turning the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium field into a mud pit, and the first reference to the game would be the "weather-plagued Peach Bowl."
When the Atlanta Sports Council decided in 2009 to kick in $5 million as the seed money to lure the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta, the first solicitation for a matching contribution went to Chick-fil-A.
Without hesitating, the late S. Truett Cathy, the 88-year-old founder of Chick-fil-A, said yes.
"And [his son] Bubba says, 'Dad, don't you want to talk about this?'" Stokan said. "Truett wasn't even going to meet on this one. He said, 'It's in our city, it's good for our people in Atlanta. It's college football. We're in.'"
The ultimate sign that Atlanta is a college football town: Chick-fil-A takes pride in its policy of closing its more than 2,000 stores on Sundays. That means that its booths in Mercedes-Benz Stadium aren't open for Falcons games. You can bet they'll be open Monday night.
Whether or not they sold Coke at that first Auburn-Georgia game has been lost to the ages, but it is a fact that the soft drink Atlanta gave to the world has been a ubiquitous presence in college football since the invention of the concession stand. The Coca-Cola Company was founded on Jan. 29, 1892, three weeks before the Tigers and the Dawgs played for the first time.
Five years later, college football in Atlanta nearly ground to a halt. On Oct. 3, 1897, in a game against Virginia, Georgia linebacker Richard Von Gammon suffered a blow to the head and died the next morning. The death horrified not only the university but the entire state. The General Assembly voted to outlaw football at all schools that receive state funds and sent the bill to Gov. W. Y. Atkinson.
Von Gammon's mother wrote a letter to her state representative, imploring the state not to ban the sport. She had lost enough. "Grant me the right," she wrote, "to request that my boy's death should not be used to defeat the most cherished objects of his life."
Gov. Atkinson vetoed the bill.
The history of college football thereafter in Atlanta is tied to Georgia Tech, which sits a few blocks north of downtown. Georgia Tech played its first game in 1892 as well and didn't hire a coach until 1904. But what a coach -- Tech outbid two other schools to lure John Heisman away from Clemson. He immediately made the Yellow Jackets a force. Tech went 33 games without a loss from late in 1914 to 1918. That included the infamous 222-0 rout of Cumberland, and the 1917 national title.
After the 1919 season, Heisman broke Tech hearts when he left for Penn. He had lost Atlanta in a divorce. Heisman agreed that if his ex-wife, Evelyn, chose to stay in Atlanta, he would leave.
Over the next 47 seasons, a period in which Atlanta matured from a mere state capital to a regional hub and laid the foundation on which it built an international city, Georgia Tech employed only two head football coaches, Bill Alexander and Bobby Dodd.
Alexander's best team, in 1928, went 10-0 and beat California in the Rose Bowl 8-7. But that game is remembered for the Golden Bears' Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels, who recovered a fumble and ran 69 yards toward his own end zone before teammate Benny Lom caught him and turned him around.
Robert E. Lee Dodd, Alexander's top assistant, took over in 1945 and immediately put the Yellow Jackets among the SEC elite. In 1952, Georgia Tech went 12-0. The Yellow Jackets didn't allow a single touchdown pass and finished No. 2 behind Michigan State.
"It isn't just the best I ever coached," Dodd said. "It's the best I ever saw."
The city's black colleges and universities played football right down the road from Grant Field. Morehouse dominated black college football in the early 1920s, thanks to a tackle named A. Louis Irving, known for his steady leadership and durability.
If you ask Heisman voters, the best back in the nation in 1940 had to be Tom Harmon of Michigan. But Harmon may not even have been the best Wolverine. John "Big Train" Moody led the Morris Brown Wolverines to the black national championship in 1940 and again in 1941.
Moody, at 5-foot-7, 216 pounds, outweighed most linemen. He combined speed and power in a manner unseen in his generation. Big Train also could punt (with either foot) and place kick. According to the late tennis great Arthur Ashe in his history of African-American athletes, "A Hard Road to Glory," Moody averaged 11 yards per carry and scored 39 touchdowns.
He also got the opportunity to prove himself against white players. Moody started for the Fifth Army team against the Twelfth Air Force in the Spaghetti Bowl, a football game played in Florence, Italy, on Jan. 1, 1945. Moody scored the Fifth Army's first two touchdowns in a 20-0 victory.
But Atlanta was a Tech town under Dodd and remained so until the mid-1960s, when Georgia hired 31-year-old Auburn assistant Vince Dooley. As he entered the SEC in 1964, Dodd took Georgia Tech out of the conference. He didn't like the league's liberal scholarship limits.
It proved to be a spectacular miscalculation by Dodd. In the next two years, the Braves moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee and the NFL awarded an expansion franchise to the city. The Falcons, trying to curry favor with the locals, wore a helmet with Georgia and Georgia Tech colors: red, black, gold and white stripes.
Make of it what you will that the Falcons stuck with the red and black, but original owner Rankin Smith Jr. did go to Georgia.
Dodd retired after the 1966 season. His last year was the Falcons' first.
Tech became irrelevant for nearly two decades. It let the other schools enter the facilities arms race. The ACC threw Tech a lifeline, beginning in 1983, but even then, Dodd, by then long retired, understood how the landscape had changed. He had watched Curry, his former player, take Georgia Tech from 1-10 to 9-2-1. But when Curry left Georgia Tech after the 1986 season to take over at Alabama, Dodd said of his protégé, "It's a chance to be a big-time major football coach, which he could never be at Georgia Tech."
Four years later, Bobby Ross led Georgia Tech to a share of the 1990 national championship. George O'Leary drove the Yellow Jackets into national contention at the end of the decade, and Johnson has kept Georgia Tech a consistent winner in his 10 seasons. But Dooley took Atlanta away from Georgia Tech, and Georgia's vastly greater number of alumni have kept it.
Georgia Tech has its fans, and Georgia State, the commuter school in downtown Atlanta that has already surpassed Tech in enrollment, is trying to attract more fans. The Panthers began play under Curry only seven years ago. The program sees itself as Steve Jobs in the garage, the school that will challenge the legacy programs down the street (Tech) and up the highway (Georgia).
Senior defensive back Chandon Sullivan, this year a Sullivan Award finalist, helped lead the Panthers to a 7-6 record, their most wins ever.
"You see a lot of Georgia Tech fans, just five minutes down the street," Sullivan said. "You see a lot of Georgia fans. It gives you the hunger and the drive to keep pushing, in the hopes of being like a UGA one day."
Atlanta is a Georgia town. Since 1994, Atlanta has been an SEC town. That year, after two SEC championship games in Birmingham that could have had the title sponsor "Weather Plagued," commissioner Roy Kramer moved the game to the Georgia Dome.
SEC coaches don't talk about winning the league title.
"We talk about playing in Atlanta, getting to Atlanta," said Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who has taken seven of his 11 Crimson Tide teams there.
"You know what you have to do to get to Atlanta," former Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said in July.
"I was also brought in here to get to Atlanta," said former Florida head coach Jim McElwain, who got the Gators to Atlanta in the only two seasons he completed in Gainesville.
They talk about getting to Atlanta in the SWAC and the MEAC, too. For the past three years, the HBCU conferences have chosen not to send their champions to the FCS playoffs so that they can play each other in the Celebration Bowl, which was played at the Georgia Dome the first two years and at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2017.
"We always start with Atlanta, where we want to go, what it's going to take to get there," said Grambling head coach Broderick Fobbs, whose school is an eight-hour drive away. Fobbs said he tells his team, "West on I-20 is not anything. You got to go east in order to be a champion."
MEAC commissioner Dennis Thomas lobbied his members for more than a decade before they agreed to forego the FCS playoffs. It may have helped his case that the MEAC last won a playoff game in 1999.
"It's a vision come true," Thomas said. "Atlanta, to me, is the perfect place. If you look at Atlanta, hell, this is the damn football capital."
Each year, the Peach Bowl invites the newest inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta and gives them an on-field salute during the game. The bowl also co-sponsors the Dodd Trophy, an annual coaching award that honors "scholarship, leadership and integrity." On Saturday night, the Hall of Famers had dinner in the Venetian Room of the Capital City Club. The Dodd winners, among them Dooley, Curry, Frank Beamer and David Cutcliffe of Duke, ate in the club's Bobby Dodd Room, complete with a portrait of Dodd over the fireplace.
Between the two rooms is a bar, where the great players in one room and the great coaches in the other gather for a cocktail reception before dinner and, inevitably, start telling stories -- say, a Brian Bosworth talking to a Bobby Bowden. At that moment, the bar becomes the crossroads of the game's greats.
Call it the capital. Call it the crossroads. On Monday night, perhaps early Tuesday morning, the 2017 season will come to a close in a state-of-the-art stadium. And Atlanta will be a little sadder. College football season will be over.
BROOKINGS, South Dakota -- The South Dakota State University football team has completed its 2018 schedule by finalizing a contract to host Arkansas-Pine Bluff in nonconference action.
The matchup, which will be the Jackrabbits' first time hosting a Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent, is scheduled to be played Sept. 15 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. The game has been designated as the 52nd Annual Beef Bowl.
SDSU's other two non-league games in 2018 will include a Sept. 1 contest at Iowa State and a Sept. 8 home matchup versus Montana State. The Sept. 8 home opener will be the annual Dairy Drive game.
"We are excited to have completed our schedule with a home game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, as well as the challenge of opening the season versus a very good Iowa State team," said Jackrabbit head coach John Stiegelmeier. The Iowa State game will mark SDSU's 10th against a Football Bowl Subdivision program in the Division I era of Jackrabbit football, which began in 2004.
Missouri Valley Football Conference action kicks off Sept. 29 with the annual Dakota Marker game at North Dakota State. The Jackrabbits will then be home each of the next two weeks, hosting Indiana State on Oct. 6 and Youngstown State for Hobo Day on Oct. 13.
The Jackrabbits close out the month of October with road games at Northern Iowa (Oct. 20) and Illinois State (Oct. 27).
SDSU will finish the regular season with two of three November games at home. The Jackrabbits are slated to host Missouri State on Nov. 3 and in-state rival South Dakota on Nov. 17, around a Nov. 10 trip to Southern Illinois.
"The MVFC will be as strong as ever, and we plan to compete at a high level during the conference season," Stiegelmeier said.
Game times and other game promotions will be announced at a later date.
SDSU finished the 2017 season with a school-record 11 wins against three losses. The Jackrabbits qualified for the FCS playoffs for the sixth year in a row and reached the national semifinals for the first time.
2018 SDSU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 1 – at Iowa State
Sept. 8 – MONTANA STATE [Dairy Drive] Sept. 15 – ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF [Beef Bowl]
Sept. 29 – *at North Dakota State
Oct. 6 – *INDIANA STATE
Oct. 13 – *YOUNGSTOWN STATE [Hobo Day]
Oct. 20 – *at Northern Iowa
Oct. 27 – *at Illinois State
Nov. 3 – *MISSOURI STATE
Nov. 10 – *at Southern Illinois
Nov. 17 – *SOUTH DAKOTA [Showdown Series] * Missouri Valley Football Conference game
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The Southwestern Athletic Conference today announced the departure of Duer Sharp as Commissioner of the Conference. After 10 years of serving as Commissioner, Mr. Sharp is leaving the Conference to pursue other opportunities. His departure is effective as of December 31, 2017.
“On behalf of the Council of Presidents and Chancellors, we thank Mr. Sharp for his outstanding leadership to the Conference,” said Chairman of Council of Presidents and Chancellors Dr. Andrew Hugine. “During his tenure, the conference experienced significant growth in programs and exposure nationally. As Mr. Sharp pursues other interests, we wish him well.”
Edgar Gantt, who has previously served as the Associate Commissioner of the SWAC, has been named the Interim Commissioner.
"Our focus at the SWAC has always been to 'Honor the Heritage' by preserving our rich history and traditions," Sharp said. "I want to express my gratitude to all of the Council of Presidents during my tenure for the opportunity. I also want to thank all of the league office staff members and student-athletes, past and present, that helped build the SWAC brand through their hard work and effort."
Sharp was named the fifth SWAC commissioner in 2008. Under his leadership, he helped secure the Celebration Bowl sponsored by ESPN after extending the conference's relationship with the network. The partnership culminated national televised coverage of more than 30 athletic events.
Additionally, Sharp formed partnerships with the NBPA and the NFL to provide professional development and internship opportunities for student-athletes, rising administrators and coaches.
In 2013, he spearheaded the SWAC football and basketball championship's move to Houston landing both events inside professional sports venues. The following year, the football championship made its first appearance inside NRG Stadium followed by the men and women' s basketball tournament at Toyota Center. He also led the enhancement of the conference brand through its digital, social media, and mobile platforms while creating the SWAC Digital Network.
DALLAS, Texas — Mikayla Bates scored a career-high-tying 16 points Tuesday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a wire-to-wire 71-56 women's basketball victory against Paul Quinn.
The Gold Nuggets (7-5) snapped a two-game losing streak and won on the road for the first time since Nov. 14.
Bates, a junior guard, was 6-of-9 from the floor and had seven rebounds and six steals.
Maya Trench had 13 points and four assists for XULA — her three first-half 3-pointers tied her career best — and Gina Smith had a season-high-tying 11 points, seven rebounds and a career-best four steals. Essence Wells and Ireyon Keith scored nine points apiece.
"Our defense was probably the best thing we had going for us," XULA coach Bo Browder said. "We played hard for 40 minutes. That was also a big thing."
XULA outscored the Lady Tigers (7-8) in each of the first three periods and held its largest lead, 55-34, entering the fourth quarter. It was 32-25 at halftime.
Teanna Frances-Henderson scored a season-high 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Paul Quinn, and Amanda Cruz had 12 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Both teams shot 41 percent from the floor, but XULA had a 15-4 advantage in made free throws and was a season-best plus-17 in turnover margin. The Gold Nuggets outscored Paul Quinn 15-0 in the third quarter in points off of turnovers.
XULA will return to the road for its Gulf Coast Athletic Conference opener against Edward Waters at 5:30 p.m. EST Monday in Jacksonville, Fla. The next home game will be Jan. 17.
Also Tuesday, the Gold Nuggets received zero points in the NAIA Division I coaches poll after collecting votes in each of the first two rankings. XULA was 32nd in the previous poll Dec. 5. BOX SCORE
HOUSTON, Texas -- It was a special night for Texas Southern Tigers head coach Mike Davis as he got his 100th win at TSU with a convincing 78-66 victory over the visiting Southern Jaguars at the HPE Arena.
The Tigers were led by guard Derrick Bruce who had a stellar night out on the floor as he poured in a career and game high 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting including a 8-of-12 display from beyond the arc.
Bruce got things going early for the home standing Tigers as he scored in variety of ways while keeping the Jaguars off balance defensively for the majority of the game.
Demontrae Jefferson contributed 25 points and 7 assists while Trayvon Reed tallied a season high 9 blocked shots to go along with 7 points and 11 rebounds.
"This was obviously a special night for me to get my 100th win here at Texas Southern," said TSU's Davis. "We wanted to come out and play the game with a lot of energy and focus. Southern is a fundamentally sound basketball team so you have to come out prepared to play hard for 40 minutes in order to be successful against them."
Texas Southern took a 37-34 lead into the break before racing out to a double digit lead in the second half which set the pace and tone of the games' last stanza.
TSU held Southern to shooting just 34 percent from the field while also forcing a total of 9 Jaguar turnovers. Texas Southern took its largest lead of the game at the 8:37 mark of the second half at 17 points.
Texas Southern returns home to host the Alcorn State Braves on Wednesday, January 3rd at 7:30 pm at the HPE Arena. The game is slated to be broadcast live on ATT SportsNet SW.
