Lenard Tillery breaks SWAC rushing record as Southern takes down Alcorn State 41-33

LORMAN, Mississippi — The record was broken, and so was the streak.

Senior running back Lenard Tillery on Saturday broke the Southwestern Athletic Conference rushing record, and Southern beat Alcorn State 41-33, ending a five-game losing streak in the series that dated to 2011.

“Defensively, we forced some turnovers. Offensively, we put the ball in the end zone,” Southern coach Dawson Odums said. “When you do that, it makes coaching fun.”

Tillery ran for 195 yards — one shy of matching his career high — and three touchdowns. He needed 114 yards to break the SWAC career rushing record. The record-setting run came on a 30-yard scamper on third-and-long in the third quarter.

After the game, he said he was happy about a career first — a win against Alcorn State.

“It means a lot to me as a senior to finally overcome that obstacle,” he said.

While Tillery was gashing Alcorn State, Braves quarterback Lenorris Footman was doing the same to Southern’s defense.



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FAMU women's cross country captures fifth MEAC crown in a row

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- For the fifth straight year, Florida A&M's women's cross country team is on top of the MEAC.

FAMU track director Darlene Moore's crew captured its fifth conference title in a row on Saturday in Smyrna, Delaware.  The Rattlers are the first team in the history of the conference to win five consecutive titles.

Junior Judith Kibii -- who was named the MEAC women's cross country Athlete of the Week four teams this season -- finally broke through to place first in the race after finishing second in her freshman and sophomore years. She finished the race with a time of 18:02.60, nearly 10 seconds faster than second-place finisher Jennaya Hield, from Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Kibii was named Outstanding Performer. She's the second FAMU runner in school history to capture the individual women's cross country title. Moore was named Outstanding Coach for the fifth year in a row.

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College basketball preview: Breaking things down in the MEAC

NORFOLK, Virginia -- With only five teams above .500 in conference, the MEAC might not be the conference that sports the most awe-inspiring brand of basketball. But it was home to the leading scorer in the nation. Back to that in a bit.

Hampton took regular-season and conference tournament titles to punch the team’s ticket to the Big Dance. In the tournament, the Pirates ran into a buzzsaw in Virginia, though.

The Pirates will look to make it three straight trips to the NCAA tournament this year, but that task will be significantly more difficult in the 2016-17 season — especially given the departure of the team’s top three scorers. That's the same issue facing the Spartans of Norfolk State who came in third in the MEAC, so the top tier of the conference is likely to see some different schools in the mix come season's end.

Teams like South Carolina State (tops in assists per game in the MEAC) and Bethune-Cookman (tops in blocks per game) might be licking their chops at that prospect, but there's a lot of basketball that needs to be played first. Both teams have their respective leading scorers returning — guard Eric Eaves (17.6 ppg) and guard Jordan Potts (16.0 ppg, 4.3 apg) — but a lot can happen between now and March.

Best player

How does 27.1 points a contest sound? Sounds like you’re talking about the leading scorer in the country. And if so, that means you’re talking about James Daniel III.

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Despite attempts to fire him, Fort Worth coach Johnnie Cole remains on the job

FORT WORTH, Texas -- This report contains graphic descriptions.

Where Johnnie Cole goes, trouble often follows.

Two years after being fired as football coach at Texas Southern University over accusations that he violated NCAA rules — not his first run-in with the NCAA — Cole was hired as a teacher and assistant coach at Eastern Hills High School in Fort Worth.

Walter Dansby, Fort Worth’s superintendent in 2013, said he didn’t want to hire Cole but faced pressure from some school board members to find the embattled coach a job.

Cole’s connection-laden path to Fort Worth started in controversy and could have ended months ago after he was accused of having an improper relationship with an Eastern Hills student during the 2014-15 school year. An internal report by the school district’s Office of Professional Standards said the student told an investigator that Cole had sex with her, had friends threaten her with retaliation and suggested that she work as a prostitute.

It’s a felony for an educator to engage in sexual contact with a student of the same school or district, including those who are 18.

But the student, now in her second year at a community college ...

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HBCU Football Judgment Day Schedule Week 9

The PVAMU Marching Storm was invited to the 2016 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. The band did a parade through the race track and performed for several crowds ending with the opening ceremony of The Roots and Usher concert!

The Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm is under the direction of Dr. Tim Zachery.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

OVC
Tennessee State at Murray State, 4 PM

MEAC
South Carolina State at Hmpton 1 PM
Florida A&M at North Carolina A&T 1 PM
Howard at Savannah State 2 PM
Morgan State at Norfolk State 2 PM
Delaware State at Bethune-Cookman 4 PM

SWAC
Arkansas Pine Bluff at Grambling State 3 PM
Southern at Alcorn State 3 PM
Prairie View at Jackson State 3 PM
Alabama A&M vs. Alabama State at Birmingham 4 PM  ESPN3
Texas Southern at Sam Houston State 7 PM ESPN3

OTHER HBCUs
Millersville at Cheyney  12 Noon
UNC Pembroke at West Virginia State 1 PM
McKendree at Lincoln (Mo) 3 PM
Langston at Texas College 3 PM
Ava Marie at Edward Waters 7 PM

CIAA
Saint Augustine's at Johnson C. Smith 1 PM
Winston-Salem State at Shaw 1 PM
Livingstone at Fayetteville State 1:30 PM
Virginian Union at Elizabeth City State 1:30 PM
Chowan at Virginia State 2 PM
Bowie State at Lincoln (Pa) 6 PM

SIAC
Tuskegee at Central State (Ohio) 1PM
Lane at Kentucky State, 1:30 PM
Albany State at Benedict 2 PM
Fort Valley State at Morehouse 2 PM
Miles at Clark Atlanta 2 PM



ALL GAME TIMES IN EASTERN TIME ZONE

Jackson State University vs Prairie View BOTB - Homecoming 2016

Must-win Tuskegee seeks waiver, additional game for NCAA D-II playoffs

TUSKEGEE, Alabama -- Tuskegee needs to handle its business on the field to make the NCAA Division II playoffs and its athletic director must do the same on his end to ensure the Golden Tigers meet the criteria to do so.

After last week’s 10-9 upset loss to Kentucky State on homecoming, Curtis Campbell requested a waiver Monday morning to qualify for the playoffs with having just nine games on the schedule. Teams must play 10 games to automatically qualify for the playoffs.

In the 2016-17 NCAA Division II football pre-championship manual, it reads teams must “play at least 10 opponents during the regular season. An institution may submit a waiver request to the football committee for its consideration if a given institution is not able to satisfy this requirement” under qualifying standards for playoffs.

“You can play nine games and get a waiver from the NCAA,” Campbell said Friday afternoon. “We have requested a waiver and we can also play an additional game on Nov. 12. If we could find a D-II opponent to play, that would help our bid for the playoffs and help our seeding as long as we win the two games we’ve got remaining, and if we add an additional game – and if we win that.”

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Savannah State hoping to tame the Howard Bison, for once

SAVANNAH, Georgia -- You’ve heard of misdirection running plays? Howard University comes to T.A. Wright Stadium today with a misdirection record.

The Savannah State Tigers have bitten on the bait before — most recently a year ago.

“I’m sure (the Tigers) felt last year like ‘Hey, Howard hasn’t won a game, we can beat these guys,’ and then they got beat by 46 points,” said SSU’s first-head football head coach Erik Raeburn.

So the Tigers’ 2 p.m. game today with the deceptive Bison comes with all the trappings. First, it’s Savannah State’s homecoming. And Howard’s coming to the party with a 1-7 record.

SSU hasn’t been a pillar of success in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, but the Bison, despite just one winning season since the Tigers began play in the league in 2011, have captured the five meetings between the teams by an average of more than 34 points a game.

Last year, Howard beat SSU 55-9 for its only win of the season. In 2011, the Bison came to Savannah with a 29-game conference losing streak — they hadn’t won a MEAC game since 2007 — and beat the Tigers 34-14.

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Tarik Cohen soaking up senior season at N.C. A&T

GREENSBORO, North Carolina — It’s the last homecoming game for the best running back the MEAC has ever seen.

But if N.C. A&T senior Tarik Cohen is feeling wistful, it doesn’t show.

“I’m feeling old, that’s how I’m feeling,” says Cohen, who turned 21 in July. “I don’t think about it ending. It will probably hit me on senior day (Nov. 5 against S.C. State). When we have to go on the field and take pictures with family before the game. That ceremony, that’s when it will really hit me.”

In the meantime, Cohen is soaking up his senior season.

He heads into homecoming on Saturday against Florida A&M as the MEAC’s all-time leading rusher with 5,054 yards, A&T’s all-time touchdown leader with 52 (49 rushing, three receiving) and just the 10th FCS player with four 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

Every week, another record falls.

Not bad for an overlooked guy from little Bunn — population 354 — who received exactly one football scholarship offer coming out of high school. Only A&T took a chance on the 5-foot-6, 160-pound sprinter.



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NSU Spartans celebrate homecoming, Senior Say Saturday vs. Morgan State

NORFOLK, Virginia -- The Norfolk State football team concludes its home schedule, celebrating Homecoming and Senior Day this Saturday when the Spartans (1-6, 0-4 MEAC) host Morgan State (2-4, 2-2) at 2 p.m. at Dick Price Stadium.

Game 8: Morgan State (2-4, 2-2 MEAC) at Norfolk State (1-6, 0-4 MEAC)
Saturday, Oct. 29 • 2 p.m. • Dick Price Stadium (30,000)
Series History: 31st meeting – NSU leads 16-11 (3 NSU wins vacated)
Last Meeting: NSU 17-10 (Nov. 21, 2015)
Series Streak: NSU won nine straight on field (three wins vacated)

1ST AND 10

1. The Spartans conclude the home portion of their 2016 schedule and look to end a six-game losing streak when they host Morgan State University this Saturday. It is NSU’s Homecoming as well as Senior Day at Dick Price Stadium.

2. NSU enters the game on a six-game skid – the program’s longest since losing seven in a row in 2012 – after a 21-14 loss to Bethune-Cookman last Saturday in Norfolk.

3. The Spartans trailed 21-7 at the half but shut out the Wildcats in the second half. NSU cut its deficit in half on a 4-yard Quintreil Chung touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Thanks to an interception by Nigel Chavis, the Spartans started their final drive in B-CU territory, eventually reaching as far as the 12-yard line. But NSU was stopped on downs in the Wildcats’ red zone, falling short of the tying score.

4. Greg Hankerson scored NSU’s other touchdown on a 43-yard run in the first quarter where he broke multiple tackles and outraced the defense for the score. Hankerson passed for 90 yards and led NSU with 60 rushing yards.

5. Morgan State suffered its second consecutive disappointing defeat last Saturday, dropping a 21-17 decision to unbeaten MEAC opponent North Carolina Central. The Bears took a 17-14 lead into the half after a 40-yard Alex Raya field goal. The score remained that way until the game’s final four minutes, when NCCU overtook the Bears on a 16-yard TD pass from Naiil Ramadan to Jalen Wilkes. Morgan State had two possessions after yielding the lead, but turned the ball over on both drives.

6. Eric Harrell led the Bears with 21 rushes for 121 yards and a touchdown. MSU ran for 158 yards in the game. The Bears played two quarterbacks, with Wagner transfer Chris Andrews passing for 85 yards to go with one TD and one interception. Defensive lineman Ayodeji Agbelese was a force for the Bears’ defense, notching two sacks among his three tackles for loss in the game.

7. The season has been one of streaks for the Bears. They lost their first two contests to Holy Cross and Marshall, then won two straight against Delaware State and Howard before their two recent losses.

8. NSU has dominated the series on the field as of late. Morgan State’s last win over NSU was a 29-20 victory in Norfolk in 2006. The Spartans have won the last nine games on the field, though three of those victories were later vacated.

9. The Spartans are 9-10 in 19 previous Homecoming games at Dick Price Stadium, but have lost two of the last three. The Spartans are 3-2 all-time against MSU in Homecoming games at Dick Price Stadium.

10. NSU will recognize 23 players prior to the game who are playing at home for the final time. The list includes two redshirt juniors (Anthony Smith, Antonio Perryman).



QUICK HITS FROM B-CU
Some news and notes from the loss to Bethune-Cookman:
• The Spartans were held scoreless in the third quarter for the sixth straight game. NSU has been outscored 47-0 in the third quarter since the Richmond game.
• Nigel Chavis (12) notched a career high in tackles.
• The Spartans registered a season-high three interceptions, all by different players (Chavis, Sandy Chapman, Harry Freeman).

IN A RUSH

Quarterback Greg Hankerson ran for his team-leading fifth touchdown of the season last week against Bethune-Cookman, a highlight-reel-worthy 43-yarder where he broke several tackles from Bethune-Cookman’s defensive linemen and linebackers and outraced the rest of the defense for the score.
• Hankerson is now tied for seventh in the MEAC with his five touchdowns this year. He has eight in his two-year career thus far, most by a Spartan quarterback since Dennis Brown had 12 from 2008-09.N• Hankerson’s 43-yarder was his third career TD run of over 40 yards. He had scoring runs of 57 and 77 yards last season vs. Morgan State and N.C. Central, respectively.
• Hankerson is again within shouting distance of the single-season school record for rushing yards by a quarterback, set by Brown (466) in 2008. Hankerson had 423 last season and 303 this year (ninth in the MEAC).

NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

Southern/Alcorn State gameday: Jaguars defense is coming around just in time, plus Luke Johnson's four downs

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern defensive coordinator Trei Oliver figured it would take about this long for his defense to start to shine, but he expected it all the same.

The Jaguars are six games into the season — which they hope is their halfway point, if they earn a berth in the SWAC championship game — and are starting to show signs of defensive prowess.

Though this year's Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Jackson State teams will never be considered offensive juggernauts, the Jaguars defense has turned in two of its better performances in back-to-back weeks, allowing averages of 20.5 points and 306 yards.

“They’re starting to get it,” Oliver said. “We knew it was going to be a process. And, not to keep harping on it, but without spring ball, we knew it was going to be a little slow with all the young guys we have playing. But we’re about where we expected to be. Now they’re starting to understand gap control; they’re starting to understand pass coverage and the different zone coverages we’re playing.”

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Grambling State University aims to avoid Alcorn's fate

GRAMBLING, Louisiana — Two-time defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Alcorn State allowed Arkansas-Pine Bluff to pull off a massive upset in September.

That won't be the case for Grambling when Pine Bluff arrives Saturday for the Tigers' homecoming.

"Alcorn didn't take those guys seriously and you saw what happened," Grambling quarterbacks coach Kendrick Nord said.



The theme this week is not overlooking Pine Bluff, or anyone for that matter. Pine Bluff is 1-6 this year with its only victory coming at Alcorn State, a 45-43 three-overtime win last month.

Grambling's staff said earlier in the week how that win is the sole reminder of how dangerous Pine Bluff is despite its record.

"The big thing that happened in that game that got them fired up was the fact that Alcorn's players had mentioned during pregame that a lot of their guys weren't playing because they were resting them for the next week to play us," Grambling linebackers coach Terrance Graves said. "They went back in and told their players and that's the motivation they gave them."

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'Just beautiful:' As he nears the SWAC rushing record, Southern's Lenard Tillery keeps his focus on the next game

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- There’s this thing about Lenard Tillery that Austin Howard said a lot of people don’t know, something that should provide an extra element of amazement to Saturday’s potentially record-setting performance.

It goes back to when Howard arrived on Southern's campus as a freshman in 2014. Tillery was coming off a year in which he ran for a team-best 784 yards as a freshman on the Jaguars' SWAC championship team.



When Tillery and Howard practiced for the first time, they did it together at the bottom of the Southern depth chart as fourth-stringers.

“We told each other we were going to grind; we weren’t going to complain about it,” Howard said. “We were just going to grind and get to the top. Whatever happens, happens.”

They’ve stayed true to that pledge and have been rewarded.

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Magic City Classic: Alabama A&M vs. Alabama State

Alabama A&M vs. Alabama State

When: 3 p.m.

Where: Legion Field, Birmingham

Records: Alabama A&M (2-5); Alabama State (2-5)

Web: ESPN3

Four-down territory
1. Freshman phenom: True freshman Jordan Bentley’s remarkable play is not going unnoticed nationally. The running back from Guntersville was named to the STATS FCS Freshman of the Year Watch List. Bentley leads all FCS freshman with seven rushing touchdowns and he is also the third-leading rusher among freshman with 576 yards.

2. Player of the week: In Alabama A&M’s 40-7 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, De’Angelo Ballard had 303 total yards and four touchdowns. For his performance, the senior quarterback was named the SWAC Offensive Player of the Week. He was also an honorable mention for STATS National Offensive Player of the Week.



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Once-mighty Florida A&M struggling to rebuild program

GREENSBORO, North Carolina — It’s homecoming for Florida A&M.  Again.

The Rattlers (3-2 MEAC, 3-5 overall) will play in a homecoming football game Saturday for the third week in a row, this time in the one N.C. A&T (4-0, 6-1) brands as the Greatest Homecoming On Earth.

It’s the second time in three years A&T has scheduled FAMU for homecoming.

When you’re struggling, you get invited to a lot of homecomings. And once-mighty FAMU is struggling.

In their long history, the Rattlers have won 12 black college national championships. They’ve won or shared eight MEAC titles. They won the first Division I-AA national title in 1978, one of seven FCS playoff appearances.

But since its last MEAC title in 2010, Florida A&M has fallen on hard times.

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Career highs for Ducros, but Gold Nuggets lose in 3

MOBILE, Alabama — Xavier University of Louisiana, in its final non-conference volleyball match of the regular season, lost 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 Monday at Spring Hill.

Taylor Ducros had eight kills and hit .350, both career highs, for the Gold Nuggets (13-15). Juliana Tomasoni had 10 kills and 12 digs, Tiffany Phillips had 34 assists and 10 digs, Hasani Salaam had seven kills and five blocks, and Amanda Perry had two aces and 15 digs.

Tomasoni and Phillips have 12 double-doubles apiece this season.

Madison Seuzeneau had 12 kills and hit .310 for the Badgers (26-5), who extended their two-year home winning streak to 13. Sarah Senft had 11 kills, Peyton Gidney had 10 kills, Cassidi Sterrett had 18 digs, and Savannah Becnel had six kills, three aces and four blocks.

XULA led 22-21 in the first set before Spring Hill scored the final four points, two on Seuzeneau kills. The Badgers took a two-set lead after pulling away from a tie at 13, and they rallied from an 18-13 deficit in the final set.

Spring Hill outhit XULA .229 to .130 and had advantages of 46-38 in kills, 4-2 in aces, 69-68 in digs and 7-5 in blocks.

It was a matchup of league leaders. XULA has clinched the regular-season championship of the NAIA's Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, and Spring Hill is 17-0 in NCAA Division II's Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. XULA is 0-19 all-time against Spring Hill with two losses this season.

XULA will conclude its regular season with GCAC matches at 1 p.m. Saturday at Talladega and 7 p.m. next Monday at home against Tougaloo in the Convocation Center. The Gold Nuggets will play at 3 p.m. Nov. 4 in the semifinals of the GCAC Tournament in New Orleans (Dillard's Dent Hall) after a first-round bye.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Nuggets' preseason rankings: 3rd in GCAC, 32nd in NAIA

NEW ORLEANS — The preseason women's basketball polls of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference and NAIA do not rank Xavier University of Louisiana as high as they have in recent years. But 18th-year head coach Bo Browder isn't concerned.

"We understand that we're a very young team with a lot of new players replacing some talented seniors from last season," Browder said. "But I'm excited about how good this year's team could be. We're working hard, and we're going to get better as the season progresses."

The Gold Nuggets received two first-place votes and finished third out of seven teams in the GCAC coaches poll. In the NAIA Division I preseason coaches poll, XULA was in the "others receiving votes" list, collecting five points and ranking 32nd.

For the first time since 2009, XULA is not picked to win the GCAC or in the NAIA preseason top 25.
XULA will have several opportunities in the early part of the season to impress the national raters. Before the next national rankings Dec. 6, the Gold Nuggets will play seven times against teams ranked ahead of them: No. 3 Our Lady of the Lake, No. 7 Lewis-Clark State, No. 24 Loyola (N.O.), No. 25 Carroll (Mont.), No. 26 LSU-Shreveport (twice) and No. 29 Langston.

No Gold Nuggets were selected to the preseason All-GCAC team.

XULA will open the season Nov. 4 — one week from Friday — at 5:30 p.m. against Florida Memorial at the Convocation Center.

SCHEDULE NOTES: XULA this week announced several starting times and one opponent change to the 2016-17 schedule . . . The Nov. 5 home game against Webber International will tip off at 3 p.m.

. . . The Nov. 25 Xavier Classic matchup with Langston will start at 5 p.m. . . . A Dec. 15 home game against Concordia (Ala.) will start at 1 p.m. . . . A Dec. 31 game at Dallas Christian will tip at 6 p.m. .
. . A Jan. 2 game against Oklahoma City was dropped and replaced with a visit to Paul Quinn at 2 p.m. Jan. 3.

GCAC Women's Basketball 2016-17 Coaches Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses)

Rank School Points
1 Talladega (4) 45
2 Edward Waters (1) 38
3 Xavier (2) 37
4 Dillard 24
5 SUNO 23
6 Philander Smith 22
7 Tougaloo 7

Xavier in previous GCAC polls
2015-16 — 1st
2014-15 — 1st
2013-14 — 1st
2012-13 — 1st
2011-12 — 1st
2010-11 — 1st
2009-10 — 2nd
2008-09 — 1st
2007-08 — 2nd
2006-07 — 3rd
2004-05 — 1st
2003-04 — 2nd
2002-03 — 2nd
2001-02 — 1st
1999-2000 — 1st
1993-94 — 1st

NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches'Preseason Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records from 2015-16)
Rank Team Record Points Last
1 MidAmerica Nazarene (7) 32-5 218 1
2 Westmont (2) 29-4 213 3
3 Our Lady of the Lake 30-3 203 2
4 Campbellsville 27-8 194 5
5 Lindsey Wilson 28-7 177 15
6 Vanguard 25-7 175 tie-10
7 Lewis-Clark State 27-7 168 tie-10
8 Freed-Hardeman 27-8 165 13
9 Lyon 30-4 158 4
10 Bethel (Tenn.) 27-7 155 12
11-tie Shawnee State 29-6 149 6
11-tie Benedictine (Kan.) 29-7 149 8
13 Baker 28-9 136 7
14 The Master's 25-6 130 9
15 Central Methodist 26-5 125 19
16 Montana State-Northern 23-9 121 20
17 Pikeville 26-9 115 14
18 Great Falls 24-11 103 16
19 Oklahoma City 20-9 93 22
20 Columbia (Mo.) 27-6 91 18
21 Talladega 23-6 72 21
22 Wayland Baptist 25-5 64 17
23 Cumberland 18-12 63 23
24 Loyola (N.O.) 23-8 61 25
25 Carroll (Mont.) 22-9 57 24

Dropped from previous rankings: none
Others receiving votes: LSU-Shreveport 42, Martin Methodist 39, John Brown 33, Langston 16, Edward Waters 8, Mobile 8, Xavier (N.O.) 5

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Rush beat Carver in opener, earn No. 25 NAIA ranking

NEW ORLEANS — Newcomer Jalen David scored 17 points Tuesday to lead NAIA No. 25 Xavier University of Louisiana to a season-opening 66-44 men's basketball victory against Carver College of Atlanta.
     
XULA won its opener for the 21st consecutive season and allowed its fewest points in an opener since 1995. It was the first game as head coach for XULA's Alfred Williams, a former Gold Rush assistant and standout player.
     
David, a 6-foot-4 guard/forward from Mount Vernon, N.Y., and a transfer from Moberly Area (Mo.) Community College, was 6-of-12 from the floor and made 5-of-6 free throws in 22 minutes as a reserve. He grabbed four rebounds and had a game-high three steals.
     
Seth Jackson had 12 points, five rebounds and a career-high six assists for the Gold Rush, and Leland Alexander had career highs of 11 points and 11 rebounds and his first collegiate double-double.
     
Tivius Guthrie had 10 points and six rebounds for Carver (0-2).
     
XULA made three of its first 17 floor shots and trailed 17-11 in the 14th minute before rallying to grab a 28-20 halftime lead. Twice the Gold Rush led by 25 points in the second half, the second time on Lucas Martin-Julien's basket with 2:46 remaining.
     
XULA outshot the Cougars 36.4 to 33.3 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 48-29. The Gold Rush were plus-9 in turnovers, committing 14 and gaining 23.
     
The NAIA announced its Division I preseason coaches poll approximately one hour before tip-off. XULA appears in the preseason top 25 for the seventh consecutive season.
     
XULA will play Wayland Baptist at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 4 — one week from Friday — at the Convocation Center. It will be the second game of doubleheader; the XULA women will open their season at 5:30 p.m. against Florida Memorial.

NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records from 2015-16)

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Last
1	Mid-America Christian (6)	28-9	247	1
2	Georgetown (Ky.) (1)	32-4	237	2
3	William Penn (2)	29-7	228	6
4	Biola (1)	30-4	225	5
5	LSU-Alexandria	29-4	215	3
6	Columbia (Mo.)	29-6	208	10
7	Talladega	25-6	206	7
8	MidAmerica Nazarene	28-9	191	4
9	Carroll (Mont.)	23-10	177	9
10	William Carey	20-12	166	22
11	Campbellsville	25-11	165	11
12-tie	Westmont	21-11	155	RV
12-tie	Dillard	17-16	155	20
14	Our Lady of the Lake	22-9	137	13
15	Lewis-Clark State	29-5	125	12
16	Park	20-10	113	24
17	Hope International	26-7	107	14
18	Oklahoma City	15-11	106	RV
19	Pikeville	25-6	97	8
20-tie	Lindsey Wilson	17-14	93	NR
20-tie	Texas Wesleyan	24-8	93	16
22	Faulkner	20-14	82	NR
23	Central Methodist	16-16	61	NR
24	LSU-Shreveport	18-14	51	RV
25	Xavier	21-13	42	RV
Dropped from previous rankings:  No. 15 Cumberlands, No. 17 Arizona Christian, No. 18 Langston, No. 19 Freed-Hardeman, No. 21 Peru State, No. 23 William Jessup, No. 25 Montana Western      Others receiving votes:  Southwestern Assemblies of God 38, Montana Western 36, Langston 29, William Woods 27, William Jessup 25, Cumberlands 22, Arizona Christian 12, Benedictine (Kan.) 8, Voorhees 6, Peru State 6, USAO 5, Dalton State 3 Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director XULAgold.com XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA  twitter.com/xulagold www.facebook.com/xulagold

Eight newcomers to help XU Gold Rush open 2016-17 season

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana will open the 2016-17 men's basketball season Tuesday with eight student-athletes in their first season with the program.
     
The Gold Rush, 21-13 and a qualifier for the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship a year ago, will play host to Carver College of Atlanta at 7 p.m. in XULA's Convocation Center.
     
Alfred Williams, a Gold Rush standout player from 2004-08 and a XULA assistant coach from 2009-15, will begin his first season as head coach. Carver, a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association, opened its season in the Crescent City Monday with a 74-60 loss at Loyola.
     
New to the Gold Rush this season include:

 •  Donovan Armstrong, a 5-foot-9 guard from Round Rock, Texas, and Round Rock High School. He's a business sales and marketing major at Xavier.
     
•  Jalen David, a 6-4 guard/forward from Mount Vernon, N.Y., and Mount Vernon High School and Moberly Area (Mo.) Community College. His major is business management.
     
•  Jerry Gibson, a 6-5 forward from Alexandria, La., and Alexandria Senior High School. He is a biology/pre-medical major.
     
•  Monte Lambert, a 6-3 guard from the Bronx, N.Y., and James Madison High School. He's majoring in business management.
     
•  Khalil McCoy, a 6-2 guard from Suwanee, Ga., and Newman High School. He is a chemistry/pre-pharmacy major.
     •  Hakeem Simon, a 6-10 center from St. Patrick, Grenada, St. Mark's Secondary School and Seminole State (Okla.) College. His major is business management.
     
•  Mike Williams, a 6-3 guard from Houston and Fort Bend Travis High School. He's a computer engineering major.
     
Another XULA newcomer is Evan Howard, a 6-8 forward/center from Biloxi, Miss., whose signing was announced in February.
     
Armstrong was first-team all-district in basketball and football. As a senior he averaged 15.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game. The website texasbasketballreview.com said of Armstrong, "Quick and strong, good ballhandler, hits the 15-footer or floaters." In football Armstrong intercepted five passes his final season and scored on an 87-yard punt return.
     
David averaged 7.2 points, reached double figures 17 times and made 32 3-pointers for a Moberly team that reached the final 16 of the NJCAA Division I national tournament. As a prep senior he averaged 14 points and seven rebounds for a 29-4 team and had 19 points, 14 rebounds and nine steals in one game.
     
Gibson led ASH in rebounding his senior year and was second-team all-district. He was an four-year honor-roll student, and he amassed 250 hours of community service.
     
Lambert was a conference scoring leader his senior year at James Madison, scored a school-record 44 points in one game and reached 30 points five other times. Between James Madison and XULA, he spent a year at Trinity Pawling, a New York prep school where he was a starter. The website HoopGroup.com said of Lambert, "Skilled guard that can score in transition. He is crafty with his finishes and rebounds well for his size."
     
McCoy was all-region and was chosen Coweta County Player of the Year by the Newnan Herald newspaper his senior year. Three times he reached 30 points, with a high of 32 his final season. Academically, he was in the top five percent of his graduating class.
     
Simon — the tallest Gold Rush player since 6-10 Ronald Allen in 2004-05 — averaged 2.2 points and 2.3 rebounds for Seminole State and had career highs of 11 points and 12 rebounds in the same game. He shot 51.5 percent from the floor the past two seasons; he spent his first collegiate year at another two-year school, Western Oklahoma State.
     
Williams was second team District 23-6A as a senior, and his game highs included 36 points and 14 assists. He started in football (wide receiver and running back) as a senior, and he logged service hours through All Saints Anglican Church.
     
David and Simon will have two years of eligibility apiece at Xavier; the others will have four seasons apiece.
     
Returning XULA players are Seth Jackson at guard, Leland Alexander and Lucas Martin-Julien at guard/forward and Wesley Pluviose-Philip at forward. Also back is guard Innocent Kukulu, who redshirted as a freshman in 2015-16.

2016-17 Men's Basketball Roster

2016-17 Men's Basketball Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	Exp.	Hometown	High School	Previous School
2	Seth Jackson	G	6-1	176	Sr.	1L	Baton Rouge, La.	Redemptorist	Baton Rouge CC
3	Leland Alexander	G	6-5	180	So.	1L	Houma, La.	Ellender
4	Khalil McCoy	G	6-2	180	Fr.	HS	Suwanee, Ga.	Newnan
10	Wesley Pluviose-Philip	F	6-7	230	Sr.	3L	Albany, N.Y.	Albany
11	Lucas Martin-Julien	G	6-2	187	Jr.	2L	Reserve, La.	Riverside Academy
12	Jalen David	G/F	6-4	208	Jr.	JC	Mount Vernon, N.Y.	Mount Vernon	Moberly Area CC
13	Monte Lambert	G	6-3	200	Fr.	HS	Bronx, N.Y.	James Madison
14	Evan Howard	F/C	6-8	235	Fr.	HS	Biloxi, Miss.	D'Iberville
21	Innocent Kukulu	G	6-0	180	Fr.	RS	Staten Island, N.Y.	Curtis
23	Mike Williams	G	6-3	190	Fr.	HS	Houston, Texas	Fort Bend Travis
25	Donovan Armstrong	G	5-9	172	Fr.	HS	Round Rock, Texas	Round Rock
30	Hakeem Simon	C	6-10	240	Jr.	JC	St. Patrick, Grenada	St. Mark's	Seminole State (Okla.) JC
33	Jerry Gibson	F	6-5	221	Fr.	HS	Alexandria, La.	Alexandria Senior

Coaching Staff

Coaching Staff

Name	Title
Alfred Williams	Men's Basketball Head Coach
Tyrone Mitchell	Men's Basketball Assistant Coach
Ryan DeRousselle	Men's Basketball Assistant Coach
Devin Andrew	Men's Basketball Assistant Coach