Golden Bear Buzz: Miles College at West Alabama

WHAT: Miles College (8-2) at West Alabama (8-3)

WHEN: Saturday, noon

WHERE: Tiger Stadium

TV: None but fans can listen online at http://www.miles.edu

LINE: None

THIS GAME WILL DETERMINE: It's a Division II first-round playoff matchup. So, it's kill or be killed for both the Tigers and the Golden Bears. However, there's also pride on the line for both teams. West Alabama likely feels disrespected after being seeded fourth despite going undefeated in Gulf South Conference play and downing top-seeded Valdosta St. (Ga.) in the regular season. Meanwhile, Miles, in its first playoff game ever, likely wants to prove it belongs among the nation's best.

THREE THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. How often will Miles go to the air against West Alabama's defense? West Alabama is tops in the nation in Division II in pass defense, allowing just 127.7 yards per game. The Tigers are also the nation's best in passing efficiency on defense. Miles quarterback David Thomas led the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, in passing efficiency (157.6) and was second in total offense and passing yards per game. However, Miles, which led the SIAC in scoring at 37.5 points per game, also showed in can run the ball toward the latter part of the season with a running game that features the likes of Floyd Graves, Devonta Parker-Johnson and K.C. Logan. 

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Hampton looks to salvage win at Morgan State

HAMPTON, Virginia — As Donovan Rose winds down as trying a season as he has encountered, he looks to both present and future.

Rose wants his Hampton University football team to conclude 2012 on a good note, with a win Saturday in the season finale at Morgan State. But the final couple of weeks and games are also a time for evaluation — of personnel, coaching and everything within the program.

"It's a little like a preseason game for next year," Rose said Wednesday. "We want to evaluate the people we have and see who's still playing hard and who we feel like we can count on in the future. We want to look at our coaches and make sure we're doing everything we can to put our kids in the best position.

"This will start to let us know what to do with recruiting — our biggest needs, who we have to recruit over, the kinds of players who can help us right away."

Not to say that the Pirates (2-7, 2-5 MEAC) don't have immediate goals. Running back Jeremiah Schwartz is 70 yards short of 1,000, a feat made more significant since the Pirates play only 10 games, and he missed the Howard game with an injury. He wasn't the featured back for the first several games.




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Joseph scores career-high 26 to help XU Gold Rush move to 5-0

The 2012-13 Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball team

ROSTER

NEW ORLEANS -- Wanto Joseph, the reigning Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week, scored a career-high 26 points Tuesday to lead NAIA No. 19 Xavier University to a 73-67 men's basketball victory against Loyola at The Den.

The Gold Rush are 5-0 for the sixth time in Dannton Jackson's 10 seasons as head coach. Loyola (2-2) dropped its second in a row, both at home against city rivals. The Wolf Pack lost 78-70 Saturday to SUNO.

Joseph -- a 5-foot-9 senior guard whose previous best was 18 points as a sophomore -- was 10-of-16 from the floor, 2-of-3 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 from the line in 36 minutes. He had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Denzell Erves had a season-high 16 points and a career-high four assists for Xavier, and Nick Haywood scored 12. Anthony Simmons had nine points and a season-high 12 rebounds.

McCall Tomeny scored 19 points for Loyola, and Kyle Simmons, Mason Ibert and Robert Lovaglio scored 13 apiece.

Six players scored during a 15-0 run which gave Xavier a 27-17 lead at 7:09 of the first half. The Gold Rush led 36-33 at halftime.

Joseph scored 20 points in the second half, and his 3-pointer with 13:38 remaining put Xavier ahead to stay, 50-48. The Gold Rush had a pair of 10-point leads in the second half, the last after Joseph's basket made it 66-56 with 5:44 remaining.

The Gold Rush preserved the victory by making 7-of-8 free throws in the final 36 seconds.

Xavier, playing for the first time on the road this season, outshot Loyola 53.2 to 47.7 percent from the floor. Xavier had a 33-20 rebound advantage -- the fourth time this season the margin was in double figures -- and shot a season-best 85.7 percent from the line.

Joseph, Erves and Haywood have scored in double figures in every game this season.

Xavier leads the series 30-6 and won for the first time since a two-game Loyola sweep last season.

The Gold Rush will play Wiley for homecoming at 2 p.m. Saturday at XU's new Convocation Center.


By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

TSU Tigers try to ground UTM Skyhawks in final regular season game

Nashville, Tennessee - Tennessee State and UT Martin are playing for a potential at-large berth to the Division I Football Championship on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Martin, Tenn.

A win by TSU would give it nine Division I victories, while a win by UT Martin would give it eight Division I wins, including a victory over FBS Memphis. TSU is hoping for its first playoff berth since 1999 while UT Martin is looking for its first playoff appearance since making its lone appearance in 2006. The game is also part of the Sgt. York Trophy series in which TSU has already clinched at least a share of the title; UTM can gain a share, although TSU will keep the actual trophy, with a win.
 

Tennessee State, ranked No. 23 in this week’s Sports Network poll, is fresh coming off its bye week and will go on the road for its final regular season game. In its last game two weeks ago Tennessee State held a 28-27 lead at the end of the third quarter but saw Murray State score 22 unanswered points on its way to the 49-28 victory. Running back Trabis Ward rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown in the loss. In the process Ward moved past Javarris Williams (2006) for the third most rushing yards in TSU single-season history (1,316). Ward currently ranks eighth nationally in rushing (131.6 yards/game) and has scored 15 touchdowns.
 

Sophomore tight end A.C. Leonard had another big game, hauling in seven passes for 115 yards. Leonard currently has 44 catches for 643 yards on the season. Quarterback Michael German passed for 273 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 22 yards and an additional score in the game. Playing without sophomore defensive back Steven Godbolt III, who ranks second in the FCS in interceptions/game), TSU turned to sophomore Daniel Fitzpatrick who had a game-high 10 solo tackles, broke-up a pass and had a sack.

UT Martin saw its four-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday in overtime at Tennessee Tech when a botched extra point gave the Golden Eagles a one-point victory. The Skyhawks handled 31-17 entering the fourth quarter only to fall behind 38-31 with 1:10 to play after Tech scored on a 79-yard touchdown pass. But UTM quarterback Derek Carr threw a 46-yard Hail Mary pass that bounced off two TTU players before landing in the arms to Chris Thompson to tie the game. After the Golden Eagles scored to open the extra period UT Martin faced a 4th and 16 before Carr found OVC Newcomer of the Week Jeremy Butler for a touchdown. That play was right before the Skyhawks fumbled the extra point snap, ending the game.

Butler finished the game with 13 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns; over the past four games Butler has caught 35 passes for 438 yards and seven touchdowns. Carr finished the game 35-of-52 for 422 yards and four touchdowns; he has 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions over his last two games. Carr ranks seventh nationally in passing yards/game (300.0) and in points responsible for (17.4/game). His 66 career touchdowns passes currently ranks third in OVC history while his 8,152 passing yards is fifth in OVC history. Ben Johnson had 13 tackles in the loss and continues to lead the OVC and rank fourth nationally in tackles/game (12.3).

Tennessee State holds a 14-7 advantage in the all-time series, although UTM has won four of the last six overall, including a five-point victory a season ago. In that game UT Martin held a 17-14 halftime advantage before TSU scored 14 unanswered points in the third quarter. Michael German threw for three touchdowns and Trabis Ward ran for 180 yards and two scores for the Tigers. The Skyhawks were led by Derek Carr who threw for 329 yards and four touchdowns.

Follow TSU Athletics on Facebook.com/TSUTigers, Twitter @TSU_Tigers and YouTube

Tennessee State Game Notes OVC Weekly Football Release

Coach Rod Reed Weekly Teleconference

 

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

TSU Begins Postseason Play Against Austin Peay

Photo courtesy of Sam Jordan / TSU Athletics

Nashville, Tennessee –After finishing the regular season with a 10-6 conference record, the Tennessee State volleyball team enters the OVC Tournament as the fifth overall seed.

The Tigers will play Austin Peay on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 3:30 p.m. Should the Tigers win, they will face the winner of the Morehead State (the host school) versus UT Martin game.

Last week, TSU split a pair of matches versus Belmont and SIUE.

During the week, Sophomore Rachel Ambroch recorded 24 kills over the two matches, including 16 versus the Cougars. She also had four service aces and five blocks against SIUE. Ambroch also added 23 digs last week. Ambroch currently sits at ninth in the conference with 2.84 kills per set.

Defensively, senior Britani Hathorn had a match-high 18 digs at Belmont and followed that with 25 versus SIUE. She also recorded a pair of service aces in the matches, adding to her conference-leading 0.36 aces per set.

TSU also ranks first in the OVC as a team, recording an average of 1.55 aces per set.

Junior setter Erika Moss had 36 assists in the match with Belmont before recording her fourth 50-plus assist match of the season with 52 versus SIUE. Moss has recorded 30 or more assists in every match since Sept. 22.

Meanwhile, Austin Peay (1715, 10-6 OVC) defeated Murray State and fell to Morehead State last week.

Junior Lauren Henderson led the Lady Govs with 12 kills and a .611 attack percentage against Morehead State. She also recorded a .600 hitting percentage against Murray State, finishing with 11 kills and four blocks.

Sophomore Cami Fields recorded 30-plus assists in both matches. She had 35 assists, 10 digs and three blocks against Murray State. She followed that up with 31 assists against Morehead State.

Nikki Doyle finished the regular-season with 422 kills while Jada Stotts had 407 kills becoming Austin Peay's first duo to finish with 400-plus kills in the same season since 1999.

Austin Peay currently leads the conference with a .226 hitting percentage.

TSU lost to Austin Peay earlier this season 1-3 (25-21, 15-25, 22-25, 25-27) on Oct. 27.

The Tigers will try to keep their season alive with a win against the Lady Govs. The match can be seen on the OVC Digital Network.


COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Xavier's Joseph selected GCAC Player of the Week

WANTO JOSEPH

NEW ORLEANS -- Xavier University of Louisiana's Wanto Joseph has been chosen Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week for Nov. 5-11.

It's the first time that Joseph -- a 5-foot-9 senior guard from New Orleans and a graduate of O. Perry Walker High School -- has won this award. Four Gold Rush players combined to win the GCAC's weekly award seven times in 2011-12.

Joseph averaged 15.5 points, four rebounds and 6.5 assists in two Gold Rush victories in the Big Easy Classic. Joseph had 16 points, four rebounds and five assists Friday in a 75-71 victory against Jarvis Christian, then he had 15 points, four rebounds and a season-high eight assists Saturday in a 78-70 victory against Tuskegee. Joseph made 12 free throws against Tuskegee -- the most in a game by a Gold Rush player since February 2009 -- and made all 10 of his attempts in the final four minutes.

Joseph leads the Gold Rush this season with 15.3 points and 6.3 assists per game and 23 made free throws.

Xavier (4-0), ranked 19th in NAIA Division I, will visit city rival Loyola tonight, then return home to play Wiley at 2 p.m. Saturday for homecoming at XU's new Convocation Center.


By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Franklin's career-high 18 helps XU Nuggets beat Spring Hill

SiMon Franklin

NEW ORLEANS -- Xavier University of Louisiana's SiMon Franklin scored 13 of her career-high 18 points in the second half Tuesday in a 61-50 women's basketball victory against Spring Hill at XU's new Convocation Center.

The Gold Nuggets (2-0), ranked 11th in NAIA Division I, have a 12-game home winning streak, including both their games this season.

Franklin, a senior guard, had four assists, four steals and a blocked shot in 27 minutes. Xavier led 27-23 at halftime, but five consecutive Franklin points gave the Nuggets a 42-30 lead with 13:52 remaining. Angelica Alexander's basket with 2:45 remaining gave Xavier its biggest lead, 61-43.

Danielle Tucker scored 11 points, nine in the first half, and Whitney Gaston-Loyd eight for Xavier. Paige Gauthier led the Nuggets with career-highs of eight rebounds and six steals.

Jamesha Watkins scored 12 points for Spring Hill (1-4), which dropped its fourth in a row. Thirteen Badgers scored, but no one else had more than seven. April Bradford grabbed nine rebounds.

Gaston-Loyd's basket at 14:53 of the first half put Xavier ahead to stay at 8-6.

Both teams shot 38 percent from the floor. Xavier outshot Spring Hill 46.9 to 36 percent in the second half. Xavier outrebounded Spring Hill 37-34. The Nuggets committed 21 turnovers and gained 31.

Xavier's next game will start at noon Saturday against NAIA No. 5 Westminster (Utah) at the Convocation Center. It will be the first of three consecutive Xavier games against ranked opponents.

Box score

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA