Prairie View A&M Tops Navy at the Buzzer, 42-40

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas -- Prairie View A&M's Carl Blair made a driving layup with no time left to hand the Navy men's basketball a 42-40 setback in the opening round of the South Padre Island Invitational on Friday afternoon.

The loss sends Navy into Saturday's consolation game against Delaware State, starting at 11:45 AM (ET) / 10:45 AM (CT). Navy falls to 2-4 overall, while the Panthers, who are picked to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) title, improve to 3-4 overall.

Navy has now lost two straight games by two points and three of its four losses have come by five points or less.

"We had the exact same scenario as we had the other night against TCU. You have to make one more play," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis. "You can't go 3-of-8 from the free throw line and miss front ends of two one-and-ones. Every time we had a chance to stop the bleeding, we would miss a free throw. You can't let a guy dribble 90 feet for a lay-up to win the game. Those are winning plays you have to make. It's very disappointing, but you have to make basketball plays. Every play matters."

Navy surged out to a 24-12 lead right before halftime, before the Panthers connected on their only three-pointer of the first half to cut the lead to 24-15 at the break.

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THE SHOW: NCCU Sound Machine vs. NCA&T Blue & Gold Marching Machine

FCS First Round: Bethune seeks win for MEAC vs. Coastal Carolina

FCS Playoff First Round Saturday, Nov. 24 Coastal Carolina (7-4) at No. 22 Bethune-Cookman (9-2) Date & Time: Saturday, Nov. 24, 2 p.m. ET   Facts & Stats: Site: Larry Kelly Field at Municipal Stadium (10,000) -- Daytona Beach, Fla. Surface: FieldTurf. Television: ESPN3.com. Home Record: Coastal Carolina 3-2; Bethune-Cookman 3-1. Away Record: Coastal Carolina 4-2; Bethune-Cookman 4-1. Neutral Record: Coastal Carolina 0-0; Bethune-Cookman 2-0. Series Record: First Meeting. Conference: Coastal Carolina - Big South; Bethune-Cookman - Mid-Eastern Athletic. Nicknames: Coastal Carolina Chanticleers; Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. Head Coaches: Coastal Carolina - Joe Moglia (7-4 at Coastal Carolina and overall); Bethune-Cookman - Brian Jenkins (27-7 at Bethune-Cookman and overall). Playoff Records: Coastal Carolina (0-2); Bethune Cookman (0-3). Previous FCS Playoff Appearances: Coastal Carolina 2 (2006, 10); Bethune-Cookman 3 (2002-03, 10). Sports Network Ranking: Coastal Carolina (NR); Bethune-Cookman (22).   
Game Notes: Despite critics who say there should only be one team from the Big South Conference in the playoffs, if you look at Coastal Carolina's resume, the competition faced has been pretty solid. The Chanticleers' only losses this season came against Eastern Kentucky (8-3), FBS member Toledo (8-3) and two teams also in the playoffs, Appalachian State (8-3) and Stony Brook (9-2).

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Big Blues take on Lander in Currence Classic

BIG BLUE

BLUEFIELD, West Virginia — Bluefield State’s Big Blues basketball team kicks off its home season tonight, taking on Lander University in the nightcap of the Currence Classic at Ned Shott Gymnasium.

Bluefield State is coming off an 89-62 WVIAC loss to Pitt-Johnstown, Tuesday night in its season opener. Antoine Bryant led the Big Blues with 12 points and three assists, while Vincent Rogers came off the bench to drop in 11 points. Samuel Ouedraogo led BSC with six rebounds.

Lander is located in Greenwood, S.C. The Bearcats enter the Classic with a 2-0 record, having defeated Allen and Mars Hill. Lander lost exhibitions against Athletes in Action and Clemson.

BSC head coach Jamaal Jackson knows that the Bearcats will be a tough opponent for the Big Blues.

“They’re from the Peach Belt Conference, a very tough conference,” Jackson noted. “They won 20-plus games last year and one of their players, the two guard, Pruett, averaged 29 points a game last week.”

David Pruett a 6’3” wing was named Peach Belt Player of the Week for his performances in which he scored 32 points against Allen and 28 against Mars Hill. He is Lander’s leading scorer this season.

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Gold Nuggets defeat No. 14 Langston in Xavier Classic

NEW ORLEANS -- Whitney Gaston-Loyd's basket with 14:24 remaining Thursday put Xavier University of Louisiana ahead to stay and started a run which carried the Gold Nuggets to a 46-38 women's basketball victory against Langston in the Xavier Classic at the Convocation Center.

Wiley defeated Tuskegee 88-62, and Texas College beat Dillard 71-63 in Thursday's other games.

Loyd's basket provided Xavier's first points of the half, gave the Nuggets a 28-26 lead and started an 11-2 run. Danielle Tucker scored four points, and Talor Hixon and SiMon Franklin had two assists each during the burst.

It was the second consecutive victory against a ranked NAIA Division I team for Xavier (4-1), which is 11th. Langston (0-4) is No. 14. Xavier has won 44 of its past 47 home games, including 4-of-5 in its first-year home facility.

Gaston-Loyd scored nine points and Tucker eight for Xavier. Amber Coleman scored 12 points for Langston, which never got closer than five points in the final four minutes. Langston's Reyven Osborne grabbed eight rebounds. Tayla Vaughn had six points, seven rebounds and six steals for the Lionesses but also committed nine turnovers.

Tucker also had five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and four steals. Her basket with 9:19 remaining gave Xavier a 37-28 advantage, its largest of the game.

Nine XU players scored to help the Nuggets take a 26-21 halftime lead.

Xavier outshot Langston 33.3 to 28.9 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Lionesses 40-32. Xavier committed 29 turnovers -- 16 in the second half -- but gained 32. Langston shot 20 percent from the floor in the second half after shooting 46.2 percent in the first.

Xavier will play Texas College at 2:30 p.m. Friday. Langston will play Tuskegee at 11 a.m., and Dillard will play Wiley at 6 p.m. Also Friday will be two girls high school games: Terrebonne vs. Helen Cox at 1 p.m. and Warren Easton vs. University at 4:30 p.m.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Odums, Williams need Bayou Classic victory

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana  --  Dawson Odums and Doug Williams chowed down on shrimp and oyster po-boys in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome Tuesday looking like a couple of men who didn’t know where their next meal was coming from.

Which, in Odums’ case is actually true, because the Southern interim coach’s future might be riding on the result of Saturday’s Bayou Classic, if it hasn’t already been decided.



Odums could even joke at Tuesday’s press conference promoting the event — saying that the thing he was most nervous about was driving SU Athletic Director William Broussard back to Baton Rouge safely.

Williams presumably has more job security.

But the second year of his second stint as Grambling’s coach has been a 1-9 nightmare, and according to Williams, at least one prominent alumnus is very restless: himself.

“People forget that I’m an alumnus, too,” he said. “This has been a tough year, one that nobody at Grambling is used to.

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Southern QB Dray Joseph gets his chance to shine in Bayou Classic

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana  --  Dray Joseph gets it.

He is a native of Edgard, a small town on the Mississippi River, less than an hour from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

He is a junior at Southern University, now the etched-in-stone starting quarterback after two seasons of flip-flopping roles and inconsistent play.

Bayou Classic

WHO: Southern vs. Grambling

WHEN: 1:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Mercedes-Benz
Superdome, New Orleans

TV: NBC

RADIO: WYNK-HD2-FM, 97.7

His dad, Greg, attended Grambling. When Dray Joseph was a kid, they went to the Bayou Classic together.

Sure, the game’s not what it used to be. Joseph knows that. He has seen the dwindling crowds and lived through three rotten seasons with the Jaguars, who take a 3-7 record into Saturday’s showdown against archrival Grambling (1-9).

Judging by the records, this is the worst Bayou Classic matchup since the game began in 1974.

But Joseph gets it. It’s still the Bayou Classic, and Southern hasn’t won it since 2007.

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