Lincoln routs Bloomsburg to move to 4-1

LOWER OXFORD, Pennsylvania  --   Don’t look now, but the Lincoln men are off to their best start in nearly two decades of basketball.  

And the Lions’ latest victim, Bloomsburg, came to Manuel Rivero Gymnasium on Wednesday for an intriguing non-conference clash only to exit on the short end of an 81-67 blowout. Lincoln is off to a 4-1 start, and the lone setback came to St. Leo, a top-10 team in Division II. 

The list of impressive victories features a season opening shocker against Division I Howard, but the win over the Huskies certainly stacks up as a quality win. Bloomsburg (2-2) was picked in the preseason coach’s poll to finish third in the eight-team PSAC East.

“(Bloomsburg) is a quality team,” said LU head coach John Hill. “And I’d like to think we are heading in that direction.”

The first meeting between these two in a quarter century played out quite differently than the last, when Bloomsburg blasted the Lions 133-70 back in 1987. This time around, however, Lincoln was quicker, more athletic and exhibited much more depth. The Lions forced 20 turnovers, turned them into 28 points, and had a 23-5 edge in off-the-bench scoring.

 

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Nuggets' Gaston-Loyd chosen GCAC Player of the Week

Whitney Gaston-Loyd

NEW ORLEANS — Whitney Gaston-Loyd, Xavier University of Louisiana's leading scorer during a 3-0 week which included back-to-back victories against ranked teams, has been chosen Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week in women's basketball for Nov. 19-25.

Gaston-Loyd, a 6-foot junior center from Shreveport, La., and a graduate of Southwood High School, won the award after averaging 10.7 points and shooting 60.9 percent from the floor. Her basket with 6.3 seconds remaining Nov. 19 gave Xavier a 46-45 victory against NAIA No. 19 LSU-Shreveport. Her basket with 14:24 remaining Thursday put Xavier ahead to stay and started an 11-2 run which carried the Gold Nuggets to a 46-38 victory against NAIA No. 14 Langston in the Xavier Classic.

The following day she played just nine minutes in an 84-39 victory against Texas College but made 5-of-5 from the floor to share team scoring honors. For the week she scored 32 points in 56 minutes. The victories against LSUS and Langston marked the first time in Bo Browder's 14 seasons as head coach that the Gold Nuggets defeated ranked teams in consecutive regular-season games.
Through seven games, Gaston-Loyd is averaging 8.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 18 minutes and is shooting 52.1 percent from the floor and 63.6 percent from the line. She leads the Gold Nuggets in field-goal accuracy and is tied for second in scoring. Gaston-Loyd is in her first season at Xavier after playing for NCAA Division I member Arkansas-Little Rock the past two seasons.

Xavier, 6-1 and ranked 11th in NAIA Division I, will play city rival Loyola next Wednesday (Dec. 5) at 5:30 p.m. at XU's new Convocation Center. It will be a doubleheader that day, with the Xavier and Loyola men meeting at 7:30.


Ed Cassiere, SID
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
XULAATHLETICS

Simmons, Gold Rush extend their streaks, hold off Rams

NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Simmons recorded his third consecutive double-double, 17 points and 12 rebounds, to lead NAIA No. 19 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 69-66 men's basketball victory Tuesday against Mobile at the Convocation Center.

The victory was a third in a row for the Gold Rush (9-1).

Wanto Joseph had 14 points and a season-high-tying eight assists for Xavier, and Denzell Erves had 11 points and a career-high-tying four blocked shots. Joseph and Erves have scored in double figures in every game this season.

Kwame Beard made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points for Mobile (4-2). Chris Richardson scored 14 points, and Dominick Brumfield had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Mobile never caught Xavier after Simmons scored the first two points. The Gold Rush led 35-29 at halftime an extended the lead to 48-38 before the Rams closed the margin to 60-59 with 2:40 remaining.

A Xavier turnover in the final 10 seconds gave Mobile a chance to force overtime, but Chris Richardson missed a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining, and Xavier's Gary Smith rebounded.

Xavier committed a season-low nine turnovers and outshot the Rams 49 to 44.2 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 33-27. Mobile dominated on the perimeter, making 11-of-24 3-pointers to Xavier's 0-of-8. But the Gold Rush outscored the Rams 19-9 on free throws.

Xavier has won 30 of its past 32 non-conference home games and 49-of-52. It's the sixth time in Dannton Jackson's 10 seasons as head coach that the Gold Rush started 9-1 or better.

Xavier's next game will start at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 against city rival Loyola at the Convocation Center. It will be the final Gold Rush home game of the fall semester.

Box score

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Gold Nuggets beat Mobile for 4th consecutive victory

NEW ORLEANS -- Simon Franklin scored 15 points Tuesday to lead NAIA No. 11 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 58-53 women's basketball victory against Mobile at the Convocation Center.

The Gold Nuggets (6-1), who have a four-game win streak, led for the final 33 minutes.

Franklin also had four assists and five steals. She scored nine points in the second half.

Danielle Tucker and Paige Gauthier scored nine points apiece for Xavier, and Carmen Holcombe grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds. Gauthier made both her 3-point attempts.

Shontae Dillon scored 16 points and Briana Edwards 13 for Mobile (3-5), which dropped its third in a row.

Franklin, Gauthier, Tucker and Andraquay Quinnine scored six points apiece to lead the Gold Nuggets to a 33-30 halftime lead. Gauthier's basket with 12:45 remaining gave Xavier its biggest lead, 46-34.

Mobile outshot Xavier 48.9 to 36.8 percent from the floor -- the sixth consecutive game the Nuggets shot less than 40 percent -- but the Nuggets had advantages of 41-21 in rebounds and 28-6 in bench points.

Xavier has won 46 of its past 49 home games, including 6-of-7 this season in its new home facility.

Xavier's next game will start at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 5 against city rival Loyola at the Convocation Center. It will be the Nuggets' final home game of the fall semester.

Box score

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
XULAATHLETICS

XU's Erves wins his 4th GCAC Player of the Week award

DENZELL ERVES

NEW ORLEANS — For the first time this season and the fourth time in his career, Xavier University of Louisiana's Denzell Erves has been chosen Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week.

Erves, a 6-foot-7 senior forward from Vicksburg, Miss., and a graduate of Vicksburg High School, won the award for Nov. 19-25 after averaging 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds and shooting 71.4 percent from the floor and 76.9 percent from the line in three games. He produced double-doubles against William Carey and Concordia (Ala.), giving him six in 10 games this season.

 Erves scored a season-high 21 points Saturday (8-of-9 field goals) in a victory against Wiley at the Memphis (Tenn.) HBCU Classic. Xavier was 2-0 in that event and earned back-to-back victories on a neutral court for the first time since November 2004.

Erves won the GCAC player award three times in 2011-12. He is the Gold Rush's second honoree this season — senior guard Wanto Joseph earned the honor for Nov. 5-11.

Through 10 games, Erves is averaging 14.5 points, nine rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots and is shooting 53.5 percent from the floor and 72.5 percent from the line. He ranks 10th in NAIA Division I in rebounds per game and 12th in blocks per game.
    
Xavier, 9-1 and ranked 19th in NAIA Division I, will play city rival Loyola next Wednesday (Dec. 5) at 7:30 p.m. at XU's new Convocation Center.


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

Ram Ramblings: Massey will likely play key role on Saturday

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --   It was easy to spot the break-out player this past Saturday when the Rams routed Shippensburg at Bowman Gray Stadium.

Jameze Massey, a senior wide receiver who needs just five more yards to reach 1,000 this season, had one of his best games of his career. Massey, who is only 5-8 and about 170 pounds, is deceptively fast.

“He brings excitement and he’s elusive when he has the football in his hands,” Coach Connell Maynor said. “And it’s my job to get him the ball and if I don’t get him the ball I’m a stupid coach or I’d probably get fired. So that’s what I’m trying to do is get him the ball whenever we can.”

Maynor says that Massey, who also returns punts and kickoffs, usually makes things happen when he gets the ball.

“People probably don’t realize how fast he is until he’s going around the corner on them,” Maynor said. “And all they see is the bottom of his shoes and he’s a tremendous athlete and I’m glad he plays for me.”

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TSU Men's Basketball Runs Over Fisk, 92-53

NASHVILLE, Tennessee  --  The Tennessee State men's basketball team (2-5) had its best shooting performance since Feb. 19, 2011 en route to a 92-53 win over Fisk on Monday night.
 

TSU shot 57.1 percent (32-56) from the field and 31.6 percent (6-19) from beyond the arc during the contest while limiting the Bulldogs to just a 29 percent line (18-62).

It was a big night for TSU's post players, especially seniors Robert Covington and Kellen Thornton.

Covington had a season-high 29 points and 14 points while Thornton chipped in with 22 points of his own. The duo combined to shoot 21-27 from the field and helped the Tigers edge the Bulldogs 45-28 on the glass.

Rashad Williams led Fisk with 15 points, but the forward was limited in the second half due to foul trouble.

The Tigers got the first possession of the game and then Covington went to work. He first tipped in a shot by Thornton and then dunked the ball off of a steal from the inbound pass. The sudden surge prompted a timeout from Fisk with only 30 seconds gone off of the clock.

After another Covington basket at the 19:04 mark, the Tigers ran down the court and found Covington wide open beyond the arc. He nailed that shot and another three to help TSU start the game on a 17-0 run.

With 15:11 left in the opening half, Chaed Wellian had his first points in a TSU uniform with a jumper. The shot made the score 19-2 with Big Blue on top.

The Tigers continued their charge later in the period and led 29-13 on another tip-in from Covington. Through the first 13 minutes of the game, Covington had 18 of TSU's 29 points and eight of the team's 14 boards.

TSU finished the half on a 10-2 run that spanned over six minutes and included baskets by five different Tigers. Jordan Cyphers canned his second three-pointer of the period to lead the TSU offense.

Tennessee State had 22 points in the paint during the opening frame and held a 27-16 advantage on the boards.

Thornton got the team started in the second half with a strong one-handed dunk within the first minute of action, and the Tigers never looked back on the way to an 11-2 opening run.

At the 16 minute mark, Thornton stole the ball around the top of the key and he ran the floor by himself for a highlight reel break-away slam. The rim rocker made the score 51-24 in favor of the home side.

The Tigers extended their lead to 41 with just under four minutes left to go in the game when Wellian canned his first career three-pointer.

Tennessee State got 29 points from its bench and won its most lopsided game since the first game of the 1998-99 season when the Tigers beat Fisk 97-52.

TSU will next travel to Alabama A&M on Saturday, Dec. 1 for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION