Odums goes from interim to head coach at Southern

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  -  When he arrived at Southern in the spring of 2011 to coach Stump Mitchell’s defensive line, Dawson Odums couldn’t have imagined becoming the face of the program less than two years later.

Yet there he was Tuesday morning, being introduced as Mitchell’s permanent replacement before a room of media and fans on the Southern University campus.

“I believe that God had a purpose for me,” Odums said. “He’s fulfilling it right now.”

Odums served as Southern’s interim head coach this past fall after Mitchell was fired two games into a 4-7 season. He had to wait out a three-week coaching search before learning he’d have the job full time.

After narrowing the search to Odums, Nevada assistant James Spady and Bethune-Cookman coach Brian Jenkins, Southern Athletic Director William Broussard recommended Odums to the SU System Board of Supervisors late last week.

Bethune announced Thursday it had agreed with Jenkins on a contract extension.

“Throughout the process, which was a national search and was transparent and robust in nature, we assembled a selection committee that looked for a number of different factors,” Broussard said. “At every level of the application process all the way down to the final interview, (Odums) showed quite clearly that he had all the necessary attributes to be successful.”

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MVSU’s been on a devilish road trip

Mississippi Valley State visits Carver Arena for its 7th straight road game

PEORIA, Illinois — Eighteen days after the nation’s No. 3-ranked men’s basketball team, Michigan, arrived at Carver Arena to play Bradley, the nation’s No. 1-ranked team — in RPI schedule strength at least — is coming to town.

Mississippi Valley State has played a murderers’ row in its first six games — at Mississippi, at Cincinnati, at Northwestern, at LSU, at Virginia and at Virginia Tech.

The Delta Devils, who return just one rostered player, sophomore forward Blake Ralling, from last year’s NCAA tournament qualifier as SWAC champion, have lost all their games this season convincingly. The closest was an 81-68 defeat at Northwestern.

Next for them is a Wednesday date with Bradley (7:05 p.m., Carver Arena), part of the four-game Las Vegas Classic that will resume this weekend in Nevada.

“If we played that schedule, I don’t know how many of the six we would have won,” said BU coach Geno Ford. “This is a team coming in here with nine days off that’s played nothing but high-end competition. So they’re not going to come in here scared or intimidated. They won’t be in awe of our team.

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Southern women score first win

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  It took 10 games into the season, but the Southern women’s basketball team finally chalked up its first win of the 2012-13 campaign, and in about as dramatic a fashion as possible.

Southern held the lead from the start, scoring on its first possession of the contest and maintained that lead until there were just 39 seconds left in the game. That’s when Southeastern Louisiana’s Brandi Simmons dropped in layup for the Lions’ first advantage of the contest.

But unlike previous games, Southern responded by driving down the court, using its last timeout to draw up a play and executing with a baseline floater from junior guard Kendra Coleman that gave Southern a one-point lead and eventual three-point win against SLU 59-56 on Monday night at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

“I think one of the things we did that was positive was we closed the game out,” Southern coach Sandy Pugh said. “Usually when we struggle, we fold. Against Marshall we led, against Southern Illinois we led, but when they press, we folded. I think this time around, the seniors stepped up. That’s what has to happen.”

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Percy Woods of Washington, D.C., Wins Two CIAA Basketball Awards

PERCY WOODS

RALEIGH, N.C.  --  Guard Percy Woods (Sr./Washington, D.C.) of Saint Augustine's University was so hot offensively last week that he won two CIAA basketball awards on Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. He was named the league's player of the week and newcomer of the week.

Woods averaged 20.3 points in leading the Falcons to a 2-1 mark last week. He led the team in scoring while shooting 64 percent from the floor (21-for-33), 80 percent behind the three-point line (8-for-10) and 73 percent from the free throw line (11-for-15).

A 5-10 transfer from the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Woods was at his best late in games. He scored a career-high 30 points against Carver College on Dec. 11 including the last 10 points for the Falcons in an 86-84 win. Woods scored seven points during a decisive 10-6 run in a 73-69 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic University on Dec. 15. His 19 points led both teams in a 75-61 loss to Lynn University on Dec. 14.

Woods is second on the team with a 14.9 scoring average. He leads the CIAA in three-point field goal percentage (60.7).


COURTESY SAINT AUGUSTINE'S UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Howard scores 32 as Jackson State Holds Off Seattle for First Win

SEATTLE, Washington  --  Kelsey Howard scored 32 points and Dundrecous Nelson added 23 points to help Jackson State to its first win of the season, a 91-82 victory on the road at KeyArena against Seattle Monday.

Howard hit 12 of 19 field goals and six of 10 three-pointers for the Tigers (1-8). Nelson made 9 of 14 free throws.

As a team, JSU made 44.8 percent of its field goals, hitting 30 of 67 tries, enough to overcome a lackluster effort from the free-throw line (22-of-37). The Tigers also had 17 steals but were outrebounded 53-37.

The hot shooting helped Jackson State overcome a 37-35 halftime deficit to the Redhawks (3-5).

Raymond Gregory's layup tied the game 41-all two minutes into the second half. The Tigers took the lead for good, 46-44, when Sydney Coleman banked it in off the glass.

Seattle, led by Sterling Carter's 20 points and 11 points each from Chad Rasmussen and Luiz Bidart, cut their deficit to one point several times, the last being 67-66 with 7:46 to play on a three-pointer from Carter.

 

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Jackson State beats Redhawks for first win, 91-82

SEATTLE, Washington  --  There were plenty of head-shaking stats from Seattle University's men's basketball loss to previous winless Jackson State on Monday.
 

One jumped off the page: 28 Seattle turnovers.

The giveaways were a season worst for the Redhawks, who were trying to rebound from a disappointing loss to Washington last week. Instead, they trailed the final 17 minutes of a 91-82 defeat before a season-low crowd of 1,907 at KeyArena.

In a woeful second half, Seattle made only 5 of 12 free throws, including five straight misses.

"The wheels fell off, and we never able to get it back going," said Redhawks coach Cameron Dollar, whose team has lost four of its last five.

"We had a couple times where we looked like we were going to be able to get back in it and get something going, but then they hit a big three or got a big free throw. We just couldn't plug enough holes to get it done."


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FAMU considers MEAC-SWAC Challenge game

Derek Horne
Florida A&M Athletic Director

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  It’s no secret that football is the breadwinner in collegiate athletics and FAMU will be looking to cash in during the next two seasons when the Rattlers could play up to 12 games.

FAMU athletic director Derek Horne said he’s attempting to put together a slate of games that will maximize the opportunity to generate extra revenue – at least for the upcoming season. That might even mean revisiting the school’s decision not to participate in the MEAC-SWAC Challenge, Horne said.

“We are open to those discussions as it relates to participating in that game,” Horne said. “In the past there have been some discussions about FAMU not participating in it but I think it’s something that can help us benefit the conference. Also, from a financial (standpoint) it will benefit us as well. That’s something that will remain an option for future games.”

The Challenge is a classic-like matchup that annually opens the season for both conferences. The made-for-television game is staged as part of a deal between the conferences and ESPN and is played during the first weekend of September.

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Ram Ramblings: With football over it's time to talk a little basketball

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  I had a chance to catch up with Coach Bobby Collins this morning as he and his WSSU basketball team were riding the steel horse to Richmond, Va. for their game on Tuesday night. The steal horse, better known as a bus, was taking the Rams to Virginia Union.

Collins says he and Lugman Jabber, the coach at Virginia Union, decided to move the conference game to before the Christmas break.

“This way we wouldn’t have so many games early in January,” Collins said. “We thought it would be beneficial to us and Virginia Union was OK with that.”

The Rams are 7-2 and hardly anybody has noticed because of all the hoopla surrounding the football’s team remarkable season. The football team’s season finally ended on Saturday afternoon in a 35-7 loss to Valdosta State in the D-II championship game.

Later that Saturday night at the Gaines Center in front of just 278 of the Rams closest friends and family had a very big win over Anderson (S.C.) What made it more impressive was Anderson had just beaten College of Charleston.



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