Tennessee State Bests EIU for First OVC Win

NASHVILLE, Tennessee   –   Patrick Miller had a career-high 28 points and the Tennessee State men’s basketball team hung on to defeat Eastern Illinois, 67-59, in the squad’s first Ohio Valley Conference game of the season.

Miller made his first four shots of the game and finished a perfect 11-of-11 from the charity stripe.

Kellen Thornton and Jordan Cyphers also finished in double-figures for Tennessee State (7-7, 1-0 OVC) with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Cyphers, Miller and Thornton combined for 80 percent of TSU’s 40 shots.

Thornton also had a game-high 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.

EIU won the opening tip, but TSU started the game on a 6-0 run that was sparked by a pair of buckets from Thornton. The Panthers answered with a three, but Cyphers returned the favor at the 17:53 mark to put the Tigers up, 9-3.

Cyphers hit another jumper from downtown with under eight minutes to go in the half and then canned his third of the game on TSU’s following possession. The offensive flurry put the Tigers in the lead, 24-10, and forced Eastern Illinois (3-11, 0-1 OVC) to use its first timeout of the half.

Cyphers went into the locker room with a half-high 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting. All of his attempts were from beyond the arc.

TSU maintained its double-digit lead for the remainder of the period and went into halftime sporting a 32-19 lead. Eastern Illinois’ 19 first half points were the least by any Tennessee State opponent this season.

The Tigers shot 52.4 percent during the opening stanza, but it was TSU’s defense that allowed the home team to take such a large lead. Big Blue only allowed EIU to shoot 26.1 percent in half one and the Panthers only pulled down one offensive board.

TSU picked up where it left off after halftime and a coast-to-coast layup by M.J. Rhett with 16:30 left in the game gave his squad a 19-point lead- its biggest of the contest.

However for the next eight minutes, the Panthers mounted a comeback that included a 6-0 run to put EIU within 10. Miller finally stopped the bleeding with a jumper, making the score 49-37.

Later, a three pointer by EIU’s Taylor Jones trimmed the Tiger lead to six with fewer than four minutes remaining in the game.

Cyphers finally put the nail in the coffin with his only three of the second half at the 2:23 mark, making the score 59-49. EIU tried to claw back into the game, and even got within four, but TSU hung on for a 67-59 win.

TSU was outscored 35-40 during the second half, but Miller’s 20 points in period two allowed the Tigers to move to .500.

TSU will next travel to Tennessee Tech on Jan. 3 for the team’s second conference game of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Note: Robert Covington missed his second consecutive game with an injury to his right knee. The diagnosis is officially a tear to his meniscus, which will cause him to miss 4-6 weeks. The last time that Covington did not start consecutive games was Nov. 30, 2009.

 

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Carter's basket gives Faulkner 66-64 victory over Nuggets

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Brittney Carter's basket with four seconds remaining Saturday lifted Faulkner to a 66-64 victory over Xavier University of Louisiana in a matchup of ranked NAIA Division I women's basketball teams in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Huntingdon College's Roland Arema.

Carter, a 6-foot-3 senior and an honorable-mention NAIA All-American a year ago, finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds -- her 10th double-double of the season -- to help the Lady Eagles (13-3) snap the seven-game win streak of the Gold Nuggets (9-2). Faulkner is ranked 24th, and Xavier is ranked ninth.

Xavier's SiMon Franklin, whose 3-pointer tied the score at 64 with 22 seconds remaining, missed a 2-pointer on the final possession. Franklin finished with career highs of 25 points -- 16 in the first half -- and nine rebounds.

Faulkner had three 10-point leads in the first half and a 33-28 advantage at halftime, but the Nuggets opened the second half with a 21-4 run. Paige Rochelle's basket with 12:36 remaining gave Xavier its biggest lead, 49-37.

Franklin's two free throws gave Xavier a 56-51 lead with 4:19 remaining, but the Nuggets failed to capitalize on two ensuing defensive stops. Shannon Evans' 3-pointer at 3:21 started a 9-0 run for Faulkner, which scored on its final seven possessions. Xavier led for approximately 14 minutes of the second half but lost its lead for good at 2:27 when Carter's two free throws tied the score at 56. Nyla Johnson's two free throws at 1:45 -- her first points of the game -- gave Faulkner a 58-56 lead.

Paige Gauthier scored a season-high-tying 12 points for Xavier, and Whitney Gaston-Loyd had 11. Christina Hayes scored 13 points for Faulkner.

Faulkner outshot the Nuggets 41.2 to 37.5 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 41-31. Xavier made a season-best 14 free throws in 16 attempts, but Faulkner made 19-of-22. Xavier committed 15 turnovers and gained 26. Franklin and freshman teammate Emoni Harvey each had three steals.

It was the first meeting between the teams. Faulkner is in its fourth season of women's basketball. Faulkner denied Xavier its third victory of the season against a ranked opponent. The Nuggets' other loss was at home to No. 5 Westminster (Utah) on Nov. 17.

Xavier will play NAIA No. 12 Bethel (Tenn.) at 2 p.m. Wednesday in XU's new Convocation Center, then travel to Jacksonville, Fla., for its Gulf Coast Athletic Conference opener at 3 p.m. EST next Saturday at Edward Waters. The Nuggets are the defending GCAC regular-season and tournament champion.

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

Gold Nuggets' second-half rally knocks out Belhaven

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Xavier University of Louisiana's women's basketball team used a second-half run Friday to rally past Belhaven 63-47 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Huntingdon College's Roland Arena.

Andraquay Quinnine scored 12 points and SiMon Franklin 10 for the Gold Nuggets (9-1), ranked ninth in NAIA Division I. It was Xavier's seventh consecutive victory and its third in a row by double digits.

Belhaven (5-7) held its biggest lead, 38-29, after Alisha Rayborn's layup with 15:55 remaining. But Xavier gained 14 turnovers while outscoring the Blazers 30-4 during the next 13½ minutes. Reserve freshman guard Emoni Harvey scored all seven of her points during the burst, including a jump shot in the paint with 9:13 remaining to put the Nuggets ahead to stay, 42-40.

Eight Nuggets scored during the run, with Quinnine and Danielle Tucker each getting six points.

Ashley Wakefield, with 15 points, was Belhaven's lone double-figure scorer. Sarah Carr made 3-of-4 3-pointers, and Wakefield scored eight points to lead the Blazers to a 27-23 halftime advantage. But Carr was scoreless in 19 second-half minutes.

Belhaven outshot Xavier 40.5 to 39.1 percent from the floor, but the Nuggets outshot the Blazers 50 to 43.8 percent in the second half. Xavier had a 40-32 rebound advantage and was plus-11 in turnovers, gaining 25 and committing 14 to match a season low. The Nuggets made six free throws -- their second fewest of the season -- in 10 attempts, and Belhaven was 10-of-21.

It was the first time this season that Quinnine and Franklin produced double-figure points in consecutive games. It was Xavier's first game since a 62-42 victory at William Carey two weeks ago.

Ed Cassiere, SID

Xavier, which entered the event leading NAIA D-I in scoring defense, allowed less than 50 points for the third consecutive game and the seventh time this season. It was the first time this season that the Nuggets won after trailing at halftime.

The Nuggets matched their second-best 10-game start of the Title IX era. Xavier was 10-0 in 1980-81 and 9-1 in 2010-11 and 2004-05.

Xavier will play NAIA No. 24 Faulkner in the final game of this event at 9 p.m. Saturday.

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

Texas A&M Defeats Prairie View A&M 74-52 in Return to Reed Arena

COLLEGE STATION, Texas  --  Texas A&M used strong team offense to prevail over Prairie View A&M on Friday night at Reed Arena by a score of 74-52 in front of 4,915 fans. Texas A&M improves to 9-4 with the victory while Prairie View A&M fell to 3-7 with the loss.

Reigning SEC Player of the Week, espnw.com National Player of the Week and Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week Kelsey Bone continued her strong play with her sixth straight game of double figure scoring with 18 points, Bone has raised her season average in points in each game during the stretch. Over the last three weeks Bone is averaging 23.8 points and 9.5 rebounds, Bone was just shy of yet another double-double with nine rebounds on the night. In addition to scoring and rebounding the basketball Bone dished out six assists on the night.

"Kelsey enjoys the pass as much as the shot," Head Coach Gary Blair said after the game. "This is the first time we've ever had a national player of the week. I hope that will give our team and her some good national attention. She's playing like an All-American right now."

The Aggie offense jumped out to an early 10-6 lead at first media timeout, Kristi Bellock (6) and Bone (4) combined for all 10 of A&M's points. Beginning at the 17:05 mark in the first half the Aggies went on a 11-0 run over 2:16 of game play capped off by an old-fashioned three point play from Tori Scott to make the score 17-6.

The Maroon and White began the game on an impressive run of nine assists on the first nine made field goals in the game, en route to 24 Aggie points. The assist streak came to an end with a Karla Gilbert offensive rebound and put-back to make the score 26-10 with 7:46 remaining in the first half.

The Aggie offense continued to share the ball throughout the game as the Aggies ended with 23 assists on the night, just one off the season high of 24 set against Old Dominion eight days ago. Texas A&M has had at least 19 assists in each of the last four games and is averaging an impressive 22.3 assists per game in that stretch.

The home team used an early 6-2 run in the second half to stretch the Aggie lead out to a then game high 23 points with 17:25 remaining. Senior Adrienne Pratcher ignited the run with a nifty step-back jumper, Pratcher ended the game with four points and seven assists to lead the team.

Later in the second half the Aggies put the game out of reach with an impressive 16-4 run to give Texas A&M a game-high 32 point lead. In the run Texas A&M post players combined for 12 of the Aggie points, Freshman Courtney Walker made two jumpers for the remaining four points on the run.

Bellock had an efficient night scoring 14 points and pulling down eight rebounds in 25 minutes of play. Joining Bone and Bellock in double figures scoring were Walker and Gilbert with 11 points apiece. Texas A&M forced 13 Panther turnovers leading to 25 points and out-rebounded Prairie View 38-21, limiting the Panthers to only four offensive rebounds.

The Aggies will return to Reed Arena for a New Year's Day contest against Rice at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday's game will continue the half-price holiday hoops promotion.


 COURTESY TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Jackson State's Comegy is shopping for a new job

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Less than one month after leading Jackson State to the SWAC championship game, football coach Rick Comegy is shopping for a new job.

According to The Tallahassee Democrat, Comegy applied for the coaching vacancy at Florida A&M, an opening FAMU athletic director Derek Horne says he wants to fill by Jan. 12.

Comegy, who has coached JSU for seven seasons, recently expressed his desire to remain with the school — even though he appears set to enter the 2013 season with just one year left on his contract.
“I’d love to be here,” Comegy said earlier this month. “I haven’t had any talks about an extension or anything like that. I think that’s up to the president and the (athletic director) and what they want to do with Rick Comegy.”

Comegy received a two-year contract extension in 2011, with a 3 percent raise to $191,580 per year. He has a $50,000 buyout clause.

Comegy’s contract also called for improvement in the football team’s Academic Progress Rate score, a sore subject for a program that had scored below the then NCAA-mandated benchmark of 900 for three straight years. Low scores led to JSU receiving a postseason ban in 2011 and a second ban was imminent until the NCAA approved a rule change allowing low-resource schools a longer window to meet the 930 mark.

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Texas A&M Welcomes Prairie View A&M to Reed

COLLEGE STATION, Texas  --  No. 22 Texas A&M will return to Reed Arena after a 3-1 road trip including a trip to the championship game of the World Vision Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. The meeting on Friday will be the 17th all-time between the schools separated by only 50 miles, the Aggies lead the series 14-2.

Friday will be three years to the day that the two teams met on the hardwood, on that date No. 10 Texas A&M won 81-64 behind a strong performance by Danielle Adams off the bench with 19 points, Tanisha Smith added 17 in the winning effort. Two other Aggies scored in double figures with Tyra White adding 11 and Kelsey Assarian finished with 10 points on the night.

On the season the Aggies are led in scoring and rebounding by Kelsey Bone at 17.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Bone won many accolades for her performance in the World Vision Classic including SEC Player of the Week, ESPNW.com National Player of the Week and was named the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week by the US Basketball Writers Association. In Las Vegas Bone averaged 27.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game including a new career high in points of 33 against Old Dominion.

Prairie View is coming off a difficult loss to Toledo in the championship game of the Toledo Invite by a score of 76-41. The Panthers were led by Latia Williams with 14 points and JaQuandria Williams added 12 points. Prairie View had a rough shooting night from deep making only one of the 20 three-point shot attempts.

Tickets for Friday's game are available online at tickets.12thmanfoundation.com or in person at the Reed Arena box office. The Prairie View A&M game will continue the half-price Holiday Hoops promotion and will be Christmas Night at Reed.

Season tickets are also on sale and fans are encouraged to make sure they have a seat for all the exciting Aggie basketball action by visiting the 12^th Man Foundation's Ticket Center or calling 1-(888)-992-4443.

Aggie Women's Basketball Game #13:

Texas A&M (8-4; 0-0 SEC) vs. Prairie View A&M (3-6; 0-0 SWAC)
December 28, 2012 · 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Reed Arena (12,989)
College Station, Texas
TV: None
RADIO: Texas A&M Radio Network
Mike Wright, Play-by-Play
Tap Benz, Commentary
Local: KZNE-AM 1150 (College Station/Bryan)
LIVE VIDEO/AUDIO/STATS: AggieAthletics.com
TICKETS: Available at the door or online at tickets.12thManFoundation.com


COURTESY TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

East Gadsden QB Robinson commits to play at FAMU

QB Robinson selects FAMU over offers from Division I FBS FAU and Troy

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Treveze Robinson proved that he has the arm to be a solid quarterback during his high school career at East Gadsden. He also has some intangibles that should put his college coaches at ease.

While confirming Thursday that he’s committed to play college football at FAMU, Robinson was brimming with confidence. That was clear in the matter-of-fact way that he said he wants to challenge Damien Fleming for the starting job.

“I think I can come in and start as a freshman,” Robinson said. “I can win the team over. I plan to enroll for the summer because I want to be ready to compete as a true freshman.”

Corey Fuller, head coach at East Gadsden, said it’s been Robinson confidence that made him one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Bend this past season.

“As quarterback, that’s what you want,” Fuller said. “He is confident but not cocky. We support our kids and we want them to be confident because they make the team that they’re going to look better and it makes the program that they come from look better.”

Robinson, 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, is the first quarterback commitment for FAMU. It caps an impressive week for him after he was named the first-team quarterback on the Democrat’s All-Big Bend team.

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