Miles College loses SIAC opener 65-59 at Claflin University

FAIFIELD, Alabama – The Miles College (3-6; 0-1) men's basketball team was looking to get back in the win column with a victory over Claflin University, but it was not to be as Claflin defeated the Golden Bears 65-59 on Thursday, January 3 in Orangeburg, SC.

Miles went to half down 27-29, as the team hit 9-of-33 (27.3%) shots from the field, while making 7-of-8 (87.5%) free throws. Claflin sank 12-of-25 shots and was 3-of-3 (100.0%) from the foul line.

Miles had three players in double figures for the first time this season as sophomore forward Andrew Gilmore, Jr. (Birmingham, AL), sophomore point guard Ty Lollar (Columbiana, AL) and junior point guard Carlos Clayborn (Huntsville, AL) had 12 points apiece. Gilmore pulled down 5 boards and scored on 4-of-10 shots, hit 4-of-7 three's and blocked one shot. Lollar went 4-of-10 from the floor, hit 3-of-7 three's while making 1-of-2 free throws. Clayborn made 3-of-9 shots and went 6-of-6 at the free throw line. Junior point guard Stephon Allen (Atlanta, GA) added a team-high 7 rebounds and four points.

Marcellus Dunn led Claflin in scoring with 14 points, while Terrence Bowman and David Glover added 13 points each.

For the game, the Golden Bears scored on 18-of-59 (30.5%) shots from the floor, 16-of-25 (64.0%) in free throws and hit 7-of-25 (28.0%) from behind the arc. Claflin hit 24-of-57 (42.1%) shots on the night, made 13-of-17 (76.5%) points at the foul line.

The Golden Bears grabbed 38 rebounds to Claflin 41 and had 11 turnovers to 14. Miles bench added 28 points, but only scored 14 points in the paint all game.

Miles will host Benedict College on Saturday, January 5 at 3 p.m.

Live stats will be available for the game by going to www.milesgoldenbears.com .


COURTESY MILES COLLEGE ATHLETICS
 

Southern men take on SWAC favorite

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  The Southern men’s basketball team not only won its Southwestern Athletic Conference opener Wednesday night, the Jaguars put on the kind of show against Texas Southern that kept fans in the F.G. Clark Activity Center glued to their seats.

After leading 2-0 in the opening minute, Southern wasn’t ahead again in the 63-57 win until 9 minutes, 37 seconds remained. The Jaguars were rightfully giddy as they celebrated the latest step in their fast start, moving above the .500 mark by surviving a game Texas Southern led by 13 points late in the first half.

What worries coach Roman Banks, however, is how little time they have to turn the page — and who they’re playing next.

Southern (7-6, 1-0) returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Friday when Prairie View A&M (5-9, 0-1) visits in a game that matches the Jaguars against the only team picked ahead of them in the SWAC preseason poll.

“Now we’ve got to bounce back, find some energy from somewhere and regroup,” Banks said. “We’ve got the team picked to win the league coming in here.”

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Southern hoops deals with crazy SWAC schedule

Florida A&M tabs 3 finalists for football coaching job

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Florida A&M has narrowed its football coaching search down to three candidates: John Eason, John Hendrick and Earl Holmes.

Athletic Director Derek Horne officially announced the three finalists and their interview times late this afternoon.

Rick Comegy, whose application was omitted from the original list of applicants, has decided that he will stay at Jackson State and is no longer in the running; he has one year remaining on his contract there.

Holmes, who has been acting coach since Joe Taylor retired in November, will be first to have a face-to-face interview with members of the search committee, Horne and interim president Larry Robinson. That is scheduled to take place Friday.

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FINALIST COACHING PROFILES  (Click Each Name)

• Earl Holmes, Florida A&M University Interim Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator
• John Eason, Ph.D., University of Georgia Director of Player Development
• John Hendrick, Alabama State University Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Ends Coach

Washingtonian Joe Taylor stays busy in retirement

Former FAMU football coach sets book tour and a little golf, too 

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Beverly Taylor wasn’t exactly shocked when her husband, Joe, said to her over breakfast on Christmas day a year ago that he was contemplating retiring from coaching college football.

She wondered if he wasn’t moving too fast. There was the possibility of a contract extension as head coach at FAMU. Plus, he was just a few victories from becoming the second-winningest coach in black college football history.

“Soon as he said it, I said, ‘Are you sure,’” Beverly Taylor recalled. “‘Are you sure you’re at peace with not getting up every day at 4 (in the morning)?’ He said, ‘I’m going to be OK with that.’

“There was never any reservation, any second-guessing. It was always moving forward.”

Joe Taylor told the world 10 months later, announcing his retirement with two games remaining on the Rattlers’ 2012 schedule. At the same time, he said he’d turn his attention to promoting a book titled, “The making of a champion. Success is an inconvenience,” which he’d written with Ronald L. Mann.

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XU Gold Nuggets beat 12th-ranked Bethel (Tenn.) in 2 OTs

NEW ORLEANS -- Junior guard Andraquay Quinnine scored six of her career-high 18 points in extra periods to help Xavier University of Louisiana earn a 75-67 double-overtime victory against Bethel (Tenn.) in a matchup of ranked NAIA Division I women's basketball teams Wednesday.

The Gold Nuggets (10-2), ranked ninth, never trailed in earning their third victory against ranked opponents, their most in a regular season since 2002-03.

Paige Gauthier had a career-high 14 points, a career-high-tying eight rebounds, a season-high seven assists and four steals for Xavier. Carmen Holcombe scored a season-high 12 points -- her first game of the year in double-figures -- and grabbed seven rebounds.

Alisha Gentry scored a season-high 23 points for 12th-ranked Bethel (12-3). Jasmine Taylor scored 15 points, and Perica Glenn matched her season highs of 13 points and 14 rebounds. Gentry made 4-of-9 3-pointers, but her teammates were a collective 0-of-16.

Gauthier scored 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in a 13-2 run during the final 2:49, to give Xavier a 36-24 halftime lead. But after Quinnine's 3-point play with 18;48 remaining gave the Nuggets their largest lead, 39-26, Bethel used a 15-2 run to tie the score at 41 at 11:37. Xavier led 57-52 and had possession in the 38th minute, but Bethel rallied again, with Gentry's 3-pointer with 21 seconds remaining capping a 7-1 run which tied the score at 58 and sent the teams to overtime.

Xavier missed two shots in the final 20 seconds of the first overtime after Gentry's basket gave the Lady Wildcats their fourth and final tie at 64 with 48 seconds remaining. The Nuggets outscored Bethel 11-3 in the second overtime and never lost the lead after Whitney Gaston-Loyd's basket at 4:25 and Paige Rochelle's two free throws -- her only points of the game -- at 3:25. Bethel's Lorna Hudson scored a 3-point play at 2:21 to cut the margin to 68-67, but Xavier scored the final seven points, all on free throws.

"It was a very good game with two ranked teams fighting it out," said Bo Browder, whose teams are 8-3 in overtime during his 14 seasons as XU's head coach. "I was pleased with our effort. Any time you win in double overtime, that's special. Winning in double overtime says your team is tough."

It was Xavier's first overtime game since January 2011, its first overtime victory since January 2008 and its first home overtime game since January 2007. It was the Nuggets' first multiple-overtime game since a 70-67 double-OT victory at city rival Dillard on Jan. 29, 2000.

The teams combined for 52 fouls and 55 turnovers, and each had two starters foul out. All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference guard SiMon Franklin, the Nuggets' season scoring leader, fouled out at 1:58 of the second half with six points on 3-of-9 from the floor. But Browder said he wasn't concerned.

"We don't count on one person to win," Browder said. "Everybody knows that."

Xavier shot 33.9 percent from the floor -- the 10th time this season the Nuggets finished at less than 40 percent -- but limited Bethel to 31.4 percent. The Nuggets scored a rare victory at the line, making a season-high 29 free throws -- one less than the school record -- in 34 attempts. Bethel made 19-of-32. Xavier made 11-of-12 free throws in overtime. For the game, Holcombe made 8-of-8 free throws, Quinnine made 8-of-9, and Gauthier was 4-of-4. It was the second consecutive game and the fourth time this season that the Nuggets finished at 85 percent or higher.

Xavier won for the eighth time in nine games at its new Convocation Center, which opened Nov. 3, and for the 48th time in its past 51 home games.

Xavier, the two-time defending GCAC regular-season champion, will open its conference schedule at 3 p.m. EST Saturday against Edward Waters in Jacksonville, Fla. The next home game wll start at 5 p.m. on Jan. 12 against Tougaloo.

Box score

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

Hampton Defeats Boston College Women's Basketball, 60-57

HAMPTON, Virginia  --  The Boston College women's basketball team ended a two-game road trip with a tough 60-57 loss to non-conference foe Hampton at the HU Convocation Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Eagles are now 6-6 on the season, while Hampton improved to 10-5.

BC was led by senior Kerri Shields with 17 points, three assists and three boards. Katie Zenevitch added 12 points while Kristen Doherty had 11 points, seven boards and had three assists.  Hampton was led by Olivia Allen with 19 points and Keiara Avant with 18.

BC battled all game, coming from 14 down in the second half to within one point against Hampton with 22 seconds to play.

The comeback started at 7:34, after Hamilton hit a three-pointer, which was the last field goal for the Pirates in the game.  BC Shayra Brown (six points, four rebounds) hit a foul shot, followed by a three-pointer from Shields. The Pirate lead was seven points with 5:42 to play. Free throws by the Pirates extended the lead but the BC pressure created turnovers. Tessah Holt hit a three, Doherty stole the inbounds pass and Brown hit a layup and BC was down three points. Two foul shots by Boudreau cut the lead to just one point with 22 seconds to play.

After a timeout, BC fouled Avant, who hit two freebies for a three point lead. After another timeout, BC pushed the ball up the floor and ran a number of screens hoping to free up Shields or Boudreau. Shields came up short but the Pirates turned the ball over on the inbounds and BC had a final shot. Boudreau's shot from the corner hit the front of the rim with two seconds left on the clock.

Boston College shot just 38 percent from the floor for the game and 33 percent from the three-point line. The Eagles committed 16 turnovers and lost the battle of the boards, 39-38.



The Pirates came out quicker than quick and shot out to a 9-3 lead behind Nicole Hamilton's seven points. BC slowly chipped away as the Eagles battle foul trouble and poor shooting.

The Eagles opened with three three's by Nicole Boudreau, Katie Zenevitch and Kerri Shields, and the team was back in the game. Zenevitch would pick up her second foul and sat the rest of the half.

BC shot just 38 percent from the floor, turned the ball over 11 times but was down only, 34-25.

Box Score


COURTESY BOSTON COLLEGE ATHLETICS