Grafton lineman Jacob Mazgajewski to ink full football scholarship to Norfolk State

NORFOLK, Virginia  --  Two weeks ago, Jacob Mazgajewski hadn’t even been contacted by Norfolk State University. Wednesday, Mazgajewski, a Grafton High lineman, committed to a full football scholarship to play for the Spartans.

Mazgajewski, a 6-foot-6, 255-pound senior, said the Spartans recruited him to play offensive tackle. He was a two-way starter the past two seasons on the lines at Grafton, where he helped the Clippers win the Region I Division 4 title and reach the state playoff semifinals his junior season.

 

He said he was contacted by NSU on Jan. 14, made his visit five days later and was offered a scholarship that covered books and tuition. Several days later, Norfolk State increased the scholarship offer to cover all expenses and Mazgajewski committed.

 

A caucasian, Mazgajewski said the visit convinced him he would be comfortable at NSU. He said that he liked the new school's new library, the planned upgrades to the weight-lifting facilities and the acceptance he felt from the players and coaches.

 

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Meet The 2013 Rattler Tennis Team

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New attitude makes a difference for Rams' Ellison

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Wakefield Ellison of Winston-Salem State doesn't call last season a wasted season — but he admits it didn't go so well.

Ellison had transferred from East Carolina, and he spent most of the season adjusting to the way Coach Bobby Collins wanted him to play. It was a contrast in styles, but Ellison did coexist well enough to help the Rams win the CIAA title.

Ellison, a 6-6 senior forward from Asheville, is now playing the best basketball of his career.
"He came in with a different attitude, a different mindset, and the basketball gods have rewarded him," Collins said.

Ellison, with his new attitude, is a big reason the Rams are ranked No. 19 in Division II and are 14-3 heading into Saturday's game at Fayetteville State.

Gone are the days of Ellison's feeling sorry for himself after a bad shot or a turnover. Last season, if Ellison made a mistake, his mood was evident in his body language.

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Tulane beats Rush, but Soifer survives in super-tiebreaker

NEW ORLEANS -- Xavier University of Louisiana lost its men's tennis spring season opener 6-1 Saturday to Tulane at City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center, but sophomore Nikita Soifer was resilient in scoring XU's first dual-match point ever against its city rival.

Soifer saved eight match points in a 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (11-9) victory against Joe Young at No. 2 singles.

Soifer saved four match points while serving the 12th game of the second set, then scored the final six points of the super-tiebreaker after trailing 9-5.

It was the first collegiate dual match for Soifer, who sat out last season and was 2-3 in singles and 2-2 in doubles in two fall tournaments. His opponent was second-team All-Conference USA in 2012 and second-team All-Louisiana in 2011. Young won singles matches in super-tiebreakers in both Green Wave dual victories against Xavier the past two seasons.

But Xavier's highlights started and ended with Soifer. Tulane (1-0) didn't lose more than two games in any other match. At No. 1 singles, XU's Loic Didavi -- the Louisiana Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year in 2012 -- lost 6-1, 6-1 to Idan Mark.

"We gave a good effort but we were less confident than usual," 10th-year XU coach Alan Green said. "We will get that fixed."

Tulane was the first of seven NCAA Division I opponents on the schedule of the Gold Rush, an NAIA quarterfinalist in 2012. Next match for Xavier's men and women will be D-I Nicholls State at 4 p.m. Saturday in Houma, La. The next Gold Rush home match will start at 3 p.m. Feb. 28 against Belhaven at the new XU Tennis Center.

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Dominant Second Half Lifts Shaw Lady Bears to 97-74 Victory over Saint Augustine's

Raleigh, North Carolina — The Shaw University Lady Bears used a dominant second half to knock off cross-town rival Saint Augustine’s 97-74 in a game played Saturday afternoon at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium.

After leading by just four (40-36) at the half, the Lady Bears outscored the Lady Falcons 57-38 in the second half to win their ninth straight game as they improve to 17-2 overall and 8-1 in the CIAA. More importantly, however, the Lady Bears are 3-0 in the Southern Division. Saint Augustine’s falls to 9-9 overall, 5-4 in the CIAA and 2-1 in the Southern Division.

“We told them that at halftime that we need to come out, buckle down and play,” said Shaw assistant coach Jonas Richard. “We came out with more concentration and more focus in the second half and it showed. We ran our sets and got after it on the defensive end and it helped us score 57 points in the second half.”

The Lady Bears had a balanced scoring attack as five players finished with double figures and two recorded double-doubles. Taylor Dalrymple led all scorers with 26 points and had 14 rebounds. Ronika Ransford added 16 points. Crystal Harris scored all of her 14 points in the second half. Crystal Gordon had a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Crystal Wilson contributed 10 in the win for Shaw.

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Boxscore

SAU Lady Falcons Succumb 97-74 To Shaw

RALEIGH, N.C. – Freshman guard Regime McCombs (Greenville, S.C.) of Saint Augustine's University scored 20 points but the Lady Falcons succumbed to crosstown rival Shaw University 97-74 in a CIAA women's basketball game inside a full house at Spaulding Gymnasium on Shaw's campus Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013.

The loss snapped a two-game win streak for the Lady Falcons (9-9 overall, 5-4 CIAA, 2-1 Southern Division), who had won four of their last five games entering the matchup against the defending NCAA Division II champions. Both teams were tied atop the Southern Division standings at 2-0, but the Lady Bears (17-2 overall, 7-2 CIAA, 3-0 Southern Division), ranked 12^th nationally in Division II, gained sole possession of first place with the victory.

The Lady Falcons stayed even with the Lady Bears for most of the first half, but the game got away from them with the score tied at 36-36 right before halftime. A 48-22 run by the Lady Bears which started in the final two minutes of the first half gave them a comfortable 84-58 lead with just under six minutes left in the second half.

“I thought we handled ourselves well in the first half,” St. Aug Head Coach Rachel Bullard said. “In the second half, we didn't come out with the same level of intensity and it killed us.”

The Lady Bears took advantage of their superior height to attack inside. Crystal Harris, a 6-1 center, contributed 14 points and seven rebounds after not playing in the first half. For the game, Taylor Dalrymple, a 6-1 inside player for Shaw, led both teams with 26 points and 14 rebounds and Crystal Gordon, a 6-2 center, added 11 points and 16 rebounds. Ronika Ransford, a guard, had 16 points for the Lady Bears. After being outrebounded in the first half, the Lady Bears finished with more rebounds (59-46). The inside play of the Lady Bears and their transition game keyed their win.

Senior forward Temperance Jacobs (McDonough, Ga.) of the Lady Falcons followed McCombs with 13 points and a team-high 9 rebounds. Freshman forward Terri Jacobs (McDonough, Ga.) scored eight points and point guard Porscha Walton added (Chesterfield, Va.) added eight points, five rebounds and four assists.

Despite the loss, the Lady Falcons, who have five freshmen and three sophomores on their roster, never backed down against the defending NCAA and CIAA champions. To their credit, the Lady Falcons continued to play hard and never quit despite falling behind by a huge deficit, which is something they can build on for the rest of the season.

“It was a learning experience,” Bullard said. “It lets us know what we need to work on.”

There were positives to take away from the game. The Lady Falcons forced 22 turnovers which led to 17 points. McCombs was on fire early from outside, especially in the first half when she made four of her first six three-pointers.

For many of the Lady Falcons, this was their first time absorbing the frenetic atmosphere of Spaulding Gymnasium. They handled themselves with poise in the first half, especially McCombs, who came off the bench to lead the Lady Falcons with 12 points. She put on a shooting display in the first half, making four of her first six treys, often from deep range. She eventually finished the half shooting 4-for-8 behind the three-point line.

Led by the marksmanship of McCombs, the Lady Falcons stayed even with the Lady Bears in the first 20 minutes. The Lady Falcons held a five-point lead in the early moments, and the lead changed nine times while the score was tied seven times. The Lady Bears scored the last four points in the first half to take a 40-36 lead into halftime.

For the Lady Falcons, Terri Jacobs added six points off the bench as the Lady Falcons outscored the Lady Bears 25-9 in bench points in the first half. Led by five rebounds by Temperance Jacobs, the Lady Falcons held a 27-25 edge in rebounding including 12-6 in offensive boards. That led to 17 second-chance points for the Lady Falcons.

Dalrymple scored 14 first-half points for the Lady Bears. Kearah Jeffreys added seven points.

The Lady Falcons return to Emery Gymnasium on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 for a divisional meeting with Livingstone College. The contest, which starts at 5:30 p.m., will be televised by WAUG-TV on Time Warner Cable Channel 168. Click on www.saintaugfalcons.com for live stats.

The matchup against Livingstone will be the sixth home game in the last seven contests for the Lady Falcons.

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Alcorn State hands Southern men their first SWAC loss

Lorman, Miss.  --  The Southern men’s basketball team rolled into the Davey L. Whitney Complex having crushed much of the Southwestern Athletic Conference competition in its way. The Jaguars were perfect in eight conference games, with six straight wins by double digits.

Alcorn State wasn’t fazed. The Braves jumped to an early seven-point lead, then spent most of Saturday night doing just enough to keep Southern at arm’s length. The result was a 61-57 upset that ended any notion of the Jaguars running the table during their 18-game SWAC schedule.

“We pay attention to the standings and the hoopla and all that,” said Alcorn coach Luther Riley, whose team improved to 8-16 overall and 6-3 in the SWAC. “But the game had to be played on the floor.”
Southern (14-7, 8-1) had not only won most of its first eight SWAC games in convincing fashion but also had upset Texas A&M late in nonconference action to start a 10-game winning streak.

The Jaguars entered Saturday as the league leader in a number of statistical categories, including scoring offense, scoring defense and scoring margin.

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Second half rally leads to Lady Tiger road win over Morehead St.

Morehead, Ky. --- The Tennessee University women's basketball team used a strong second half to defeat Morehead State, 68-56, on the road in Johnson Arena Saturday night.

TSU used a 15-2 second-half run to open up the game and would go on to outscore MSU, 38-26, in the second frame to secure the win.

With the win TSU improved to 8-10 (4-3 OVC) and took over sole possession of fourth place in the East Division standings.

Three Lady Tigers scored in double-digits led by Kesi Hess' 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Simone Hopes just missed a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds while Avery Jones added 14 points and seven boards. Rachel Allen dished out six assists.

Morehead State (7-14, 3-4 OVC) was led in scoring by Almesha Jones (15) and Allie Turner (15).

Both teams went tit for tat in the first half as the statistical categories were nearly even on both sides. TSU shot 42.3 percent from the field, in a half that featured four ties and five lead changes, while MSU knocked down 40 percent from the floor.

Each team had 17 rebounds, seven turnovers and five steals in the first stanza.

TSU was trailing, 30-28, when Kesi Hess hit a jumper at the buzzer to make the score 30-all at the break.

The first part of the second half was much like the opening frame as the scored stayed close and the teams traded buckets. The game was knotted at 36 when TSU used an 8-0 run to go ahead, 44-36, with 13:41 left in the game.

A few moments later, Brianna Lawrence knocked down a triple before Simone Hopes connected in the paint to make the score, 51-38, in favor of TSU.

With about five minutes left in the game, MSU cut the deficit down to nine but the Lady Tigers answered with a couple buckets to increase the lead back up to double-digits.

The Lady Tigers maintained the lead the rest of the contest.

Tennessee State shot 42.0 percent from the field, including 46.2 percent from three-point range. TSU also won the battle of the boards, 42-33, while holding the advantage in bench points, 10-1.

Next the Lady Tigers will head over to Eastern Kentucky to face the Colonels on Monday, Jan. 28. Game time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in McBrayer Arena.

 

FINAL STATS

 

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