Gold Rush lead wire-to-wire in 54-34 victory at Dillard

Anthony Simmons

NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Simmons scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds Saturday to lead NAIA No. 11 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 54-34 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory against Dillard at Dent Hall.

The Gold Rush (18-4 overall, 6-1 GCAC) won for sixth time in seven games and remained in a first-place tie with Philander Smith, which won in double overtime at Fisk. Xavier is 9-1 on the road this season.

Simmons, the reigning GCAC Player of the Week, was 7-of-9 from the floor and one of three Xavier players in double figures. Denzell Erves had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Wanto Joseph had 12 points, five rebounds and a career-high six steals.

Xavier scored the first eight points and never trailed. Joseph converted consecutive steals into layups in the final 75 seconds of the first half to give Xavier a 28-16 lead at halftime.

Tyrone Williams led Dillard (2-14, 1-6) with nine points.

Xavier outshot the Blue Devils 44.2 to 37.8 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 30-15.

Xavier defeated its longtime HBCU, conference and city rival for the seventh consecutive time and the 14th time in the last 15 meetings. Xavier is 9-0 at Dillard since 2001.

Dillard has lost 52 of its last 56 games overall.

The teams will meet again Feb. 23 at XU's Convocation Center. Xavier's next game will start at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Mobile, and the next Gold Rush home game will start at noon next Saturday against Talladega.

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

29 turnovers doom Fayetteville State in loss to Winston-Salem State

FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina  --  Trying too hard to right an offense that's been out of sync for almost two weeks made matters even worse for Fayetteville State on Saturday against one of the nation's top NCAA Division II teams.

The Broncos committed a season-high 29 turnovers, which No. 19-ranked and reigning CIAA champion Winston-Salem State turned into 29 points that paved the way to an 86-65 triumph at Capel Arena.

The 29 turnovers were the most by FSU since the second game of the regular season when it committed 28 in an 84-79 loss to Barton. But Saturday's miscues came in a more crucial situation with the Broncos in the midst of a losing streak in which they had made just 36.7 percent of their field-goal attempts in the previous four games.

Eighteen of the turnovers Saturday came in the opening half and allowed the Rams to produce an early double-digit advantage that FSU never really threatened.

"It's very frustrating,'' FSU sophomore guard Anthony Shelton said. "Our offense is stagnant and we're just not running through our plays. Tonight, we made a lot of mental mistakes and just couldn't get going.''

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Hampton men falter in second half, lose to Norfolk State 74-67

NORFOLK — As presently constructed, Hampton University cannot rely on simply outscoring opponents. The Pirates must defend, rebound and take care of the ball.

On Saturday, they managed just one of three at a critical juncture against their chief rival and paid for the lapse in a 74-67 loss at Norfolk State.

The Spartans (12-10, 7-0 MEAC) sped away during a three-minute span of the second half and weathered poor foul shooting down the stretch to remain atop the conference.

"You constantly hear Coach (Ed) Joyner say it and you constantly hear me say it, it comes down to mental toughness," the Pirates' Du'Vaughn Maxwell said. "We basically gave them that ball game tonight. We came out of halftime with momentum, and we still played hard, but turned the ball over. That stuff just cannot happen."

Hampton (5-13, 2-3 MEAC) committed 11 of its 18 turnovers in the second half, which contributed to Norfolk State shooting 58 percent after halftime.

Deron Powers had what's becoming a typically gritty and effective performance, with a game-high 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting. But backcourt mates Jasper Williams, Ramon Mercado and Aaron Austin were a combined 3-for-20 from the field and 3-for-14 from 3-point range.

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Florida A&M Rattlers on fast track to spring football

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  After a tough series of calisthenics inside Gaither Gym on Wednesday morning, FAMU strength and conditioning coach Russell Barbarino sent the Rattlers’ football players running.

Not into the chilly air outside, where it was still dark. Their course was the steep mountain of steps that leads to a walkway above the top rung of seats, then down another path of steps.

Winter workouts, the initial phase of preparation for the 2013 football season, was under way.

“No walking,” Barbarino bellowed from the middle of the basketball court. “Touch every step.”
As the long line of players on both sides of the gym hit the floor level, Barbarino pleaded with them to step up the pace.

“Sprint, sprint, sprint,” he said as the first group of players went past.

The Rattlers will go through 16 similar workouts during the next seven weeks. The conditioning program is a prelude to spring ball, which is scheduled to begin on March 21.




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Gold Nuggets defeat Dillard for eighth consecutive time

SiMon Franklin

NEW ORLEANS -- SiMon Franklin scored 15 points Saturday to lead NAIA No. 14 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 64-54 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against Dillard at Dent Hall.

The Gold Nuggets (15-4 overall, 5-2 GCAC) defeated their longtime city rival for the eighth consecutive time and the 17th time in the last 18 meetings. Xavier leads the series 58-19.

Franklin reached double figures for the fourth consecutive game, a season best. The senior guard scored nine points to help Xavier extend a 29-28 halftime lead.

No one else from Xavier reached double figures, but 12 Nuggets scored. Reserve guard Schyler Morton scored a career-high eight points, and her 3-pointer from the top of the key put Xavier ahead to stay, 28-27, with 56 seconds remaining in the first half.

Two Franklin free throws with 3:36 remaining gave Xavier a 61-49 lead.

"I never know from game to game who's going to step up and score for us," XU coach Bo Browder said. "But if we bring our defense wherever we go, we'll be alright."

Jazzmin Smith scored 17 points and Brittany Smith 11 for Dillard (5-15, 3-4).

Dillard outshot the Gold Nuggets 38.6 to 36.4 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 36-28, but Xavier gained 27 turnovers, including 19 steals, and committed 17 turnovers. Xavier had a 34-12 advantage in bench scoring, and the reserve Nuggets made 10-of-20 from the floor.

Xavier had its second most productive game of the season at the line, making 20 free throws in 30 attempts. Franklin made 6-of-8, and Danielle Tucker made 5-of-6.

The teams will meet again Feb. 23 at XU's Convocation Center. Xavier's next game will start at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Mobile, and the Nuggets' next home game will start at 6 p.m. Thursday against William Carey.

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Former NSU QB Kermit Buggs Named Assistant Coach at UConn

Coach Kermit Buggs
(Norfolk State 1995)
Quotes

STORRS, Conn. - Kermit Buggs, who served as a member of the Penn State football staff from 2003-2011 and was the defensive coordinator at Lock Haven University in 2012, has been named as assistant coach at the University of Connecticut and will have position responsibility with the running backs and special teams.

Buggs was an assistant coach at Penn State from 2007-11 and worked with the safeties and then the entire secondary late in the 2011 season.

Buggs was instrumental in the development of three-year starting safeties Drew Astorino and Nick Sukay, who earned 2011 first-team All-Big Ten honors. In 2008, Buggs helped Anthony Scirrotto earn first-team All-Big Ten accolades.

Buggs became an assistant coach at Penn State in December 2007 and coached the safeties in a 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl win over Texas A&M.

He was part of two Big Ten championship teams in 2005 and ’08 and Penn State was the Legends Division Co-Champion in 2011. He has been part of seven bowl teams, including the 2006 Orange Bowl and 2009 Rose Bowl.

He served as Coordinator of Player Personnel and Development during the 2006 and '07 seasons and from 2003-05, he was a graduate assistant coach with the Nittany Lions.

Buggs previously was a successful high school coach, leading Surry County (Va.) High School to a 34-14 record from 1999-2002. His 1999 squad was 14-0 and won the Division I state championship and Buggs was named the state's Division I Coach-of-the-Year.

A product of Hampton, Va., Buggs is a 1995 graduate of Norfolk State University, where he played football. He was the University's 1992-93 recipient of the Vince Lombardi Award for Leadership and Academic Achievement.

Buggs has a master's degree in educational administration from Penn State.

COURTESY UCONN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

Balanced Attack Leads HU Lady Pirates to Sixth Straight Win

NORFOLK, Virginia  –  The Hampton University women’s basketball team had four players score in double figures on Saturday afternoon en route to a 76-41 upending of rival Norfolk State at Echols Hall.

It was Hampton’s sixth straight win, and the Lady Pirates (15-5, 6-0 MEAC) have won the last 14 meetings with the Spartans.

Senior guard Olivia Allen (Kildeer, Ill.) scored 22 points for the second straight game to lead the Lady Pirates, while senior forward Keiara Avant (Chesapeake, Va.) and junior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) each had 15 points.

Avant added a team-high 10 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season, while Bennett tied her career high with six assists. Junior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) added 11 points and four assists.

Hampton opened the game on a 9-2 run, taking that lead at the 16:51 mark after a fastbreak layup from Hamilton. Bennett hit a 3-pointer with 14:27 left in the first half to give the Lady Pirates a 14-4 lead.

Kashay Barnes cut the lead to 16-8 at the 12:48 mark with a jumper, but the Lady Pirates answered with an 11-0 run after Avant hit a pair of free throws with 9:15 left in the half to take a 27-8 lead. Allen hit two of her career-high six 3-pointers during that run.

A Bennett layup at the 5:20 mark put Hampton up 31-10, and Avant added a layup at the 3:14 mark to put the Lady Pirates up 35-13. The Spartans never got closer than within 20 from that point forward, and the Lady Pirates went up 40-16 with 1:40 left in the half on an Allen trey.

Hampton went into the half up 43-20, shooting 45.2 percent (14-for-31) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

Allen added a 3-pointer with 11:42 left in the second half to put the Lady Pirates up 55-27, kicking off a Hampton 13-4 run that culminated with a trey from sophomore guard Kenia Cole (Burtonsville, Md.) with 8:16 left to play to put the Lady Pirates up 68-31.

Cole hit two free throws with 4:43 left to play to give Hampton its largest lead at 72-33.

The Lady Pirates set their third-highest scoring margin of the season, while also recording their third-largest margin of victory in 2012-13.

The Lady Pirates shot a season-best 42.4 percent (25-for-59) from the floor, while hitting a season-best 10 3-pointers and going 16-for-19 (84.2 percent) from the free throw line. Hampton also out-rebounded the Spartans 43-32 and turned 19 Norfolk State turnovers into 25 points.

Norfolk State (3-15, 1-6 MEAC) shot just 28.6 percent (16-for-56) from the floor and missed all five 3-point attempts. The Spartans went 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) from the free throw line.

Aivah Parham led the Spartans with 12 points.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Monday, when they square off against rival Howard at the HU Convocation Center at 7 p.m. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.


COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION