SWAC rivals Jackson State, Southern set to collide at MGM Park

BILOXI, Mississippi -- Division I college baseball arrives at MGM Park this week.

A match-up between SWAC rivals Jackson State and Southern University starts at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday, marking the beginning of a seven-game series of D1 college games at the new stadium.

Southern Miss-South Alabama will serve as the second and final college game of the week at MGM Park when the two teams play at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday in a long-running regional rivalry.

"This was, in my mind, one of the main reasons we built this stadium," Biloxi Shuckers minority owner Tim Bennett said. "A very close second to minor league baseball was college athletics."

There will also be a high school baseball game at MGM Park at 7 p.m. Thursday when Biloxi and D'Iberville face off.

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Montgomery native Tarvaris Jackson talks Lanier, ASU football

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Tarvaris Jackson has played the last three NFL seasons across the country in Seattle, but still follows and supports his high school and college back home.

The Montgomery native talked Monday about Sidney Lanier High and Alabama State University, two places he made his mark before having a 10-year NFL career. Currently a free agent quarterback, Jackson said he was “surprised” C.J. Harris was fired at Lanier after leading the Poets to the AHSAA Class 5A football playoffs.

“He had been building,” said Jackson about Harris. “They had a good season this year. Made the playoffs. Had everything going in the right direction. Just the timing of it.”

Lanier principal Antonio Williams announced the firing in a statement Feb. 1. Jackson said he didn’t know “everything” that went into the firing, but has spoken to Williams about the situation.

“It’s a sensitive subject, a lot of he say, she say type stuff,” Jackson said. “I just wanted (Williams) to know that I support whoever because it’s my school. They’ve had guys over there that I didn’t know anything about or never heard of before but I supported the school because that’s my school. I always want to see them do well.”

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Stillman basketball teams enter tournament on winning streaks

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is having its tournament in Birmingham at the Bill Harris Arena starting today and running through Saturday. Both the Stillman men and women's basketball teams are competing for a chance at the title this year and both are coming into the tournament with a winning streak.

The men's team has won 14 games in a row and 19 of its last 20. Stillman finished its regular season with a 23-5 (17-1 SIAC) record to grab a first round bye and the SIAC West No. 1 seed. The Tigers won't play until Wednesday against the winner of Clark Atlanta vs. Tuskegee University.

“It's been a blessing the whole year. We've been working hard as team getting better on and off the court,” senior guard Devin McNeil said. “We are coming (into the SIAC Tournament) thinking it's a new season, the championship is up for grabs, and everybody is coming to play hard because it's their last go-around too.”

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Langston Lady Lions Close Out Regular Season with W

LANGSTON ENDS REGULAR SEASON 20-6, 14-4 RRAC

LANGSTON, Oklahoma -- It came down to the fire but ultimately the No. 25 Langston Lady Lions prevailed 67-58 over St. Thomas Saturday night, Feb. 27 to close out the regular season.

The Lady Lions trailed 54-53 with 6:15 remaining but Langston didn't fret; sparked by a quick bucket by Sharron Carter (SR/Tulsa, OK), the Lady Lions rolled to an 11-0 scoring run to overtake the Celts 64-54 at the 2:49 minute mark.

St. Thomas worked their way within six but a missed bucket by Maghen Lormand and a three-pointer by Darreion Clark (JR/Tulsa, OK) put Langston up by nine and the game out of reach with 30 seconds remaining.

With the win the Lady Lions finish the regular season at 21-6 and 14-4 in the Red River conference; Langston is in sole-possession of second-place and will receive a first-round bye in the RRAC tournament.

The RRAC tournament starts Thursday, March 3 in Longview, Texas. The final bracket will be announced on Sunday, Feb. 28.

Offensively, the Lady Lions finished at 45 percent (24-of-53) and combined to 14-of-20 free throw tries; T'Keya Mason (SR/Long Beach, CA) led Langston in scoring with 22 points.

Che'Ron Lewis (JR/Cushing, OK) added 15 and Clark pumped in 13 points.

 

 Box Score

 

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Langston Blows By St. Thomas

LANGSTON, Oklahoma – The No. 13 Langston Lions lived up to their billing Saturday night, Feb. 27 with a 100-78 victory over St. Thomas at C.F. Gayles Gymnasium.

From the opening tip it was complete domination by the Lions as they built a 23-point lead at 50-27 with 3:39 left in the first half; Langston led at the break 57-39 and shot a remarkable 60 percent (18-of-30) and knocked down 12-of-14 free throws.

The second-half was much of the same as the Lions pushed their lead to 30 points following a three-pointer by Antonio Arnold (SR/Flint, Mich.) to make it 92-62.

The victory wraps up a 22-6 regular season for Langston; the Lions currently sit in second-place in the Red River conference standings at 14-3 and will await their draw in the conference tournament.
The RRAC tournament starts Thursday, March 3 in Longview, Texas. The final bracket will be announced on Sunday, Feb. 28.

Offensively, the Lions shot 56 percent (36-of-64) from the field, went 14-for-27 from behind the arc and nailed 14-of-20 free throw attempts.

Curtis Jones (SR/Chicago, Ill.) paced Langston with 25 points, Terrell Jones (JR/Memphis, Tenn.) added 14, Renard Green (JR/Dallas, Texas) chipped in 13 and Arnold pumped in 12 points.

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Wiley Wildcats clinch tournament berth with victory over Huston-Tillots

AUSTIN, Texas – The Wiley College men's basketball team guaranteed itself one more basketball game, as it clinched a spot in the Red River Athletics Conference Tournament with a 76-68 victory over Huston-Tillotson Saturday.

The Wildcats (16-11, 8-10 in RRAC) limited Huston Tillotson, which averages 93 points per game, to 37 percent shooting. Wiley held Shai Fields, who is the top scorer in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, to 14 points on 15 shot attempts.

"We made sure we knew where Fields was at all times," coach Jameus Hartsfield said. "He's a really good offensive player and the team feeds off him."

Wiley College made 48 percent of its field goal attempts and made seven of its 15 3-point attempts. The Wildcats led 37-28 at halftime. In the second half, Wiley led by as many as 19 and led by double digits most of the half.

Kevondric Davis (SO/Shreveport, LA) led all scorers with 17 points. Patrick Banks (JR/Jackson, MS) had his most productive game of the season, as he recorded a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds off the bench.

"Banks played as if it was do or die situation," Hartsfield said. "I've challenged him to bring that same energy through the tournament."

George Page (JR/Winnfield, LA), who is a RRAC First Team All-Conference candidate and Terrell Guy Jr. (SR/Houston, TX) finished in double figures with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Andre Jackson (SO/Natchitoches, LA) recorded a game-high eight assists.

The Wildcats will play in the first round of the Red River Athletics Conference Tournament on Thursday. Opponent and time is to be determined.

FULL STATS

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Lincoln to Host Emporia State in MIAA Tourney First Round

2016 Senior Day Ceremony Photo Gallery

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri --  The Lincoln men's basketball team earned the No. 7 seed in the 2016 MIAA Tournament and will host No. 10 Emporia State in a first round game on Tuesday (March 1) at 7:00 p.m. CST.

The Blue Tigers tied for fifth in the final MIAA standings with an 11-11 conference record, and finished the season 15-13 overall. Emporia State, meanwhile, ended the year 13-15 overall and 10-12 in MIAA play. Lincoln swept the regular season series, beating the Hornets 71-65 in Emporia, Kan. on Jan. 2 before winning a 76-70 decision against ESU on Feb. 13.

The winner of Tuesday night's game will advance to Kansas City to play No. 2 Nebraska-Kearney on Friday (March 4) at 2:15 p.m. CST.

Complete 2016 MIAA Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket

Tickets for Tuesday night's game in Jason Gym will cost $10 for adults and $5 for students, while children six and under will receive free admission. Due to this being a postseason contest, tickets for Lincoln students, with a valid ID, will cost $5. Normal regular season MIAA rules will apply to the contest, with the exception that media timeouts will occur every four minutes instead of every five. As usual, live stats and video will be available at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/lincoln/.

This will be the first postseason appearance of any kind for Lincoln since the 1986-87 season, and it will mark the first time either LU basketball team has hosted a playoff game since the MIAA began playing first round games at campus sites in 2012-13.



Dan Carr, Assistant AD for Media Relations
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