Rush defeat ranked opponent for 2nd consecutive day

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana used a late first-half surge Saturday to spark a 71-49 men's basketball victory against Florida Memorial.

It's the first time since January 2002 that the Gold Rush (2-0) won consecutive games in the same season against ranked opponents. Florida Memorial (1-1) is ranked 14th in NAIA Division II. XULA won 75-73 Friday at St. Thomas, ranked 20th in NAIA D2.

XULA was 1-11 against ranked opponents last season.

"Still have a long way to go, but we're taking some positive steps," second-year XULA coach Alfred Williams said. "Our guys are buying into their roles. It's coming together."

XULA trailed 20-13 through 13 minutes, then made five 3-pointers — two apiece by Jerry Gibson and Jeff Dixon — during an 18-2 run that gave it a 31-22 halftime lead. The Lions never got closer than five points in the second half, and XULA led by double digits for the final 9:28.

Jalen David scored 15 points, Dixon 14 and Virgil Davison 12 for XULA. Davison scored all his points in the second half, all on 3-pointers. Elex Carter grabbed eight rebounds, and David and Galen Smith had six apiece. Dixon had four assists, and Donovan Armstrong had three.

Omar Outar scored 13 points, and Travis Mitchell had 11 points and seven rebounds for Florida Memorial.

Gibson scored all eight of his points in the first half and did not miss a shot.

XULA limited Florida Memorial to its fewest points at home in nearly three years. The Gold Rush outshot the Lions 41.2 to 26.2 percent from the floor.

"This group has a chance to be one of the best defensive teams we've had in a long time," Williams said. "Their intensity level and basketball savvy are high. They understand what other teams are trying to do against them. They play together and swarm around the ball."

XULA finished with 12 3-pointers, its most in a victory since February 2008. Dixon made three treys, and David made two.

XULA will be back on the road next Saturday for a 4 p.m. matchup with LeMoyne-Owen of NCAA Division II. Start time of that game was pushed up 3 1/2 hours. The Gold Rush home opener will start at 7 p.m. Nov. 6 against another NCAA D2 member, Miles, at the Convocation Center.

Box Score

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
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XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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S.C. STATE FOOTBALL: AD urges support for Pough, program

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina --These are uncharted waters for the South Carolina State football program — enduring a second consecutive losing season, concerned about the direction of the team in coming years.

With Saturday's 28-20 homecoming loss to Howard, the Bulldogs (2-6 overall, 1-5 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play) are at the bottom of conference standings and entered this, their bye week, with two games left on the schedule and more questions than answers.

On Monday, Buddy Pough -- in his 16th season at the helm for S.C. State -- tried to answer some of those questions while dealing with just his third losing campaign with the Bulldogs. And perhaps more importantly, first-year Bulldogs Director of Athletics Stacey Danley gave his support for Pough and the program through the remainder of the season.

"We are here to support; we don't really talk contracts during the middle of a season," Danley said. "We have two more games that we expect to win, and we are going to go out and compete with that expectation.

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With finances improving, SC State athletics is still examining everything - including football

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- It's decision time in Orangeburg.

Buddy Pough's roamed the sidelines as SC State's leading man for 16 football seasons. If there's to be a 17th, the Bulldogs must extend his contract at the end of this season.

Pough's enjoyed tremendous success as the Bulldogs head coach. He's guided the Bulldogs to six conference titles and ranks second on the program's all-time wins list. However, the Bulldogs are 2-6 overall this season.

Stacy Danley's been sitting in SC State's Director of Athletic chair for nearly six months. He's charged with deciding Buddy Pough's future.

"People ask me all the time what you're going to do with your coach? I'm going to support him," Danley said. "Give him all the support he can get from my seat."

"As far as I know I'll be back," Pough said. "If that's what you're trying to get at. I tell our guys we will still be here until they tell us differently."

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Unbeaten North Carolina A&T returns to chase history against mourning Norfolk State

GREENSBORO, North Carolina — N.C. A&T will drive to Virginia chasing history Saturday.

Norfolk State simply wants normalcy, to make sense of the senseless.

The Aggies (8-0, 5-0 MEAC) are alone in first place in the conference standings, and they’ll play the host Spartans (3-5, 3-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Price Stadium.

No A&T team in the program’s 93-year history has ever been 9-0. It’s the Aggies’ final road trip of the regular season.



And they’ll play a heartbroken team.

Nick Ackies, a freshman defensive lineman for the Spartans, was shot and killed Friday night at an off-campus apartment. Jaquan Anderson, a 22-year-old Norfolk State graduate and former defensive back for the football team, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the shooting.

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XULA women collect 4 GCAC awards for Oct. 16-22

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana earned four Gulf Coast Athletic Conference awards, three in volleyball, for Oct. 16-22.
     
Lauryn Taylor received her first Hitter of the Week award, Anna Dalla Vecchia was named Defender of the Week for the fifth time, and Eva Le Guillou claimed her second Setter of the Week honor. All three are freshmen.
     
Junior Maliya Vaughan was named Runner of the Week in women's cross country after winning the 5,000-meter run at the GCAC Championships in Clinton, Miss. It was Vaughan's first GCAC weekly award.
    
Taylor, from the Atlanta suburb of Fairburn, Ga., and a graduate of Booker T. Washingtion High School, hit .379 and averaged 3.11 kills and 0.67 blocks per set in three GCAC road matches, all of which XULA won. Taylor had 11 kills and a .556 hitting percentage, both career highs, at Philander Smith. Then Taylor had 10 kills and hit .450 to help Xavier win at Talladega and clinch a tie for the GCAC regular-season championship.
    
Dalla Vecchia, from Vicenza, Italy, averaged 6.44 digs per set and had just one reception error in 51 attempts. She tied the school record for digs in a match — 31 (in three sets) at Tougaloo, and she had 13 digs in the third and final set. Against Talladega she became the third XULA freshman all-time to reach 300 digs.
     
Le Guillou, from Velizy-Villacoublay, France, averaged a GCAC-best 7.11 assists per set during her week, and she tied her career high of 25 digs at Talladega. Le Guillou averaged 1.33 digs (12 total) and served two aces.
     
Vaughan, from Elk Grove, Calif., and a graduate of West Campus High School, won the GCAC title in 20 minutes, 43.50 seconds and led the Gold Nuggets to their 11th consecutive GCAC team championship. She beat teammate and runner-up Taylor Price, the 2016 GCAC champion, by nearly nine seconds. A year earlier, Vaughan was second to Price and 34 seconds from the lead.
     
XULA volleyball (19-2, 11-0) will close its regular season this week with a pair of 6 p.m. matches at city rivals — Tuesday against Loyola (non-conference), then Thursday at Dillard (GCAC). The GCAC Tournament will be Nov. 10-11, but no announcement has been made about the venue.
     
Next for XULA women's cross country will be the NAIA National Championships Nov. 18 at Vancouver, Wash. The Gold Nuggets qualified automatically by winning the GCAC team title.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Defense improves, but Nuggets still get burned by Fire

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana gained 31 turnovers Sunday, but shot-making again was an issue in a 60-39 women's basketball loss to Southeastern (Fla.).

The Gold Nuggets, a 19-game winner last season and a perennial NAIA national tourney contender, are 0-2 for just the fourth time during the Title IX era.

XULA's Mikayla Bates had 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in her first collegiate double-double. Bates, a starter for the third straight season, also had three assists and two steals.

Ana Richter scored 15 points, Jaycee Coe 13 and Marlene Schmidt 11 for Southeastern (3-0), the fourth-ranked team in NAIA Division II. It was the Southeastern's 31st victory in its last 32 games.
Despite a plus-6 advantage in turnovers, XULA was outscored 26-16 in points off of turnovers. The Gold Nuggets shot 13 percent from the floor in the first half and finished at 26.5 percent for the game. Southeastern shot 64.7 percent from the floor, 73.3 percent in the first half.

The Fire led 28-13 at halftime.

BOX SCORE

XULA shot 17.9 percent from the floor Thursday in a 76-45 loss at city rival Loyola.
"I thought our defense and our effort were much improved from the Loyola game," XULA coach Bo Browder said, "but we still couldn't make shots. If we had shot it a little better, this might have been a different game."

XULA limited Southeastern to its fewest points in its last 35 games, but the Gold Nuggets negated that performance by scoring their fewest points since a 38-37 home victory Feb. 28, 2007, against William Carey in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The Gold Nuggets made 9-of-20 free throws on their home floor after making 14-of-15 on the road in their opener.

XULA will visit NCAA Divisi
on I Louisiana-Lafayette at 2 p.m. Saturday in an exhibition for both teams.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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How NCCU football can win the league title, make a bowl – even with two losses

DURHAM, North Carolina -- A few upsets across the MEAC this weekend helped improve N.C. Central’s chances of returning to its postseason bowl on Dec. 16.

When the Eagles lost to Norfolk State, 28-21, at home on Oct. 21, their goal of winning a fourth straight MEAC was still obtainable, so was a return to the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta, but that picture wasn’t as clear.



But Bethune-Cookman and Savannah State did N.C. Central some favors this past weekend. The Wildcats upset Hampton, which was previously undefeated in the MEAC, 24-21, while Savannah State knocked off Norfolk State, 27-9, handing the Spartans their second conference loss. That leaves N.C. Central, Hampton and Howard, all 4-1 in the MEAC, in a tie for second place in the league. N.C. Central, which defeated Delaware State, 42-14, this past weekend, travels to Hampton on Saturday for the first matchup between the two schools since 2014.

That game will basically serve as an elimination game. The loser will then have two losses, making it difficult to share the league title. However, there is precedent for a split with at least two losses. In 2014 there was a five-way share for the MEAC title.

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