Texas Southern Lady Tigers Downs New Mexico State Aggies

EL PASO, Texas – The New Mexico State women's basketball team traveled to take on Texas Southern in the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic at the Don Haskins Center on Friday afternoon. The Aggies fell to the Lady Tigers 66-50 to open the tournament.

NM State (2-3) began the contest with an 8-0 run in the first quarter. The Aggies lead dwindled late when TSU (1-3) scored eight–straight to tie the game at 14-14. Monique Mills hit a three-pointer with less than a minute remaining in the opening period, putting NM State ahead 17-14 at the break.

New Mexico State fell behind early as the Lady Tigers went on a five-point run to start the second quarter. Mills ended the Texas Southern rally by nailing a three-pointer and converting her free-throw on the play. The back-and-forth action continued but NM State maintained a single-point advantage as the team went to the locker room leading 25-24.

The Aggies started the second half on a seven-point run with Gia Pack hitting back-to-back jumpers and Brooke Salas nailing a shot from behind the arc. The Lady Tigers did not go away quietly as the team closed the gap back to a pair of points with 4:58 left in the period. NM State surged back with a Salas scoring 10-straight points for the Aggies and at the end of the third quarter, the New Mexico State squad held the 46-34 edge.

In the fourth quarter, NM State collapsed as TSU posted a 13-2 run to bring the Aggies advantage to a single point. A three-pointer by the Lady Tigers put New Mexico State behind 50-48 late in the game but a steal and layup by Salas tied the contest with 3:18 remaining. The layup proved to be the final basket the Aggies converted and Texas Southern ended the game on a 16-0 run, handing NM State the 66-50 loss.

New Mexico State was led on offensively by Salas, who posted 23 points for the Aggies. Pack recorded her second double-double of the season when she tallied 10 rebounds and 10 points. Mills was the third player from NM State to post double-figures in points with 11 total points in the game.

The Aggies continue play at the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic by facing Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 12 p.m. (MT).

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Sharpshooting UMES Hawks Fly By Jackson State Tigers in Emerald Coast Classic

NICEVILLE, Florida -- Behind hot shooting and an early second half surge, Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball established control, holding off a late Jackson State run to win 66-63 on Friday at The Arena at Northwest Florida State College.

The Hawks (2-3) now move onto the fifth-place game in the Emerald Coast Classic tomorrow, where they will meet Tennessee Tech. The Golden Eagles knocked off Omaha 86-85 earlier in the day. The teams will tip at 1:30 p.m. EST.

“I was very proud of the fight our guys gave,” said Hawks head coach Bobby Collins after the win. “That’s a very talented basketball team we played, but today the ball just fell our way, and I thought we were very deserving of that.”

Down 45-43 with 15:15 to play, The Shore evened things up behind an Ahmad Frost (Cincinnati, Ohio) layup. Frost was fouled on the play and missed the free throw but tipped out his own rebound to teammate Logan McIntosh (Atlanta, Georgia), who drove in and drew his own foul before hitting a pair of shots to put his team up 47-45 at the 14:47 mark.

After a LeAndre Thomas (St. Petersburg, Florida) block on the defensive end, Cameron Bacote (Norfolk, Virginia) pushed it in transition and found an open Tyler Jones (Atlantic City, New Jersey) for a layup. Bacote then ripped down a board at the other end and again found Jones, who drained a three from straightaway to make it 52-45 with 13:41 to play, capping a 9-0 run over just over a minute.

The Hawks kept the Tigers (1-4) at an arm’s length for most of the rest of the second half. Colen Gaynor’s (Berlin, Maryland) three at the 8:48 mark made it 57-49 and capped a spectacular day for Gaynor. The freshman led the Hawks with a career-high 15 points on a perfect 5-for-5 from long range.

“I was proud to see Colen shoot the ball as well as he shot the ball,” said Collins of his local standout’s career game. “He was really in the dumps earlier, I’ve been riding him pretty hard, but he really stepped up and did some things today.”

Eastern Shore led by as many as nine with five minutes to go, but Jackson State hung around thanks to several missed Hawk free throws down the stretch. Chace Franklin’s layup with 37 seconds to go got the Tigers within one possession at 64-61, and a botched inbound play gave possession right back to JSU. Franklin immediately took a deep three from the wing that hit nothing but air. Jeremiah Jefferson got the offensive rebound and scrambled for the left corner, but his three clanged off the bottom of the iron and into Jones’ hands. Jones hit 1-of-2 ensuing free throws to make it a two-possession game and then hit another after a JSU miss with two seconds left. Jackson State hit a shot at the buzzer to give the game its final margin.

Jones recorded his first career double-double on the afternoon, scoring 13 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. McIntosh played 37 minutes in his return to the lineup after a back injury, contributing 10 points, three boards, three assists, and two steals, in addition to a calming hand in the backcourt.

“It was great having Logan McIntosh back to give us some stability,” said Collins. “He broke the defense down and was finding the right guys all day. He does a lot for us.”

Eastern Shore fell behind by as many as nine in the first half, trailing 29-20 with 5:44 to play. A Jones three within that minute started the comeback, then Gaynor hit back-to-back treys from the left corner to make it 31-29. JSU responded with a Maurice Rivers three-point play, but Gaynor’s hot hand again connected to make it 34-32 with 3:23 before the break. Down 37-32 inside of two minutes to go, Bacote spotted up from deep on the right wing for three, and McIntosh went up for a rebound and bobbed through the defense for a coast-to-coast layup, tying things at 37-37 and giving the Hawks all the momentum going into the locker room.

Jefferson led the Tigers with 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting, while Franklin added 18 of his own.

The Hawks lit up the scoreboard all afternoon, shooting 50 percent (19-for-38) from the floor and hitting 11-of-18 from downtown, including 9-of-12 threes in the first half.

Eastern Shore wraps up play in the Emerald Coast Classic on Saturday afternoon against Tennessee Tech. Tip from The Arena at Northwest Florida State College is set for 1:30 p.m. EST. Saturday’s game will be broadcast locally on flagship radio station Fox Sports 960 AM WTGM and online at EasternShoreHawks.com. Pregame coverage starts at 1:15 p.m. with Will DeBoer on the call for The Shore Sports Network.

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Clemson beats Texas Southern 84-77

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CLEMSON, South Carolina — Elijah Thomas reached career-highs with 26 points and 16 rebounds to lead Clemson to an 84-77 victory over Texas Southern on Friday.  Thomas, who recorded his second double-double of the year, made 10 of 11 field goals, the most of the junior center's career.
Senior Clemson guard Gabe DeVoe scored 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting and made all five of his 3-pointers, all career-highs.

"Both of those guys had subpar games (last game) against Temple and felt awful about it," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "Just didn't play very well. Those guys in a lot of ways won the game for us today."

Donte Grantham and Shelton Mitchell added 10 points each for the home team.  The ACC Tigers enjoyed a nice afternoon of shooting as they hit a season-high 61 percent from the field and connected on seven 3-pointers.

"This was a good win for our team. Texas Southern is talented," Brownell said. "They're hard to guard. We knew that coming in. We held them to 40 percent shooting. They play four guards and a 7-footer. They can all make 3s and they can drive right by you."

Demontrae Jefferson led Texas Southern with 22 points on 7-of-18 field goals. Kevin Scott added 14 points while Derrick Bruce chipped in with 12 points.

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Boyd leads Grambling Lady Tigers past McNeese Cowgirls

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana | Jazmin Boyd led three Grambling State University women's basketball players in double figures with 18 points as the Lady Tigers used a big first-half run in a 75-60 victory over McNeese on Wednesday afternoon in Burton Coliseum.
 
Grambling State (2-3) trailed 13-5 early in the first quarter, but used a 14-2 run over the final five minutes to grab a 19-15 lead. The Cowgirls (2-2) cut the margin to two a few times, but could not get past the Lady Tigers.
 
Boyd finished with 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, five assists and four rebounds. Monisha Neal and Deja McKinney each added 17 points, as both players sank three 3-pointers. Neal and Takerra Parsons led the way on the glass with eight boards. Shakyla Hill added nine points, a team-high six assists, six rebounds, two steals and one block.
 
Keara Hudall paced McNeese with 21 points, on 9-of-23 shooting, and four rebounds. Caitlin Davis tallied 17 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals.
 
Turning Point
McNeese raced out to a 13-5 advantage after a Caitlin Davis free throw with 5:21 left in the opening quarter, but Grambling State rallied and closed the first quarter strong as the Lady Tigers used a 14-2 run over the final five minutes to grab a 19-15 lead.
 
The Cowgirls cut the deficit to 26-24 after a 3-pointer by Gabby Guidry with 4:32 left, but again the Lady Tigers answered and pushed the margin to 33-26 after a Deja McKinney 3-pointer with 1:42 remaining in the first half.
 
McNeese trimmed the margin to 33-31 after a Keara Hudnall 3-pointer, but Grambling State got a layup by Shakyla Hill at the buzzer to take a 35-31 advantage into the break.
 
The Lady Tigers came out of the break and used an 11-4 run, capped by a McKinney layup, to extend the Grambling State lead to 44-36 with 6:15 left in the third.
 
Grambling State dominated the third quarter and outscored McNeese, 24-12, to take a 60-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The Lady Tigers pushed the margin to 67-45 after a Boyd layup with 8:02 left and the Cowgirls could never recover as Grambling State picked up its second win of the season.
 
Inside the Numbers
· Grambling State shot 43.1 percent (28-of-65) from the field and 75 percent (10-of-25) from the free-throw line.
· The Lady Tigers sank 10 3-pointers and shot 40 percent from behind the arc.
· McNeese was 20-of-52 shooting (38.5 percent) from the floor and 60 percent (15-of-25) from the charity stripe.
· The Lady Tigers registered 44 rebounds, including 25 off the defensive glass.
· The Cowgirls tallied 31 rebounds, with 12 of those coming on the offensive end.
· Grambling State finished with 39 bench points, 32 points in the paint, 23 points off 16 Cowgirl turnovers and 19 second-chance points.
· McNeese registered 20 points in the paint, 20 points off 20 Grambling State turnovers, nine second-chance points and eight bench points.
· There were no ties and just one lead change.
 
News and Notes
· Grambling State got back into the win column after back-to-back losses to Xavier and Florida State.
· The Lady Tigers will take seven days off before playing host to Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 30
· The Southeastern Louisiana game will be the final home game for the Lady Tigers in 2017.
· With the win, Grambling State improved to 6-2 all-time against McNeese.

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Up Next
Grambling State returns to action on Thursday, Nov. 30 against Southeastern Louisiana. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Fredrick C. Hodby Assembly Center.
 
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For complete coverage of Grambling State athletics, please follow the Tigers on social media at @GSU_Tigers (Twitter), /gramblingstateathletics (Facebook), @gramblingathletics01 (Instagram) or visit the official home of Grambling State Athletics at gsutigers.com.

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Bayou Classic gameday: Turnovers could play a big role — again — in deciding the Bayou Classic

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana -- In last year’s Bayou Classic, Grambling did to Southern what Southern had been doing to other teams all season — it capitalized on just about every Southern mistake.

The Jaguars led all Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams with 32 forced turnovers last season, but in the 2016 Bayou Classic it was Grambling that made those turnovers count.

A promising 12-play, 88-yard Southern drive ended in the first quarter when Austin Howard fumbled at the 1-yard line. On the Jaguars’ next drive, a Howard interception turned into a short field and a Grambling touchdown.



“If you look at the turning point in the game a year ago, it was turnovers,” said Southern coach Dawson Odums.

Southern is hoping to flip the script in this year’s edition of the game.

Entering Saturday, Grambling is leading the Southwestern Athletic Conference and is ranked second among FCS teams in turnover margin (+19). The Tigers’ 26 turnovers forced rank No. 6 nationally.

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Hampton AD looking for 'CEO-type coach'

HAMPTON, Virginia -- In his first interview since Connell Maynor’s resignation as football coach, Hampton University athletic director Eugene Marshall offered few specifics. There was no timetable and no list of names.

But Marshall did describe the type of candidate he hopes to hire.

“We want a CEO-type coach who can run a program,” Marshall said Tuesday afternoon. “Someone who can attract or retain quality assistant coaches. We want everybody to know we want talent in the 757 to come to Hampton.”

Asked to explain what he meant by “CEO-type,” Marshall gave an example of college football’s most recognized coach.

“If you look at how Nick Saban runs his program at Alabama, he’s a CEO,” Marshall said. “And you don’t have to be at Alabama to run a program like that. We have a football program, not a football team.”

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Celts defeat Gold Rush 63-61 in closing seconds

HOUSTON, Texas -- Xavier University of Louisiana freshman Rayshawn Mart scored a career-high 16 points Wednesday, but St. Thomas (Texas) rallied in the final 2 1/2 minutes for a 63-61 men's basketball victory.

The Celts (5-1) won their fifth in a row and snapped the two-game win streak of the Gold Rush (6-3). XULA has dropped three straight on the road.

Virgil Davison's fourth 3-pointer of the game gave the Gold Rush a 57-54 lead with 2:32 remaining. XULA grabbed its final lead, 61-60, on Mart's basket with 24 seconds to play.

Paul Taulton's basket with 14 seconds remaining put St. Thomas ahead to stay, 62-61. After a XULA turnover on the next possession, Bryon Makel made 1-of-2 free throws for the Celts with one second remaining.

Mart, scoring in double figures for the second straight game and the fourth time this season, was 6-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the line in 24 minutes. Davison scored 14 points, and Jeff Dixon had eight points and five assists. Elex Carter had team highs of six rebounds and two blocked shots.

Makel scored 13 points and Taulton 10.

XULA trailed 30-21 at halftime after being outscored 20-5 in the final 11 minutes, but the Gold Rush got back in contention by shooting 55.6 percent from the floor in the second half. There were 10 ties and eight lead changes in the final period.

For the game, XULA outshot St. Thomas 44.2 to 35.8 percent from the floor. But the Celts were plus-10 in turnovers, committing 12 and gaining 22. St. Thomas produced 11 steals, four by Lennard Robinson.

The Gold Rush will break for Thanksgiving, then resume the schedule next Wednesday at 7 p.m. against NAIA No. 2 LSU-Alexandria at the Convocation Center. It'll be a doubleheader, with the Gold Nuggets and LSUA tipping off at 5.

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Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
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