Xavier takes on Tougaloo in basketball finales at The Barn

NEW ORLEANS — Monday at The Barn should be filled with people and emotion.

Not only will Xavier University of Louisiana play its final basketball games in its 75-year-old gymnasium, but it also will be senior night with five honorees from the Gold Nuggets and four from the Gold Rush.

But on a night of goodbyes and looking toward the future, will the Nuggets and Rush say goodbye to their chances of winning Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championships?

There's urgency for the XU women, who will play Tougaloo at 5:30 p.m. The Nuggets are 8-2 in the GCAC and tied for first place with Talladega with three conference games remaining for each after Monday. Tougaloo is third at 8-3 and already has a victory against the Nuggets. The Lady Bulldogs will try for their first regular-season sweep of Xavier since the 1977-78 season.

The urgency is greater in the men's game, when the Rush meet Tougaloo at 7:30 p.m., Xavier must win to prevent the Bulldogs from clinching their third GCAC regular-season title in six seasons. The Rush are 7-3 in the conference and in second place but trail Tougaloo (10-1) by 2½ games.

A packed house of 1,300 is expected. Longtime XU president Dr. Norman Francis will briefly address the crowd, as will others. Souvenir T-shirts will be given to the first 100 XU students through the door; more shirts will be sold for $10 each.

Senior Nuggets Jasmine Grant, Keldra Hall, Jazmoné Kelly, Danielle
Kennebrew, Brandi Young will be honored at halftime of their game. The men's senior night will precede tip-off of the second game, with Cordell Hadnot, Chris Iles, Jeremy Lee and medical-school-bound Jamaan Kenner receiving their curtain calls.

Then the curtain finally will fall on The Barn, which was dedicated on Nov. 2, 1937, by Archbishop Joseph Rummel of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and played host to its first basketball game on Dec. 29 of that year — a 32-19 Xavier men's victory against Alabama State. Regarded for decades as a difficult environment for visiting teams, The Barn will be razed after the completion of the 4,500-seat Convocation Academic Center later this year.

The Barn is expected to play host to most, if not all, XU home women's volleyball matches this fall, but the CAC is expected to be ready in November for the start of the 2012-13 basketball season.

Not surprisingly, both the Rush and the Nuggets are leaving The Barn on a high note. The XU men won 32 of their past 35 home games, and the women won 121 of their past 129, including a current streak of 21 straight in conference. No GCAC opponent has swept a doubleheader at Xavier since SUNO on Feb. 7, 2002. Since that double defeat, Xavier has swept 31 GCAC doubleheaders on the road.

The Barn acquired its name in the 1960s because of a then-wood exterior and cavernous interior. But the facility no longer resembles a barn. The interior was enlarged and air-conditioned, and 1987 renovations — inspired by Pope John Paul II’s visit to New Orleans and his celebration of Mass in the nearby XU quadrangle — replaced the wooden exterior with brick.

The Barn underwent additional renovations during 2005-06 because of the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Xavier suspended its athletics program for that entire year after the university endured considerable storm damages, which included two feet of flood water in the gym. But by July '06 the facility had been renovated — including Jackson State University’s generous loan of a wooden basketball court — and The Barn was ready for the return of the athletics department’s staff, coaches and teams.

Since that hurricane, the Rush and Nuggets have combined to win 87 percent of their games at The Barn in six seasons (78-17 men, 85-8 women). The volleyball Nuggets, in their fourth season, finally stepped up in 2011, winning eight of nine home matches and their first GCAC regular-season and tournament championships.

"That's the interesting question," said Bo Browder, in his 13th season as head coach of the Nuggets and the proud owner of a 169-16 record at The Barn. "What will it be like for Xavier in the new arena? It'll definitely be nice, a major upgrade — something we've needed for a long time. The Barn has been a great home-court advantage for our teams, but I've always thought the players have had the greatest influence on our success. I think it'll stay that way in the new arena."

The Convocation Academic Center will be across Washington Avenue and near the main campus on a site bounded by Short, Palm and Stroelitz streets — one block from South Carrollton Avenue.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

Upcoming Games at The Barn

Feb. 13 (Mon.) — Women's Basketball vs. Tougaloo, 5:30 p.m. live webcast
Feb. 13 (Mon.) — Men's Basketball vs. Tougaloo, 7:30 p.m. live webcast

Bid farewell to The Barn on Feb. 13 — the new Convocation Academic Center will become the new home of XU basketball for the 2012-13 season. 

XU students with valid XU identification card admitted are free at The Barn.

Nicholls State Colonels Men's Tennis Edged by Florida A&M, 4-3

THIBODAUX, Louisiana – The Nicholls State University men’s tennis team hosted Florida A&M on Saturday at the Colonel Tennis Complex and came up short, falling 4-3 to the Rattlers.

With the loss, Nicholls drops to 1-2 while Florida A&M improves to 4-4.

The duos of Dmitry Kozionov/Shayann Vaezzadeh and Damjan Despotovski/Roy Knight picked up wins for the Colonels in doubles action, giving Nicholls a 1-0 lead. Kozionov/Vaezzadeh earned an 8-3 win at the No. 2 slot against Fabrice Myrtil/Temuera Asafu-Adjaye, while Despotovski/Knight clinched the point with an 8-6 victory at No. 3 versus Levan Clark/Takura Happy. At the No. 1 position, Sidharth Sivakumar/Palash Tiwari fell 8-3 to Salif Kante/Chidi Gabriel, preventing the sweep for the Colonels.

In singles action, Despotovski (No. 2) and Sivakumar (No. 5) were victorious in straight-sets, winning 6-4, 6-1 and 6-3, 6-4, respectively; however, FAMU went on to claim the remaining four points to take the match.

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Virginia State Lady Trojans Crowned 2012 CIAA Indoor Track & Field Champions

HAMPTON, Virginia - The Lady Trojans won their first ever CIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on February 12, 2012 with an overall team score of 105 points at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton, VA. Samantha Edwards (senior/ Elmont, NY) and Taylor-Ashley Bean (freshman/ Sandys, Bermuda) were both named CIAA Women’s Track MVPs.

Samantha Edwards won the women’s 400m dash with the fastest time in the Nation (53.95) and placed second in the women’s 200 meter dash event (24.85), also a NCAA qualifier.

Taylor-Ashley Bean won the women’s 1 mile run (5:21.50) and won the women’s 3000 meter run (11:35.87).

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Sierra Clayton (senior/ Chesapeake, VA) won the women’s 800m run (2:19.72),placed sixth in the women’s high jump (1.56m),and placed third in the women’s 1 mile run (5:25.93).

The Lady Trojans team of Sierra Clayton, Cherish Richardson (junior/ New Haven, CT), Jourdan Johnson, and Taylor-Ashley Bean won the women’s distance medley event (12:33.66).

In the women’s 800 meter run, the Lady Trojans finished with twenty-six points with runners placing first (Sierra Clayton 2:17.33), second (Samantha Edwards 2:17.36), third (Taylor-Ashley Bean 2:19.07), and fifth (Jourdan Johnson 2:20.63).

Shaundra Cook competed in the women’s pentathlon and placed second overall with 3,181 points. She placed fourth in both the women’s long jump event (5.51m) and women’s high jump event (1.59m), while placing fifth in the women’s triple jump event (11.16m)

Alicia Terry (freshman/Ronoake, VA ) placed third in the women’s triple jump event with a NCAA provisional mark of (11.66m) adding six points of her own. Milicent Barber (sophomore/ Virginia Beach, VA) placed sixth in the women’s shot put adding one point to the team’s overall total of 105.



COMPLETE RESULTS

BY VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Saint Augustine's College Falcons wins 14th Straight CIAA Men's Indoor Track Crown

HAMPTON, Virginia – Saint Augustine's College easily won its 14th straight CIAA men's indoor track and field crown at Boo Williams Sportsplex Sunday (Feb. 12), scoring 135 points to outdistance second-place Virginia State (86) and third-place Winston-Salem State (67). The Lady Falcons finished third in the women's division, scoring 83 points to finish behind Johnson C. Smith (93) and women's champion Virginia State (105).

Aaron Dudley (Jr./Suffolk, Va.) of the Falcons was named men's track MVP. He won the 800 run, placed second in the one-mile run and third in the 5000 run. Josh Edmonds (Soph./Jacksonville, Fla.) swept the 200 and 400 dashes.

Overall, the Falcons won five men's events. Other winners were Christopher Copeland (Sr./Suffolk, Va.) in the high jump, the 4x400 relay team of Kelly Fisher (Sr./Tinton Falls, N.J.), Jason Boyd (Sr./Waycross, Ga.), James Quarles (Soph./Washington, D.C.) and Edmonds.

The Falcons, ranked third in the latest USTFCCCA Division II men's poll, dominated the competition with their depth. DeJon Wilkinson (Soph./Summerville, S.C.) was second in the triple jump, and the men's distance medley of Jameel Walcott, Karym Greaves (Sr./Miami Gardens, Fla.), Anthony Boone (Jr./Upper Marlboro, Md.) and Dudley was second. Ty'reak Murray (Soph./Portsmouth, Va.) was second in the heptathlon.

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Boyd and Quarles were second and third, respectively, in the 400 dash. Alexander Louden and Eddie Shelton (Soph./Daltona, Fla.) tied for third in the high jump and Ramaan Ansley was third in the 60 dash.

Andrea Powell (Sr./Richmond, Va.) paced the Lady Falcons by winning the long jump and finishing second in the triple jump. Kelly Shaw (Jr./Winona, Minn.) was second in the 400 dash, third in the 200 dash and helped the 4x400 team consisting of Cherrisse Lynch (Fr./Barbados), Nicketa Bernard (Soph./Westmoreland, Jamaica) and Sherri-Ann Ashman (Fr./Brooklyn, N.Y.) cross the finish line first. Javairia Bacote (Soph./Patterson, N.J.) was the winner in the pentathlon.

The women's distance relay team of Monica Greene (Fr./Cary, N.C.), April London (Sr./Hampstead, N.C.), Jasmine Cobbs (Jr./Newport News, Va.) and Unique Connor (Jr./North Las Vegas, Nev.) was third. Bernard finished third in the 400 dash.



RESULTS

BY SAINT AUGUSTINE'S COLLEGE OFFICE OF SPORTS INFORMATION

HEAT Signs Former AAMU's Gladness To 10-Day Contract

MICKELL GLADNESS
6'-11" 220 CENTER
MIAMI HEAT

MIAMI, Florida – The Miami HEAT announced Sunday that they have signed center Mickell Gladness to a 10-day contract. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Gladness appeared in six games with the HEAT this season, after previously being signed by Miami on December 10, 2011, totaling two points, eight rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 21 minutes of action while connecting on his only shot from the field before being waived on February 7, 2012. Prior to that stint, Gladness was signed by the HEAT on September 27, 2010, playing in two games on the HEAT’s 2010 summer league squad, totaling eight points, five rebounds, two steals and a block in 28:53 minutes of action while shooting 2-of-4 from the field and 4-of-5 from the foul line before being waived on October 11, 2010.

Gladness, a member of the 2010 NBA Development League Champion Rio Grande Valley Vipers, has appeared in 81 career NBA D-League games (20 starts) and averaged 4.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.41 blocks and 13.9 minutes while shooting 57 percent from the field and 60.7 percent from the foul line.

During his collegiate career, Gladness appeared in 85 games (83 starts) at Alabama A&M and averaged 7.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.66 blocks and 26.8 minutes. He was named as the SWAC Defensive Player of the Year while also earning All-SWAC First Team honors in both his junior and senior seasons. He finished his junior season with 188 total blocks, the third most in NCAA history, including a game in which he set a new NCAA single-game record after blocking 16 shots vs. Texas Southern on Feb. 24, 2007.

The Miami HEAT is proud to have ASSIST-CARD as the Presenting Sponsor for the 2011-12 season.

From Miami Heat Press Release

The Scoop: The Heat waived Gladness last Tuesday to prevent his contract from becoming fully guaranteed. NBA teams can sign players for up to two 10-day deals. The Heat are officially one roster slot below the NBA limit of 15, which provides the team with the option of signing a higher profile player in the coming weeks, if any come available.  Worst case for Gladness -- he goes back to his NBA Developmental League team Rio Grande Valley and continues to work hard on becoming a better-stronger player. Best case scenario, (a) he is signed for the remainder of season by Heat; or (b) is signed to an active roster slot by another NBA team.

(beepbeep)

Southern women, MVSU Devilettes meet for first place in SWAC

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  -Nate Kilbert saw this one coming.

In 11 seasons as the women’s basketball coach at Mississippi Valley State, Kilbert has fielded one aggressive, scrappy team after another. The Devilettes trap. They press. They force turnovers, slash through the lane and score.

Several times, Kilbert has come close to winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship, only to fall a little short. This season might represent the Devilettes’ best chance yet.

At 5:30 p.m. Monday in the F.G. Clark Activity Center, Valley (12-11, 9-3) and Southern (10-9, 9-3) meet in a showdown between two teams who are tied atop the SWAC standings.

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Gold Nuggets still winless after 7-0 defeat at McNeese

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana — The McNeese State women's tennis team got what Xavier University of Louisiana is still searching for: the first dual-match victory of the season.

The Cowgirls captured every set but one Sunday and cruised to a 7-0 decision against the Gold Nuggets.

McNeese, an NCAA Division I member, is 1-5. NAIA member Xavier is 0-5. All the Nuggets' losses this season came against NCAA D-Is.

Xavier's most positive vibe again came from sophomore Kourtney Howell, who split sets with Tea Tvrtkovic at No. 1 singles before Tvrtkovic won in a super-tiebreaker. The scores were 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).

XU freshman Amanda Materre, a three-set winner Friday against Prairie View A&M at No. 3 singles, moved up to No. 2 but lost 6-3, 6-1 to Lara Pujol. McNeese clinched the dual when Diana Pirciu defeated Jordyn Goody — a freshman playing in her hometown for the first time as a collegian — 6-0, 6-1.

Xavier's men and women will play Saturday at 10 a.m. against Gulf Coast Athletic Conference opponent Tougaloo and 3 p.m. against Belhaven at the University of New Orleans Tennis Center. Both Belhaven teams are ranked in the NAIA top 25, as are Xavier's men.

RESULTS

By Ed Cassiere, SID 
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA