Gatson, Johnson Homers Not Enough to Beat Towson

TOWSON, MD. – The Howard softball team fell to the Towson Tigers in the opening game of the recently scheduled doubleheader, 5-2 on Wednesday afternoon. The Bison were unable to bounce back from the loss as the second game went unfinished as a result of weather and darkness.

Emily Johnson got points on the board first for the Lady Bison with a leadoff home run to left center. Several HU errors, however, gave the Tigers a chance to answer back with two runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the bottom of the fourth.

Samantha Gatson got Howard back on board and delivered a solo-homer to kick off the fifth inning, making it a 4-2 game. Towson went on to shutout the Lady Bison for the remainder of the game and tallied their final run in the sixth on a two-out RBI double by Rachel Miller.

Both Gatson and Johnson split the mound, but the loss went to Gatson who pitched four innings and gave up four unearned runs, four hits and two walks. She struck out one batter while Johnson took down three in her two innings in the circle. Johnson gave up one earned run on two hits. Katie Lingmai pitched the entire game for the Tigers and recorded nine strikeouts while eight Bison players garnered a hit.

The Bison topped the Tigers in hits, 8-6.

Up next, the Lady Bison softball team will look to sack a win over MEAC opponent Morgan State at home on Saturday, April 30 in the final stretch of the regular season. For more updates on the Howard softball team, visit www.howard-bison.com.

By Tiffany White, Sports Information Assistant
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Xavier Gold Rush to conduct tryouts Saturday at The Barn

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana will conduct men's basketball tryouts for the 2011-12 season on Saturday, April 30 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Barn.

Participants must bring an academic transcript. The tryout is open to current XU and junior-college students and to 12th-graders graduating in 2011.

The Barn, Xavier's gymnasium, can be found on online maps by using 3999 Short Street and the 70125 zip code.

Contact assistant coach Alfred Williams at (504) 520-6778 or awilli39@xula.edu for more information.

Xavier was 27-6 in 2010-11, ranked 17th in the final NAIA Division I poll and qualified for the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship for the fifth time in seven seasons.

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By Ed Cassiere, Sports Informaiton Director
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13 Shocking Stats That Show How NCAA Schools Are Failing At Diversity

Lack of diversity has plagued college sports for decades, and last year was no different. Minorities are well-represented on the field, but the top leadership tiers of the NCAA and its schools remained outrageously skewed toward white males.

The Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sport under Dr. Richard Lapchick at the University of Central Florida releases studies annually about the nation's major sports leagues, including college sports.

Two of its college studies are its College Bowl Study and Division I Campus Leadership Study, which focus on the level of diversity in positions of power throughout the NCAA.

Click here to see the stats >

The TIDES study excludes Division-I's SWAC and MEAC, which are conferences made of up official "Historically Black Colleges and Universities" founded before 1964, but "predominantly black" institutions are included.

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NSU to alternate two QBs to start season

Norfolk State's Chris Walley endured an up-and-down first season. During his second year, the NSU quarterback will be up and down in the lineup.

After watching transfer Nico Flores through three weeks of spring practice, Spartans coach Pete Adrian said he expects to play both quarterbacks during the first four games of the season. That stretch will serve as something of an elongated warm-up to the meat of the MEAC schedule. It includes a game against West Virginia, other non-conference games against Virginia State and Charleston Southern and the conference opener against lightly regarded Howard.

"We'll use two quarterbacks," Adrian said. "Walley ran the ball well and Nico threw the ball well this spring. We'll see how it goes in the first part of the season. If it works out well, they won't have a problem with it. They just want to go out and win."

Norfolk State's offensive line still a work in progress

After concluding three weeks of spring practice, Norfolk State is set on four of its five starting offensive linemen. But the group will still face plenty of questions next fall.

"Obviously, that whole group is going to need game experience," coach Pete Adrian said. "Until you start playing, you don't really know what you have."

Kendall Noble, the only returning starter, will begin the year at left tackle, while Michael Kay, who got significant playing time last season, will start at center. Blake Matthews and Kenneth Johnson took hold at left and right guard, respectively. Still to be decided is who will play right tackle. Adrian said three or four players are in the mix.

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Louis Williams, standout on 29-2 XU Gold Rush team, dies

Louis Theodore Williams
March 26, 1960 - April 20, 2011

NEW ORLEANS — Louis Williams, the leading scorer on Xavier University of Louisiana's 29-2 men's basketball team in 1981-82, died this past Wednesday (April 20) in Houston at age 51.

Williams died in his sleep of natural causes, his sister Dawn said.

A 6-foot-4 forward and a native of Gulfport, Miss., Williams averaged 17 points and 6.9 points per game and shot 57.4 percent from the floor to earn NAIA All-America honorable mention for Coach Denny Alexander's Gold Rush in 1981-82. Xavier lost its opener, then won 29 in a row to tie a school record for consecutive victories in one season. The XU men were 12-0 in league play during the first season of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, won the NAIA District 30 playoffs to qualify for the NAIA National Championship and ranked third in the final NAIA coaches poll.

"A tremendous athlete with fantastic leaping ability and a soft but deadly jump shot." Alexander said of Williams. "Capable of being unstoppable at times . . . sometimes he's downright awesome."

Williams was one of three freshmen from Alexander's 1979-80 team to reach 1,200 career points at Xavier. The others were Eugene Johnson and Alvin "Bo" Dukes. Williams played through his junior season and finished with 1,206 points — which still ranks him 17th on Xavier's career list — and 527 rebounds in 86 games.

Williams averaged 11.8 points and 5.1 rebounds as a freshman. As a sophomore he averaged 12.8 and 6.1 rebounds and blocked 67 shots — still a Gold Rush season record — for a 21-8 team which won the NAIA District 30 playoffs and qualified for the national tourney for the first time in eight seasons.

His single-game highs included 34 points at Paul Quinn on Jan. 11, 1982, 17 rebounds at Dillard on Feb. 14, 1981, and nine blocked shots against Philander Smith in the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Tournament on Dec. 19, 1980.

As a senior at Harrison Central High School in 1978-79, Williams averaged 19 points and 16 rebounds.

"Sweet Lou was the best," Dawn Williams said. "He was everyone's best friend. He would sit on his front porch and talk to everybody who passed by."

Williams is survived by six daughters and 16 siblings. A Mass of Christian burial will start at 10 a.m. Monday (May 2) at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church, 3521 19th Street in Gulfport, MS 39501, phone 228-863-0642. Burial will follow at Monroe Memorial Park at the corner of Canal and Hutter roads in Gulfport. In lieu of flowers, the Williams family requests donations to Dawn Williams accounts at Wells Fargo Bank or Hancock Bank to help defray funeral expenses.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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Hampton Pirates bulk up with three basketball signee

Ed Joyner's 2011 recruiting class at Hampton University is proof it pays to be persistent — and that it helps to be a little lucky.

In addition to Phoebus product Dashawn Stitt, who verbally committed to Hampton in January, Joyner also has signed two players from Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, N.C., which went 26-4 and finished the 2010-11 season ranked No. 1 in North Carolina and No. 25 in the country by MaxPreps.

The Pirates were originally focused on recruiting 6-foot-5 shooting guard Keron Brown, who averaged 14 points and six rebounds last season, Joyner said. Dwight Meikle, his 6-8 power forward/guard combo teammate who averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, verbally committed to St. John's in November.

But when Meikle was released from that commitment last Wednesday, Joyner was waiting.

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Videographer: wworldp; Hampton University Campus Tour

Videographer: wworldp; Emancipation Oak at Hampton University

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Parkland star Bowman picks Delaware State over WSSU

Miles Bowman Jr., of Parkland won't be playing college basketball in his hometown after all. Bowman, a versatile 6-foot-6 senior who had previously committed to Winston-Salem State, switched gears on Monday and signed with Delaware State, a Division I program that competes in the MEAC.

Coach Carlos Mumford of Parkland — a former basketball player at WSSU — said that Bowman had wanted a shot at playing in Division I and couldn't turn down the offer from Delaware State, which is coached by Greg Jackson, a former coach at N.C. Central.

"I am just happy for the kid," Mumford said. "I am a Ram, but once you have a kid with his mind set on something, you want what's best for the kid.

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