XU Gold Rush are ninth in NAIA preseason coaches poll



ZACH TAYLOR
5' 8"/160 SENIOR
MONROE, LOUISIANA
ST. FREDERICK (VENTURA JC)



NEW ORLEANS -- Xavier University of Louisiana is beginning the 2012 men's tennis season the way it finished 2011: among the top 10 NAIA teams in the country.

The Gold Rush are ninth in the preseason coaches poll announced Tuesday. The XU men were eighth -- their highest ranking ever -- in the final poll a year ago and reached the second round of the NAIA National Championship for the third consecutive season.

Beginning with the poll of April 4, 2007, Xavier has been in every men's top 25.

This is the first Xavier team to earn a preseason top-10 ranking since the women's basketball team was seventh to start 1997-98.

In the women's tennis preseason poll, Xavier collected one point did not make the top 25. The Gold Nuggets had appeared in 44 consecutive top 25s before that streak ended in 2011.

Both Xavier teams, losers to Tulane in their openers during the weekend, will play the University of New Orleans at 4 p.m. Friday at City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center. The duals were pushed back from Wednesday by mutual agreement of coaches Alan Green of Xavier and Burzis Kanga of UNO.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Scores That Matters!!

January 30, 2012

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL



MEAC
Hampton 74, Morgan State 60
Coppin State 61, Norfolk State 58
Maryland Eastern Shore 54, North Carolina Central 46
Howard 69, South Carolina State 46
North Carolina A&T 57, Delaware State 49

OVC
Tennessee-Martin 105, Tennessee State 90

GCAC
Southern-New Orleans 64, Dillard 62 (1/31/12)
Talladega 75, Edward Waters 62
Tougaloo 65, Philander Smith 46
William Carey 62, Xavier 59
Fisk vs. Selma

SWAC
Jackson State 59, Arkansas Pine Bluff 51
Mississippi Valley State 63, Grambling State 55
Alabama State 68, Texas Southern 47
Alabama A&M 55, Prairie View A&M 53

SIAC
Stillman 85, Benedict 78 (O.T.)
Tuskegee 61, Paine 49

CIAA
Johnson C. Smith 70, Winston Salem State 61
Shaw 79, Fayetteville State 51
St. Augustine's 86, Livingstone 76
Virginia State 75, Bowie State 58
Virginia Union 45, Lincoln Pa. 41

OTHER
Paul Quinn TX 85, Southwest New Mexico 79
Martin Methodist TN 83, Allen SC 59
Point Park Pa. 83, Wilberforce OH 58
Missouri Valley

1/30/12
Langston OK 88, St. Thomas TX 43
Wiley TX 61, Texas Wesleyan 58
SAGU TX 58, Huston-Tillotson TX 52
Jarvis Christian TX 69, Bacone OK 56



MEN'S BASKETBALL

MEAC
Delaware State 56, North Carolina A&T 41
Howard 82, South Carolina State 76
Coppin State 87, Norfolk State 82
Hampton 68, Morgan State 63
North Carolina Central 77, Maryland Eastern Shore 46

OVC
Tennessee State 77, Austin Peay 57

GCAC
Talladega 70, Edward Waters 62
Tougaloo 88, Philander Smith 59
Xavier 63, William Carey 47

SIAC
Tuskegee 79, Paine 74
Stillman 76, Benedict 73

CIAA
Bowie State 58, Virginia State 48
Lincoln Pa. 86, Virginia Union 81 (O.T.)
Shaw 92, Fayetteville State 84 (2 O.T.)
Johnson C. Smith 76, Winston Salem State 70
Livingstone 64, St. Augustine's 61

OTHER (1/31/12)
Mountain State 85, Voorhees SC 81
Point Park Pa. 88, Wilberforce OH 71
Missouri Valley 61, Harris-Stowe State Mo. 54

1/30/12
St. Thomas TX 51, Langston OK 47
Texas Wesleyan 103, Wiley TX 95
Morris SC 92, Coker 87
Jarvis Christian TX 109, Bacone OK 73
Martin Methodist TN 65, Oakwood College 60

BASEBALL 1/31/12
St. Thomas FL 10, Florida Memorial 5
Belhaven MS 11, Tougaloo 1

1/30/12
Huston-Tillotson TX 8, Northwestern Oklahoma St. 6
Northwestern Oklahoma State 7, Huston-Tillotson TX 5
Shorter Ga. 12, Edward Waters 3

AAMU Bulldogs rally from 20 points down to beat PV Panthers

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Alabama A&M had struggled closing out games heading into Monday night's Southwestern Athletic Conference contest against Prairie View. In five of their SWAC losses, the Bulldogs were in position to win all of them. Instead, they lost all of them.

A&M suffered a pair of three-point losses, a five-point loss, a six-point loss and fell by 12 Saturday night against Texas Southern in a game it trailed by five points with just less than seven minutes to play. Things changed Monday night.

The Bulldogs, down by as many as 20 points with four minutes into the second half, battled back and then dominated the second half en route to a 64-52 victory over the Panthers before an announced crowd of 1,252 at Elmore Gym.

READ MORE

This one may live as a milestone victory for A&M's Willie Hayes

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- There's not all that much to sift through for comparison. Not for a new head coach, especially having played a schedule where it wasn't a matter of whether the team might lose, but simply by how much.

This was Willie Hayes' fifth win as Alabama A&M's head basketball coach. It was his 18th game. None has been sweeter. None may be more important.
None was more astounding.

"So far, it would be (the most gratifying)," Hayes said late Monday night after the Bulldogs' 64-54 win over Prairie View, a victory that left him fielding handshakes and hugs all the way to the locker room.

READ MORE

Hampton Lady Pirates bounce Morgan State, 74-60

HAMPTON, Virginia — His team bounced back from its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference defeat in 20 games with a win against Morgan State on Monday night, but Hampton women's basketball coach David Six wasn't exactly what you'd call happy.

"We're not going to win a championship like that. I can tell you that," Six said. "We've got to commit to the defensive end of the floor."

Morgan State shot 24-of-60 from the floor (40 percent) and 8-of-22 from 3-point range – a percentage of 36.4 that is 16 points higher than the season average of HU opponents. The Lady Bears also edged the Lady Pirates 24-23 in defensive rebounds.

The Lady Pirates (16-4, 8-1 MEAC) came into Monday's game ranked fifth in the nation in scoring defense, giving up 49.8 points per game, and had held 14 opponents to less than 60 points and 10 to less than 50.

READ MORE 

Shaw beats Fayetteville, takes 10th straight victory

RALEIGH, North Carolina -- Aslea Williams led four players in double figures with 21 points as Shaw downed Fayetteville State 79-51 on Monday night at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium for its 10th straight victory.

Kyria Buford added 15 points and nine rebounds and Sequoyah Griffin had 14 points and Brittany Ransom 11 for the Bears (14-5, 9-0), who remain unbeaten in CIAA play.

The Broncos (7-10, 2-7) played well early, and were effective defensively, holding Shaw to just 36 percent shooting from the floor in the first half.

But Buford hit 3-pointers on three straight possessions, spurring a 13-0 run to give Shaw a 36-16 lead with 4 minutes, 7 seconds to go in the half.

READ MORE

Mooney leads Lincoln to tough OT win

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pennsylvania  -  The Lincoln University men’s basketball team recovered from its heartbreaking loss just two days ago and gave Virginia Union its first CIAA Northern Division loss as the Lions knocked off the Panthers, 86-81, in overtime on Monday night at Manuel Rivero Hall.

“I am happy to get the win,” Lincoln head coach John Hill said. “We are a fragile team and to go into overtime for the second night in a row, I just didn’t know if we were going to be able to bounce back. I’m glad the basketball gods really shined on us and allowed us to make a few plays and we were able to win tonight.”

Denzel Mooney did most of his damage at the free-throw line as he poured in a season-high 28 points, 16 of them coming at the charity stripe, to lead Lincoln (9-12 overall, 4-6 CIAA). Kenny Sharpe added 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Derrick Washington chipped in with 13 points as the Lions shot 48 percent from the floor.

READ MORE

"Little Stevie" Joyner making his mark at WSSU

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina  –  One of the advantages of getting to Brayboy Gym early on Monday night was a chance to talk with Steve Joyner Sr. and his son Steve Jr., who were getting ready for their respective games.

Joyner Sr., a near-legendary figure and coach of the Johnson C. Smith men, is one of my favorites around the CIAA. He’s a Winston-Salem native and former star of the old Atkins High School who grew up just down the street from where Big House Gaines and his wife, Clara, lived.



And Steve Jr., who is the women’s coach at Winston-Salem State, is fast becoming a rising star in the coaching world around the CIAA. Steve Jr., in just a year and half on the job at WSSU, has turned the Rams into a real contender for the CIAA title in March.

The Rams women wound up ...

READ MORE