Gold Rush hold off Fisk 68-61, reach GCAC semifinals

JACKSONVILLE, Florida -- Anthony Simmons scored a season-high 19 points Thursday to help NAIA No. 18 Xavier University of Louisiana defeat Fisk 68-61 in the quarterfinals of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.

Simmons and Denzell Erves, both All-GCAC players, scored 11 points apiece in the second half to move the second-seeded Gold Rush (23-7) into an 8 p.m. Friday semifinal against third-seeded SUNO or sixth-seeded Edward Waters. SUNO and EWC were scheduled to meet at 8 p.m. Thursday.

"We've depended a lot on our inside game, mainly Anthony and Denzell, down the stretch this season," XU coach Dannton Jackson said. "They came through for us again. When they continue to be active around the basket, make shots and play defense, they'll cause problems for other teams."

Erves scored all 11 of his points and grabbed all eight of his rebounds in the second half. Jamaan Kenner, Cordell Hadnot and Wanto Joseph scored eight points apiece for Xavier, which has won five straight, 9-of-10 and 16-of-19.

Cameron Lewis scored 21 points -- 15 in the first half -- Jewaun Wynn 16 and Bradley Grayson 12 for seventh-seeded Fisk (6-23), which lost by 24 points at home to the Rush 10 days ago. But the Bulldogs had some bite Thursday, making five 3-pointers in each half and blocking seven XU shots.

"My hat's off to Fisk," Jackson said. "They played hard, they played us tough. They did a good job."

Xavier led for the final 26:50 but needed an 16-1 run to erase Fisk's largest lead, 19-12. Hadnot's basket put the Rush ahead to stay at 20-19, and Xavier led 30-25 at halftime.

Kenner's two free throws with 9:41 remaining gave Xavier its largest lead, 51-39. Fisk closed to 53-49 on Wynn's 3-pointer at 5:11 but didn't get closer.

Xavier outshot the Bulldogs 44.6 to 32.1 percent from the the floor and outrebounded them 45-34. It was the fourth game in a row and the 14th time this season that the Rush had a double-digit rebound advantage. It was the fifth straight game an XU opponent shot 33.3 percent or worse from the floor.

"That's been the way we've won lately," Jackson said. "Do a good job on the boards, keep teams to the low 30s from the field and the low 60s on the scoreboard.

"It wasn't a pretty game for us, but we survived and advanced, which everybody's trying to do this time of the year."

NOTES: Xavier is 50-13 since the start of the 2010-11 season. It's the first time since 1980-82 that the Gold Rush won that many times over two consecutive seasons.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Gold Nuggets use fast start to foil Fisk in GCAC quarters

SiMon Franklin
All-GCAC

JACKSONVILLE, Florida — SiMon Franklin scored 12 points Thursday, and NAIA No. 20 Xavier University of Louisiana used two first-half runs to roll to a 73-49 women's basketball victory against Fisk in the quarterfinals of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Gold Nuggets (23-8), the tournament's No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion, won their fifth in a row and for the 16th time in 19 games. They'll play fifth-seeded Tougaloo in the semifinals at 2 p.m. EST Friday.

Xavier outscored the Lady Bulldogs 13-2 in the first four minutes — Franklin opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and Jasmine Grant made two more — then the Nuggets used a 21-0 burst which covered nearly nine minutes to take a 36-6 lead at 5:05.

"That was a great start for us," said 13th-year XU coach Browder, who won in the quarterfinals for the 10th straight time. "Hopefully we can start fast every game the rest of the season."

The Nuggets' 39-15 halftime lead was their largest at the break since a 39-11 advantage at home against Concordia (Ala.) on Jan. 6, 2011.

Franklin, an All-GCAC guard, led the Nuggets in scoring for the eighth time this season and reached double figures for the 17th time to tie Keldra Hall for the team lead. She was 5-of-7 from the floor with three rebounds, two assists, two steals and zero turnovers in 18 minutes. She was Xavier's only double-figure scorer, but 14 Nuggets scored.

Grant scored nine points — she made 3-of-9 3-pointers, giving her 69 made for the season and 189 in four years — and Carmen Holcombe and Brandi Young scored eight apiece. Xavier made five 3-pointers in the first 13 minutes and finished with seven, one less than its season best.

Reserve point guard Paige Gauthier led Xavier with six assists and five rebounds.

Lynette Waters scored 15 points, 10 in the second half, and Tiffany Wynn 10 for eighth-seeded Fisk (4-25), which finished the season with a 10-game losing streak.

Fisk outshot Xavier 41.3 to 39.1 percent from the floor, but the Nuggets were plus-11 in turnovers — Fisk committed 25, Xavier 14 — and had a 39-34 rebound advantage. Fisk dressed just seven players, and Xavier had a 36-4 advantage in bench scoring. The Nuggets committed a season-low 11 fouls and produced 17 steals.

Tougaloo, a 69-53 winner against fourth-seeded Dillard, and Xavier split their two regular-season meetings.

NOTES: Xavier is 13-1 all-time in GCAC quarterfinal games. The Nuggets had a bye in the 2011 quarterfinals, when the conference had six members . . . Grant, an All-GCAC guard, and Young led the Nuggets with three steals apiece. Grant became the 20th XU female to reach 200 steals in a career, and Young improved her career total to 197. Jazmoné Kelly had two steals and is ninth all-time with 236.

Box score

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Scores That Matters!!

March 1, 2012

MEN'S BASKETBALL

SWAC
Arkansas Pine Bluff 78, Mississippi Valley State 67
Southern 64, Prairie View A&M 63
Alabama State 63, Grambling State 61
Texas Southern 54, Alcorn State 51
Alabama A&M 73, Jackson State 53

* Regular Season Conference Champions: MVSU, 17-1 SWAC, 18-12 Overall

MEAC
Savannah State 73, Maryland Eastern Shore 54
Norfolk State 72, North Carolina A&T 65
Delaware State 82, South Carolina State 71
Bethune-Cookman 88, Coppin State 80
North Carolina Central 60, Hampton 45
Morgan State 74, Florida A&M 68

*Regular Season Conference Champions: SSU, 14-2 MEAC, 21-10 Overall

GCAC Tournament
Xavier 68, Fisk 61
Philander Smith 77, Talladega 73
Tougaloo 67, Dillard 45

* GCAC Regular Season Co-Champions: Xavier University, 11-3 GCAC, 23-7 Overall and Tougaloo College, 11-3 GCAC, 21-7 Overall

CIAA Tournament Quarter-Finals
Elizabeth City State 64, Johnson C. Smith 56
Bowie State 72, Livingstone 68
Winston-Salem State 56, Virginia Union 55
Shaw University 90, Fayetteville State 77

SIAC Tournament Quarter-Finals
Benedict 86, Stillman 85 (2OT)
LeMoyne-Owen 55, Albany State 51

NAIA
AMC Tournament - Quarter-Finals
Hannibal-LaGrange MO 59, Harris-Stowe State MO 56

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

SWAC
Mississippi Valley State 65,  Arkansas Pine Bluff 47
Alabama A&M 65, Jackson State 43
Alabama State 55, Grambling State 48
Alcorn State 52, Texas Southern 31
Prairie View A&M 73, Southern 53

*SWAC Regualr Season Champion: MVSU, 14-4 SWAC, 17-12 Overall

MEAC
Hampton 86, North Carolina Central 35
Florida A&M 88, Morgan State 57
Coppin State 58, Bethune-Cookman 55
Norfolk State 54, North Carolina A&T 51
Maryland Eastern Shore 47, Savannah State 42
Delaware State 55, South Carolina State 53

* MEAC Regular Season Champion: Hampton, 15-1 MEAC, 23-4 Overall

GCAC Tournament
Xavier 73, Fisk 49
Tougaloo 69, Dillard 53
Talladega 64, Philander Smith 53

* Regular Season GCAC Champions: Xavier University,  12-2 GCAC, 24-8 Overall

SIAC Tourament Quarter-Finals
Tuskegee 59, Miles 58
Stillman 91, Albany State 73
Paine 76, Clark Atlanta 74

Savannah State University goes for MEAC clincher tonight

PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland - Horace Broadnax knows what it’s like to climb ladders and cut down basketball nets. But this time, it’s different. Instead of playing, he’s coaching.

“It’s very rewarding to take 12-13 guys and point them in the direction they can be successful in,” said the seventh-year coach, who has Savannah State a win away from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season championship in its first season in the league.



That victory could come tonight at 7:30 in Princess Anne, Md., when the Tigers (20-10, 13-2 MEAC) meet Maryland Eastern Shore (7-21, 4-11 MEAC) in the regular-season finale for both teams.

SSU set up the potential clincher by defeating North Carolina A&T, 62-50, on Monday night at Tiger Arena. The Tigers have won 12 games in a row, a school-best streak that goes back at least 31 years. Win No. 13 would put them in a national postseason basketball .

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Lofland's shot a buzzer sends FVSU Wildcats to SIAC Semi-finals

ATLANTA, Georgia  -  In second round action of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Basketball Tournament, the Wildcats of Fort Valley State University utilized a three point shot at the buzzer by guard Desmond Lofland to defeat the number one seed Golden Tigers of Tuskegee University 80-77 and to advance to the semi-final round of the tournament.

Details to follow.........

COURTESY: FORT VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

XU's Jackson earns 1st GCAC honor; Simmons a repeat choice

COACH DANNTON JACKSON
2011-12 GCAC COACH OF THE YEAR

NEW ORLEANS — The excellent resumé of Xavier University of Louisiana's Dannton Jackson got a boost late Tuesday when he was announced as 2011-12 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year — chosen by his men's basketball peers.

It's the first conference coaching honor for Jackson, who is 201-88 in nine seasons with the Gold Rush. He's the third Xavier men's coach to win the award and the first since Dale Valdery in 2000-01.

Xavier, ranked 18th in NAIA Division I and the regular-season co-champion with Tougaloo, had three of the 10 All-GCAC players. Junior Anthony Simmons made the team for the second straight year, and senior Chris Iles and junior Denzell Erves also were chosen.

Jackson's award is the latest in a stellar career which includes seven 20-victory seasons, five appearances at the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship, two GCAC regular-season titles, two GCAC Tournament runner-up finishes and the conference's only victory since 2004 against a top-five seed at nationals.

"I am grateful and humbled to receive this award," Jackson said, "but also thankful for and appreciative of my assistant coach, Alfred Williams, and the young men on our team who have worked hard every day this season to continue the excellence that Gold Rush basketball is known for. We still have a lot we can accomplish this season, and our guys are mindful of that mission."

By winning the award, Jackson denied Tougaloo's Lafayette Stribling a chance to become the second men's basketball coach to win the GCAC award four times. Stribling, whose team is ranked 24th in the NAIA and seeded first in the GCAC Tournament — which begins Thursday at Jacksonville, Fla. — won the award three of the previous five seasons, including 2010-11.

William Carey's Steve Knight won the award five times.

Jackson's award also means that all five current XU head coaches — including Bo Browder (women's basketball), Joseph Moses (men's and women's cross country), Alan Green (men's and women's tennis) and Christabell Hamilton (women's volleyball) — have been GCAC Coach of the Year at least once.

"We have an outstanding coaching staff," XU athletics director Dennis Cousin said. "That includes our assistants. All our coaches are capable of excelling at a higher level, but we're blessed to have them at Xavier."

Simmons, a 6-foot-8 forward from Rochester, N.Y., and a graduate of Allendale Columbia School, averaged 9.5 points and six rebounds and shot a team-best 63.2 percent from the floor in 29 regular-season games. He was GCAC Player of the Week twice this season.

Iles, a 5-11 guard from Houston and a graduate of Alief Hastings High School, averaged 9.8 points, four assists and made 50 3-pointers, all team bests, in 29 games. He made 44.6 percent of his 3-pointers to rank second in the GCAC and eighth in NAIA Division I.

Erves, a 6-7 forward from Vicksburg, Miss. and a graduate of Vicksburg High School, averaged 9.4 points in 29 games and leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game and 29 blocked shots. Erves is a three-time GCAC Player of the Week this season, and his six double-doubles are the most by a Gold Rush player since the start of 2003-04.

Xavier (22-7) will play Fisk (4-24) at 4 p.m. EST Thursday in the GCAC quarterfinals.

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

CAU Lady Panthers Fall to Benedict in Quarterfinals

Atlanta, Georgia -- With only four second-half field goals, the fifth-seeded Clark Atlanta University Lady Panthers were eliminated from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) women's basketball tournament with a 65-39 loss to No. 4 Benedict College in the quarterfinals Wednesday at Morehouse College's Forbes Arena.

"We could not get on track offensively in the second half," said CAU Head Coach Vanessa Moore.

Benedict pulled away from a close first half with a 10-0 run to close out the first half to take a 32-22 lead into the locker room.

After CAU senior guard Shantress Thrash opened the second half with a layup to cut the lead to eight points, the Lady Tigers scored the next seven points and never saw their lead drop below double digits the rest of the way.

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