Gold Rush rallies, earns steak dinner for spring win in Albany State Rams' annual Blue & Gold scrimmage

ALBANY, Georgia — Luther Edwards pleaded for his fellow seniors to set the tone for the 2012 season. He also wanted that steak dinner. Albany State’s senior running back got both.

After a shaky start for the Albany State offense Friday, the Gold Rush came back to win the 4th annual Blue and Gold scrimmage, 43-32, and they were awarded the traditional steak dinner for the winners in the process.

“With us being seniors, I wanted us to step up and set the tone early so everybody can fall in line,” said Edwards, who was held out of the end zone but broke away for several long runs, including a 50-yarder in second quarter.

Edwards’ backfield mate and fellow senior Nathan Hoyte scored on a 38-yard run, and quarterback Keenan Grissett, who is battling for the starting job with Blaize Schaeffer, threw a pair of touchdowns to senior wideout Ronnie Tubbs.

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Will Harris: ECSU gets a glimpse of what could be

ELIZABETH CITY, North Carolina - Congratulations to the Shaw Lady Bears for winning the NCAA Division II national championship on Friday.

Now, when ECSU coach Alico Dunk talks about the competitive nature of the CIAA, you’ll know he means it. And to think, ECSU had a shot at the buzzer that could have beaten the Lady Bears in Elizabeth City on Jan. 16. Shaw won 25 of its last 26 games, including the final 15, and outside of the one loss to Johnson C. Smith, the 74-72 win over ECSU game was the Lady Bears’ closest one down the stretch.

Then there are the men, basking in he glow of Norfolk State’s tournament upset of Missouri last week. ECSU took it to the Spartans on Nov. 30, winning handily 69-57 in Norfolk.

So, even though other teams are ...

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TSU Flying Tigers & Tigerbelles Compete Strong at USC

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - Tennessee State University track & field placed 15 in the top-15 at the Weems Baskin Invitational held at the campus of the University of South Carolina on Friday and Saturday.

The Flying Tigers and Tigerbelles had outstanding performers across the board, most notably from Arthur Combest and Daniecce Ward - who combined for top-10 performances.

20-plus schools participated in the annual meet, giving the Tigers the most competitive field to date so far this season.

Ward cleared a distance of 5-3 (1.60m) in the women's high jump for seventh, while leaping 17-8 ¾ (5.40m) for an eighth place finish in the long jump. In the triple jump, the senior scampered 37-3 ¾ (11.37m) to place seventh out of 18 competitors.

Ja'Lyn Burr earned sixth in the triple jump, clearing 37-4 ½ to notch sixth. Felicia Oladkun was right behind her teammate with a distance of 37-5 (11.50m) for fifth.

Bur also earned a pair of 15th place finishes, clearing 5-1 (1.55m) in the high jump and 16-1 ¾ (4.92m) in the long jump event.

In short distance contests, freshman Ashontae Jackson collected a fourth place mark with her run of 24.25 in the 200-meter dash. Gabrielle Todd clocked a time of 56.41 for seven in the 400-meter dash.

Brielle Moore placed 12th with her pace of 15.10 in the women's 100-meter hurdles. The Tigerbelles 4x100 relay team of Carolyn Petway, Diera Taylor, Todd and Jackson recorded a run of 47.78 for seventh.

Sophomore Royce Dates made a strong leap of 23-10 (7.26m) for second overall in the men's long jump. The jump surpassed his previous jump of 23-8 ¼ (7.22m) and was tied for 21st nationally as of Saturday evening.

In the men's 110-meter hurdles, Combest managed a sixth place mark with his time of 14.94. Combest cleared the 400-meter hurdles in 56.33 for seventh. In the high jump, Combest cleared 6-4 ¾ (1.95m) for sixth.

Due to poor weather conditions in the Columbia area, the final three running events (women's 5K, M/W 4x4 relays) and field events (shot put, discus and high jump) were all cancelled.

Tennessee State takes a two-week hiatus before hosting the annual Boston-Moon Classic on Friday April 13 and Saturday, April 14.

Weems-Baskin Invitational Results (PDF)

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Top-5 Auburn Montgomery teams defeat Rush, Nuggets

Athletics Awards Banquet

6 p.m. on Friday, April 20 at University Center Ballroom Call (504) 520-7329 to purchase tickets

NEW ORLEANS -- Auburn Montgomery overcame a doubles deficit and defeated Xavier University of Louisiana 6-3 Saturday in a matchup of ranked NAIA men's teams at the University of New Orleans Tennis Center.

AUM's top-ranked women defeated 24th-ranked Xavier 7-2.

AUM's men (9-6), ranked fifth, lost 2-of-3 doubles matches but reeled off five consecutive singles victories against ninth-ranked Xavier (10-4). Bence Toth clinched for the Warhawks with his 6-3, 6-3 victory against Viktor Svoboda at No. 2.

The Warhawks are 8-0 against NAIA opponents this season. The Gold Rush lost for the third time in four duals and to AUM for the second time in 14 days.

XU got doubles victories from Loic Didavi and Zach Taylor at No. 1 and Sean Richardson and Steffen Giles-Osborn at No. 3. Richardson scored the lone Gold Rush singles victory with a 6-4, 7-5 decision against Matias Dasso.

AUM's other victory against the Rush was 5-4 in the championship match of the AUM Invitational on March 11.

Auburn Montgomery's women (14-1) forfeited matches at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles because of five available players. But the Warhawks dropped a combined three games in winning six other matches. The Gold Nuggets' only close match was at No. 2 singles, where XU freshman Amanda Materre retired because of injury after trailing Jade Curtis, the reigning NAIA Player of ther Week, 7-5, 3-4.

Ana Veselinovic, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's top-ranked NAIA singles player, defeated XU's Kourtney Howell (XU) 6-2, 6-0 at the top flight.

The Gold Nuggets (3-16) have dropped seven of their past eight duals.

It was the final home appearance for seniors Taylor, Richardson and Giles-Osborn of the Rush and Ashley McGill of the Nuggets. McGill, who plays No. 3 doubles with Jordyn Goody and No. 6 singles, didn't have to play because of the forfeits.

Both Xavier teams will travel next weekend to California for four duals apiece against ranked NAIA opponents during spring break. The Rush and Nuggets will play Point Loma Nazarene (men ranked seventh, women ranked sixth) on April 2, Westmont (men 10th, women tied for 21st) on April 3, Concordia (both teams eighth) on April 4 and Vanguard (men sixth, women 15th) on April 5.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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Scrimmage Concludes First Week of TSU Spring Practice

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - The Big Blue took to the field at Hale Stadium on Saturday for a scrimmage to conclude the first week of spring practice. The Tigers worked both 7-on-7 and full team drills during the early morning workout.

"I liked the intensity of the scrimmage, but we turned the ball over too much today on offense," said Coach Rod Reed. "I think we had 3 fumbles and 2 interceptions, and it doesn't matter which team you do it with. You can't turn the ball over and expect to be successful in football. But I saw some good things defensively."

"The defensive line did not get a good pass rush but they played the run well," Reed continued. "We have to do a better job with the pass rush. On the flip side, I thought our offensive line protected well, even when we threw a few stunts and blitzes."

Coach Reed seemed pleased with the outing by sophomore quarterback Mike German. "Mike was sharp," Reed commented. "He stood in the pocket and made some throws with pressure coming and that's what we want from him."

TSU ran 15 plays in 7-on-7 before finishing with 88 plays with both units in full 11-on-11. Coach Reed also used the first scrimmage to take a look at the running game.

"I thought in some instances we ran it well," said Coach Reed. "In coming out situations, we didn't do very well running the ball. We gave up a safety and you can't do that coming out. So we need to go back to the drawing board. The main thing is you got to block up front in those situations. I thought the defense did a good job in those situations when they had them down tight."

The Tigers will continue spring practice and will take to field again next Saturday trying to improve on their first week of preparation.

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"Never ranked" Shaw Bears come home to welcoming rally

RALEIGH, North Carolina -- The Shaw Bears’ flight back home from the NCAA Division II championships was delayed by over 30 minutes Saturday, which pushed the women’s basketball team’s arrival an hour past the scheduled campus celebration.

But nobody was complaining, as students, faculty and fans patiently waited with open arms for the new national champions to walk through the doors of Spaulding Gymnasium.

At 3:40 p.m. they did just that to roaring applause and high-stepping music by the pep band. For the first time since 1947, Shaw University has a national champion.

The Bears (29-6) rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 2 ranked Ashland 88-82 in overtime. Shaw is just the third CIAA women’s program in conference history to win it all.

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Finally, Shaw's Williams can celebrate



ASLEA WILLIAMS

 Senior post helps achieve goal that goes back to recruitment

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Aslea Williams celebrated another championship Friday and this time, her coach, Jacques Curtis was right along with her. This was the big one. This one was why this senior post was recruited to Shaw. And this one was for the ages.

Williams’ oh-so-timely baskets late and stellar guard play throughout helped the Lady Bears beat Ashland in overtime 88-82 to win the Division II women’s championship.

Finally, Williams can express her unbridled glee at a team accomplishment without drawing the ire of Curtis. You see, last year after Shaw won the CIAA championship, Williams was beside herself with joy — until she got in the locker room afterward.

“The comment I made to them then was I didn’t bring you here to win the CIAA,” Curtis said. “I brought you here to win the national championship. [Williams] was like, this is my first championship that I’ve won, so I’m going to be happy we won the championship. Now, we’ve got what I brought her here to do. That was the goal.”

SHAW PHOTO GALLERY

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HIGHLIGHTS

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