Not Enough Spring in the TSU Tigers' Step for Coach Asberry

HOUSTON, Texas - The Texas Southern Tigers wrapped up their spring training today with their spring game at Alexander Durley Stadium on TSU’s campus.

The new TSU offense squared off against the defending TSU 2011 FCS top defense before dozens of supporters, alumni and fans. The game was setup on a point system where the offense got six points for a touchdown and three points for a field goal. The defense received three points when they forced the offense to punt and five points for a turnover or a stop on a fourth down. The defense won 32 to 6 and head coach Darrell Asberry was not happy with the outcome.

“Today they came out flat. In my eyes they walked; they loafed and I know we’re a much better football team than that,” Asberry said. “The kids can get it done, because I’ve watch them do it all spring.”

Asberry said it was the effort by the offense that disappointed him most.

“Over on the sideline, he sees it best. If he says the effort was lacking, then the effort was lacking, “said senior quarterback Riko Smalls. “What we need to do as players is dig deeper and respond.”

The defense played well, and Asberry credits the coaches for getting the best out of those guys.

“The defense has been flying around all season that was the reason to kept Coach Ramsey… for chemistry on the defensive side of the ball,” Asberry said. “The linebackers are still a concern, but he just does a great job of disguising a couple of our weakness. The coaching staff is doing a great job over there.”

Asberry is confident that the team will get to where it needs to be. He says it seems that they just had an off day, but that’s a situation he says is not acceptable.

“It’s been great all spring, but today wasn’t our day offensively. Hopefully they will use the words that I expressed to motivate them. They don’t have a choice; they have to get motivated because September 1st is just around the corner.”

“I think that we struggled with consistency on the offensive side of the ball today. But we are going to look at the tape and we’ll get better and correct those coming into next season,” said Smalls.

The Tigers will start the 2012 season against Prairie View A&M in the State Farm Labor Day Classic on September 1st.



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SU Jaguars take two from PV

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — With 20 mph winds blowing in from center field, Southern University played small ball against Prairie View in the first game of a SWAC doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

In the second game, Prairie View seldom got the bat on the ball. Southern pitcher Jose De Leon was in control, striking out 12 Panthers in seven innings.

When all was said and done, Southern extended its win streak to nine games, sweeping Prairie View and drawing to within two games in the loss column of the Panthers for the Western division lead. The teams conclude their weekend series with a 1 p.m. Sunday game.

Southern (24-14, 13-7) strung together 12 hits — 11 singles — in the first game, and did a great job of advancing runners in an 8-5 win.

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Bethune-Cookman's Waters off and running at spring game

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - Bethune-Cookman fans finally got a glimpse of Quentin Williams in action. And while Florida's Mr. Football of 2010 did not disappoint in his first Wildcats spring football game, a quarterback who moved behind center just 10 days ago stole the show Saturday at Municipal Stadium.

Brock Waters, a transfer from Louisiana Tech, signed with the 'Cats in February as a wide receiver. But coaches wanted to take a look at him at quarterback.

He ran four times for 83 yards, including a 57-yard keeper on his first snap and a 1-yard touchdown run. He also completed three of five passes for 68 yards, including an 8-yard scoring pass to Courtney Keith.

"He did some good things at quarterback (Saturday)," B-CU coach Brian Jenkins said. "He's good at receiver too, so it will be good to see where he plays. He's played quarterback in the past, so we wanted to give him a shot.



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Alabama State football: Low scoring affair in spring game for Hornets

MONTGOMERY, Alabama - If you arrived on time for Alabama State’s annual Black and Gold Game, you missed virtually all of the scoring.

Tailback Rodney Cross powered into the end zone from a yard out to give the Black a 14-7 overtime victory over the White (or Gold) team after both teams had scored touchdowns in the first few minutes of ASU’s annual spring game at Hornet Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Those points came well before the scheduled 1 p.m. kickoff after head coach Reggie Barlow started the game early to avoid the threat of afternoon thunderstorms which, thankfully, never arrived.

“We were a little worried about the weather,” Barlow said after the two-hour workout. “We did find out God is a Hornet. He held (the rain) off for us, but we had to start it early. As a matter of fact, the referees had not made it out here yet. We ran about four plays without them.”

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NBA could be next milestone for Norfolk State's O'Quinn

KYLE O'QUINN
(Photo by Mark W. Sutton)

NORFOLK, Virginia - In the last month, Norfolk State center Kyle O'Quinn, previously little known outside the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference he had dominated so thoroughly this season, has been whisked away on his own little magical mystery tour. The stops included the NCAA Tournament, where he personified March Madness, and the Portsmouth Invitational, where he was chosen MVP.

O'Quinn hasn't quite had time to wrap his head around what's been happening to him, and who could blame him? How could a guy who, only because he had sprouted to 6-foot-7 was basically forced to play basketball as a high school junior, go on to bask in that One Shining Moment all college basketball players dream about but few experience, and then three weeks later strengthen his chances of becoming an NBA Draft pick with his play in the PIT?

That question was posed of O'Quinn, an intelligent, well-spoken and funny person. It took him a few seconds before coming up with an answer.

"Staying on the same path," O'Quinn said. "Staying consistent. Never venturing off."

That path was more or less thrust upon him just before his junior year at Campus Magnet High School in Jamaica, N.Y. after he'd grown five inches over the summer.

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SAC Falcons Win 15th Straight CIAA Outdoor Track & Field Title



COACH GEORGE WILLIAMS
SAINT AUGUSTINE'S COLLEGE



PETERSBURG, Virginia  -  Saint Augustine's College coasted to victory on the men's side while Virginia State University earned a hard-fought win in the women's events at the 2012 CIAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday, April 21, 2012, at Rogers Stadium on the campus of Virginia State University.

The Falcons, ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division II men's rankings, claimed their 15th straight league outdoor crown and 29th title in the last 30 CIAA championship outdoor meets under legendary head coach George Williams by a lopsided score. They compiled 216 points to easily defeat the rest of the men's field. Virginia State was second with 88 points and Johnson C. Smith University was third with 84 points.

The women's championship was the first for the Lady Trojans, who rallied late to overtake first-day leader Johnson C. Smith. The Lady Trojans scored 139.5 points followed by Johnson C. Smith (129 points) and Saint Augustine's College (115 points).

Andrew Chebii of Winston-Salem State University was named CIAA men's track MVP while DeJon Wilkinson of Saint Augustine's College and Randale Watson of Johnson C. Smith shared men's field MVP honors. Samantha Elliott of Johnson C. Smith was chosen women's track MVP and teammate Xahnn-Georgia Reid was selected women's field MVP.

For the St. Aug men, the outcome was never in doubt once the championship meet started. The Falcons built a 15-point lead after four events Friday and steadily increased the margin Saturday after each event. The only question was how much the Falcons would win by.

The depth and talent of the Falcons were simply too much to overcome. They took the top three places in the 800-meter run, the 110-meter hurdles and the high jump, and had two of the top three finishers in the 400-meter hurdles, the 100-meter dash and the 400-meter dash.

Wilkinson added a victory in the triple jump to go along with his long jump win on Friday. Other winners for the Falcons on Saturday included Ramaan Ansley (100-meter dash), Marcelis Lynch (800-meter run) and Jason Boyd (110-meter hurdles). The Falcons won the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays. Christopher Copeland captured the high jump Friday. Boyd is No. 3 in the nation in the 110 hurdles, and Copeland is No. 4 in Division II in the high jump.

Wilkinson joined Chebii and Akino Ming of Johnson C. Smith as double winners in the men's events. Chebii won the 1500-meter and 5,000 meter run, and Ming is the league champion in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. Ming is ranked No. 1 in the nation in the 400 dash.

Other men's winners were Daniel Ross of Virginia State (400-meter hurdles), Hildrew McNair of Virginia State (pole vault), Watson of Johnson C. Smith (shot put), Ahmad Garrison of Livingstone (discus) and Bryan Aycoth of Livingstone (javelin).

The women's meet turned into a two-team duel between Virginia State and Johnson C. Smith, which started the day with the lead. Virginia State, in fourth place entering Saturday, surged into contention early, and the lead flip-flopped between Johnson C. Smith and Virginia State. The Lady Golden Bulls eventually gained breathing room again and led 110-88.5 with four events remaining.

The Lady Trojans started their rally in the 800-meter run, where Sierra Clayton led a 1-2 VSU finish. The 1,500-meter run was a VSU sweep of the top three places with Taylor-Ashley Bean winning the event. After two runners scored in the 200-meter dash, the Lady Trojans had reclaimed the lead 134.5-123 with one event left.

It was a team effort for the Lady Trojans, who won six individual events. Samantha Edwards of the Lady Trojans won the 400-meter dash. She is ranked fourth in Division II in the event.

Shanika Lamons of Winston-Salem State and Elliott of JCSU were both winners in two events Saturday. Lamons was first in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, and Elliott finished first in the 100-meter and the 400-meter hurdles. Elliott entered the CIAA championships ranked No. 2 in Division II in the 400 hurdles and No. 3 in the 100 hurdles.

Andrea Powell of Saint Augustine's College won the high jump and Brittany Abraham of Virginia Union won the triple jump to go along with her long jump win on Friday. Marcia Higgins of Johnson C. Smith won the discus, and Saint Augustine's College swept the 4x100 and 4x400 races. On Friday, Imeshia Jones of Johnson C. Smith won the javelin, Brelyn Finley of Bowie State won the shot put and Bean of Johnson C. Smith won the 3,000-meter run.

Johnson C. Smith won the league's team outdoor track and field highest grade point average award, and Saint Augustine's College won the CIAA team outdoor track and field highest GPA honor.

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Tennessee State Track & Field Completes Meet at Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Tennessee State University's track & field teams competed well at the Vanderbilt Invitational this weekend.

The Flying Tigers and Tigerbelles notched eight top-5 marks, two of which came from redshirt freshman Ashontae Jackson.

Jackson leapt a personal-best 19-5 ½ (5.93m) in the long jump to secure third overall. Jackson placed fifth out of 20 competitors in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.05 seconds.

In the triple jump, Daniecce Ward cleared a distance of 38-0 (11.58m) for a third place finish.

Gabrielle Todd put together a solid performance in the 400-meter dash, inking a time of 55.81 for second overall.

For the Flying Tigers, Jahleel Michael registered a fifth-place time of 53.88 in the men's 400-meter hurdles, while teammate Arthur Combest followed in at sixth with a time of 55.91.

Sean Jenkins placed second in the men's high jump, clearing 6-6 (1.98m), while sophomore Royce Dates leapt 23-6 ¼ (7.17m) for the fifth-best collegiate mark in the long jump.

TSU track & field shifts its focus to the Ohio Valley Conference Championships held on May 4-5 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

VANDERBILT INVITATIONAL RESULTS

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