SWAC title would be fine end to Jackson State CB Cox's year

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama  -- Qua Cox already has more interceptions (4) and more tackles (43) than he did a year ago.

But Jackson State’s redshirt junior corner is far from ready to label this season a success as the Tigers approach the Dec. 8 SWAC Championship against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Next Saturday’s game against UAPB presents Cox, who is currently tied for the league lead in interceptions, with a rare opportunity — a championship.

UAPB (9-2) beat JSU (7-4) earlier this season 34-24.

“I’ve never been close to one,” Cox said. “My high school never won over five games. You have a lot of guys that haven’t been to a championship game, including me, that haven’t ever won anything. So you got a lot of guys rising up and getting ready.”



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New Yorkers add spice to Spartans' win in home debut

NORFOLK, Virginia  --  The boroughs were represented at Echols Hall on Thursday night.

The visiting St. Francis Terriers hail from Brooklyn. Home-at-last Norfolk State had starters from Brooklyn and the Bronx and four other New Yorkers on the roster.

The game had a Big Apple feel as well, with both teams taking a straight-to-the-rim approach. They combined for 92 points in the paint, although neither had a low-post presence to speak of.

In the end, a point guard from Brooklyn grabbed the game by the lapels and shook it. Making play after heady play over the final six minutes, NSU's Jamel Fuentes steered his team to an 85-79 win in front of 3,376 in the Spartans' home opener.

"He was tremendous down the stretch. He put the game on his back," coach Anthony Evans said.

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Morgan State football coach finds out in accidental email that school is looking to replace him

Donald Hill-Eley

BALTIMORE, Maryland  --  Morgan State football coach Donald Hill-Eley said he might soon be out of a job after he accidentally received an e-mail earlier this week outlining the university’s plans to seek a replacement.

Hill-Eley, who has led the Bears to a 54-69 record in 11 seasons, said he hadn’t heard anything official from the university as of this morning despite receiving the e-mail on Tuesday evening.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Hill-Eley said when reached today on his cell phone. A university spokesman said he had no immediate comment about Hill-Eley’s status.

The coach said he has faced greater expectations to win since David Wilson became the university’s president two years ago but said he has not received the bump in resources he would need to achieve that goal. He said four assistant coaches, for example, don’t receive health benefits from the university.

“He said the expectations had changed,” Hill-Eley said, recalling a conversation with Wilson. “But the input didn’t change, so how do you expect things to change on Saturday?”

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Mini-doc chronicles Tuskegee's SIAC title game win against Fort Valley State (video)

ATLANTA, Georgia  --  The game was nearly three weeks ago.

But this nearly 14-minute video, chronicling Tuskegee's victory against Fort Valley State (Ga.) in the SIAC title game is well worth the wait. It was produced by the conference and it includes an inside look at both team's pregame rituals and a great narration of the Golden Tigers' 55-24 victory at Lakewood Stadium in Atlanta. 

And, of course, the Golden Tigers band's rendition of Big Pokey's "Ball and Parlay" is featured rather prominently.

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Pioneer Bowl Buzz: Tuskegee vs. Elizabeth City State University

PIONEER BOWL BUZZ - Tuskegee vs. Elizabeth City State University WHAT:  Tuskegee (10-1) vs. Elizabeth City State (7-4)
WHEN: Saturday, noon
WHERE:  A.J. McClung Stadium in Columbus, Ga.
TV: None

THIS GAME WILL DETERMINE: Pitting Tuskegee, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion, and Elizabeth City State, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference runner-up against each other means bragging rights will be on the line. With CIAA champion Winston-Salem State, having reached the third round of the playoffs, the winner of this game could at least lay claim to being the second-best Division II football team in the country. Tuskegee, which doesn't participate in the playoffs in order to keep its longstanding rivalry against FCS Alabama State in Turkey Day Classic alive, might think it deserves the top spot.

THREE TO THINGS TO LOOK FOR
1. Will Elizabeth City show signs of rust? The Vikings haven't played since November 10^th when Winston Salem State defeated them 34-19 in the CIAA title game in Durham, N.C. Tuskegee played on Thanksgiving Day, earning its 10^th straight win and seems to be getting better with each game. A three-week layoff could adversely impact Elizabeth City, especially early on.

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Ram Ramblings: WSSU fans, students, alumni should be riding this football wave

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  I don’t pretend to know what it was like at Winston-Salem State in the late 1970s when the football team, coached by a young Bill Hayes, was the talk of the CIAA. During the 1977 and ’78 regular-seasons the Rams went unbeaten.

I was 12-years-old then and living in the suburbs of Chicago and I don’t remember seeing highlights from those Rams teams on the Internet. (Insert joke here).

Anyway, my point is that from what folks tell me about that time at WSSU it was considered the best it’s ever been in football. The 1977 team didn't go to the playoffs and wound up losing to S.C. State in the Gold Bowl.



In 1978 the Rams won their first playoff game in a 17-0 win over Cal Poly then lost in the semifinals the next week to Delaware. Those two years are generally considered the bench mark of success at WSSU until recently.

Just like last year’s WSSU team that had a legitimate shot at winning the school’s first national championship in football this year’s team is on the same track.

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HBCU Football Sees Abysmal Attendance

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  In a year filled with band scandals and mediocre football teams, there have been few bright spots in HBCU football. Winston-Salem State has been one of them. The Rams have completed back-to-back undefeated regular seasons, won the CIAA title both years, and made it to the national semifinals of the Division II football playoffs in 2011.

Saturday, the team hosted and won its fourth playoff game in two years, defeating Shippensburg 37-14. This Saturday the Rams will host Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the third round of the playoffs. Despite having earned home-field advantage as a number one seed, however, that may be the last playoff game in Bowman Gray Stadium for a while, even if the Rams win.

The Winston-Salem Journal‘s John Dell reports that should both WSSU and fellow No. 1 seed Colorado-Pueblo both win their games this week, the Rams may be forced to go on the road due to low attendance figures in the playoffs.

Just over 3,200 fans showed up at Bowman Gray Stadium to watch the Rams defeat the Red Raiders. That’s a particularly troubling number, considering that the stadium holds more than 20,000 fans.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Bill Hayes ...

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McIntosh now a BSU Bulldog at the college level

BOWIE, Maryland  -- The last time the Bowie State women’s basketball team played a postseason game, its season ended at the hands of Shaw University in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament last spring.

With the Bulldogs scheduled to play Shaw again in January, are they looking forward to the chance to exact revenge on the Bears? Well, not exactly. Hardly any of the Bowie State players who suited up for that game are returning this season.

With roster turnover being an inevitable fact of life for Bowie State this year, some patience may be required.

One of the nine new players debuting for the hometown team this year is Bowie native and Bowie High grad Jasmine McIntosh. A junior in the classroom and sophomore on the team, McIntosh is excited to begin her second stint as a Bulldog … this time on the college level.

“Besides being close to home, I liked the campus,” said McIntosh, who transferred from East Tennessee State University at the end of the 2011-’12 school year. “I got along with the coaches. Everything just seemed like a good fit for me.”

And McIntosh appears to be a good fit for the team. At 5 feet 11 inches, she brings size to the shooting guard position. But she also provides versatility, as she can play both forward spots as well. She prefers the two guard position, however, which seems to fit her skill set best.

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Lincoln routs Bloomsburg to move to 4-1

LOWER OXFORD, Pennsylvania  --   Don’t look now, but the Lincoln men are off to their best start in nearly two decades of basketball.  

And the Lions’ latest victim, Bloomsburg, came to Manuel Rivero Gymnasium on Wednesday for an intriguing non-conference clash only to exit on the short end of an 81-67 blowout. Lincoln is off to a 4-1 start, and the lone setback came to St. Leo, a top-10 team in Division II. 

The list of impressive victories features a season opening shocker against Division I Howard, but the win over the Huskies certainly stacks up as a quality win. Bloomsburg (2-2) was picked in the preseason coach’s poll to finish third in the eight-team PSAC East.

“(Bloomsburg) is a quality team,” said LU head coach John Hill. “And I’d like to think we are heading in that direction.”

The first meeting between these two in a quarter century played out quite differently than the last, when Bloomsburg blasted the Lions 133-70 back in 1987. This time around, however, Lincoln was quicker, more athletic and exhibited much more depth. The Lions forced 20 turnovers, turned them into 28 points, and had a 23-5 edge in off-the-bench scoring.

 

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RELATED ASSETS

Nuggets' Gaston-Loyd chosen GCAC Player of the Week

Whitney Gaston-Loyd

NEW ORLEANS — Whitney Gaston-Loyd, Xavier University of Louisiana's leading scorer during a 3-0 week which included back-to-back victories against ranked teams, has been chosen Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week in women's basketball for Nov. 19-25.

Gaston-Loyd, a 6-foot junior center from Shreveport, La., and a graduate of Southwood High School, won the award after averaging 10.7 points and shooting 60.9 percent from the floor. Her basket with 6.3 seconds remaining Nov. 19 gave Xavier a 46-45 victory against NAIA No. 19 LSU-Shreveport. Her basket with 14:24 remaining Thursday put Xavier ahead to stay and started an 11-2 run which carried the Gold Nuggets to a 46-38 victory against NAIA No. 14 Langston in the Xavier Classic.

The following day she played just nine minutes in an 84-39 victory against Texas College but made 5-of-5 from the floor to share team scoring honors. For the week she scored 32 points in 56 minutes. The victories against LSUS and Langston marked the first time in Bo Browder's 14 seasons as head coach that the Gold Nuggets defeated ranked teams in consecutive regular-season games.
Through seven games, Gaston-Loyd is averaging 8.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 18 minutes and is shooting 52.1 percent from the floor and 63.6 percent from the line. She leads the Gold Nuggets in field-goal accuracy and is tied for second in scoring. Gaston-Loyd is in her first season at Xavier after playing for NCAA Division I member Arkansas-Little Rock the past two seasons.

Xavier, 6-1 and ranked 11th in NAIA Division I, will play city rival Loyola next Wednesday (Dec. 5) at 5:30 p.m. at XU's new Convocation Center. It will be a doubleheader that day, with the Xavier and Loyola men meeting at 7:30.


Ed Cassiere, SID
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
XULAATHLETICS

Simmons, Gold Rush extend their streaks, hold off Rams

NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Simmons recorded his third consecutive double-double, 17 points and 12 rebounds, to lead NAIA No. 19 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 69-66 men's basketball victory Tuesday against Mobile at the Convocation Center.

The victory was a third in a row for the Gold Rush (9-1).

Wanto Joseph had 14 points and a season-high-tying eight assists for Xavier, and Denzell Erves had 11 points and a career-high-tying four blocked shots. Joseph and Erves have scored in double figures in every game this season.

Kwame Beard made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points for Mobile (4-2). Chris Richardson scored 14 points, and Dominick Brumfield had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Mobile never caught Xavier after Simmons scored the first two points. The Gold Rush led 35-29 at halftime an extended the lead to 48-38 before the Rams closed the margin to 60-59 with 2:40 remaining.

A Xavier turnover in the final 10 seconds gave Mobile a chance to force overtime, but Chris Richardson missed a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining, and Xavier's Gary Smith rebounded.

Xavier committed a season-low nine turnovers and outshot the Rams 49 to 44.2 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 33-27. Mobile dominated on the perimeter, making 11-of-24 3-pointers to Xavier's 0-of-8. But the Gold Rush outscored the Rams 19-9 on free throws.

Xavier has won 30 of its past 32 non-conference home games and 49-of-52. It's the sixth time in Dannton Jackson's 10 seasons as head coach that the Gold Rush started 9-1 or better.

Xavier's next game will start at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 against city rival Loyola at the Convocation Center. It will be the final Gold Rush home game of the fall semester.

Box score

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Gold Nuggets beat Mobile for 4th consecutive victory

NEW ORLEANS -- Simon Franklin scored 15 points Tuesday to lead NAIA No. 11 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 58-53 women's basketball victory against Mobile at the Convocation Center.

The Gold Nuggets (6-1), who have a four-game win streak, led for the final 33 minutes.

Franklin also had four assists and five steals. She scored nine points in the second half.

Danielle Tucker and Paige Gauthier scored nine points apiece for Xavier, and Carmen Holcombe grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds. Gauthier made both her 3-point attempts.

Shontae Dillon scored 16 points and Briana Edwards 13 for Mobile (3-5), which dropped its third in a row.

Franklin, Gauthier, Tucker and Andraquay Quinnine scored six points apiece to lead the Gold Nuggets to a 33-30 halftime lead. Gauthier's basket with 12:45 remaining gave Xavier its biggest lead, 46-34.

Mobile outshot Xavier 48.9 to 36.8 percent from the floor -- the sixth consecutive game the Nuggets shot less than 40 percent -- but the Nuggets had advantages of 41-21 in rebounds and 28-6 in bench points.

Xavier has won 46 of its past 49 home games, including 6-of-7 this season in its new home facility.

Xavier's next game will start at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 5 against city rival Loyola at the Convocation Center. It will be the Nuggets' final home game of the fall semester.

Box score

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
XULAATHLETICS

XU's Erves wins his 4th GCAC Player of the Week award

DENZELL ERVES

NEW ORLEANS — For the first time this season and the fourth time in his career, Xavier University of Louisiana's Denzell Erves has been chosen Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week.

Erves, a 6-foot-7 senior forward from Vicksburg, Miss., and a graduate of Vicksburg High School, won the award for Nov. 19-25 after averaging 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds and shooting 71.4 percent from the floor and 76.9 percent from the line in three games. He produced double-doubles against William Carey and Concordia (Ala.), giving him six in 10 games this season.

 Erves scored a season-high 21 points Saturday (8-of-9 field goals) in a victory against Wiley at the Memphis (Tenn.) HBCU Classic. Xavier was 2-0 in that event and earned back-to-back victories on a neutral court for the first time since November 2004.

Erves won the GCAC player award three times in 2011-12. He is the Gold Rush's second honoree this season — senior guard Wanto Joseph earned the honor for Nov. 5-11.

Through 10 games, Erves is averaging 14.5 points, nine rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots and is shooting 53.5 percent from the floor and 72.5 percent from the line. He ranks 10th in NAIA Division I in rebounds per game and 12th in blocks per game.
    
Xavier, 9-1 and ranked 19th in NAIA Division I, will play city rival Loyola next Wednesday (Dec. 5) at 7:30 p.m. at XU's new Convocation Center.


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

Ram Ramblings: Massey will likely play key role on Saturday

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --   It was easy to spot the break-out player this past Saturday when the Rams routed Shippensburg at Bowman Gray Stadium.

Jameze Massey, a senior wide receiver who needs just five more yards to reach 1,000 this season, had one of his best games of his career. Massey, who is only 5-8 and about 170 pounds, is deceptively fast.

“He brings excitement and he’s elusive when he has the football in his hands,” Coach Connell Maynor said. “And it’s my job to get him the ball and if I don’t get him the ball I’m a stupid coach or I’d probably get fired. So that’s what I’m trying to do is get him the ball whenever we can.”

Maynor says that Massey, who also returns punts and kickoffs, usually makes things happen when he gets the ball.

“People probably don’t realize how fast he is until he’s going around the corner on them,” Maynor said. “And all they see is the bottom of his shoes and he’s a tremendous athlete and I’m glad he plays for me.”

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TSU Men's Basketball Runs Over Fisk, 92-53

NASHVILLE, Tennessee  --  The Tennessee State men's basketball team (2-5) had its best shooting performance since Feb. 19, 2011 en route to a 92-53 win over Fisk on Monday night.
 

TSU shot 57.1 percent (32-56) from the field and 31.6 percent (6-19) from beyond the arc during the contest while limiting the Bulldogs to just a 29 percent line (18-62).

It was a big night for TSU's post players, especially seniors Robert Covington and Kellen Thornton.

Covington had a season-high 29 points and 14 points while Thornton chipped in with 22 points of his own. The duo combined to shoot 21-27 from the field and helped the Tigers edge the Bulldogs 45-28 on the glass.

Rashad Williams led Fisk with 15 points, but the forward was limited in the second half due to foul trouble.

The Tigers got the first possession of the game and then Covington went to work. He first tipped in a shot by Thornton and then dunked the ball off of a steal from the inbound pass. The sudden surge prompted a timeout from Fisk with only 30 seconds gone off of the clock.

After another Covington basket at the 19:04 mark, the Tigers ran down the court and found Covington wide open beyond the arc. He nailed that shot and another three to help TSU start the game on a 17-0 run.

With 15:11 left in the opening half, Chaed Wellian had his first points in a TSU uniform with a jumper. The shot made the score 19-2 with Big Blue on top.

The Tigers continued their charge later in the period and led 29-13 on another tip-in from Covington. Through the first 13 minutes of the game, Covington had 18 of TSU's 29 points and eight of the team's 14 boards.

TSU finished the half on a 10-2 run that spanned over six minutes and included baskets by five different Tigers. Jordan Cyphers canned his second three-pointer of the period to lead the TSU offense.

Tennessee State had 22 points in the paint during the opening frame and held a 27-16 advantage on the boards.

Thornton got the team started in the second half with a strong one-handed dunk within the first minute of action, and the Tigers never looked back on the way to an 11-2 opening run.

At the 16 minute mark, Thornton stole the ball around the top of the key and he ran the floor by himself for a highlight reel break-away slam. The rim rocker made the score 51-24 in favor of the home side.

The Tigers extended their lead to 41 with just under four minutes left to go in the game when Wellian canned his first career three-pointer.

Tennessee State got 29 points from its bench and won its most lopsided game since the first game of the 1998-99 season when the Tigers beat Fisk 97-52.

TSU will next travel to Alabama A&M on Saturday, Dec. 1 for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Bethune-Cookman has key talent returning

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  --  Bethune-Cookman’s FCS playoff run didn’t last long, as Coastal Carolina won 24-14 in the first round on Saturday.

Although the Wildcats (9-3) would like to still be playing, they should be in good shape to defend their MEAC championship next season and make another trip back to the FCS playoffs.

B-CU head coach Brian Jenkins, the MEAC Coach of the Year, has a number of key players returning in 2013, including star running back Isidore Jackson and quarterback Quentin Williams.

Up front, B-CU is led by offensive lineman Terrance Hackney who does a magnificent job of opening holes for the running game and pass protecting. The 6-foot-6, 310-pound sophomore has great strength and can really move his feet.

Defensively, the Wildcats could be even stronger. LeBrandon Richardson is a great pass-rushing defensive end. Richardson recorded 8.5 sacks this season and also had 53 total tackles, including 31 solo.

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Young GSU Tigers have building blocks

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana  -- The 2012 football season mercifully came to end for Grambling on Saturday in a 38-33 loss to Southern in the Bayou Classic.

The Tigers (1-10, 0-9 Southwestern Athletic Conference) went winless in league play for the first time since joining the SWAC in 1958, but Grambling didn't leave the Mercedes-Benz Superdome empty-handed.

Although no GSU coach, player or alumni is accustomed to a season like this (it's the worst record in program history since at least 1941), Tiger fans did see a team that didn't quit in the season finale.

The Grambling defense forced two early turnovers, which the offense cashed in for a 14-0 lead.

The Tigers looked the best they had all season with the offense and defense producing at the same time, a rarity in 2012.

But Southern quarterback ...
 

 

 

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Defense shines in WSSU’s playoff win

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Winston-Salem State made a serious statement Saturday afternoon in blowing out Shippensburg 37-14 in the second round of the Division II football playoffs.

The main talking point was about the defense.

The Rams were without injured starting quarterback Kam Smith, and although Anthony Carrothers more than held his own, the key was an aggressive defense that had the Red Raiders figured out.

Defensive coordinator Kienus Boulware didn’t do much that was different from the regular season, despite an opponent that had the most potent Division II offense in the country.

A four-man rush and occasional blitzes kept the pressure on quarterback Zach Zulli. The Rams sacked him just twice, but they funneled their coverage to force Zulli outside, and that’s where he had trouble.

“We just got pressure on him,” Coach Connell Maynor of WSSU said. “We said if we could rush four and get pressure on him, it would be a long day. That’s what we did, and we forced him to throw out routes instead of in the middle of the field.”



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B-CU vs. CCU Notebook: Wildcats' Jenkins says 'it has been a really good ride'

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  --  An odd scene played out late in Bethune-Cookman coach Brian Jenkins' press conference Saturday night.

Responding to a question about his team's national relevance, Jenkins stated the reasons he felt his Wildcats were a “national level” team.

 

He ended by noting that building the program has been a “collective effort,” before saying, “It's been a really good ride. I've enjoyed it, and we will see what is next.”

 

When a reporter asked if that meant that Jenkins might be on the move, the coach insisted that is not what he said. Then he went on to not exactly close the door on the idea.

 

“My main thing is celebrating with my family and moving forward,” Jenkins said. “We all know opportunities present themselves. We all know that, and I'm not going to sit here and pretend like opportunities don't present themselves.

 

“All I can tell you is it is very hard for me to leave a university that loves me, and I love it. It's hard for me to love a team that I really, really love. I love my players. They love me. It's very, very hard.”

 

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Southern hangs on to beat Grambling in Bayou Classic

NEW ORLEANS — After a coaching change, a winning streak and a losing streak, at the end of the season that began with so much turmoil and ended Saturday with Southern’s best chance to win a Bayou Classic for the first time since 2007, linebacker Franchot West found himself in the middle of the field inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, scrambling with his teammates, barking above the noise, trying to stop Grambling one last time.

West and the Jaguars had taken a big lead, then nearly given all of it away. The archrival Tigers were driving for a potential game-winning score with less than a minute left.

From both sidelines, coaches and players screamed. The crowd of 45,980, though small, scattered and late-arriving, was certainly into it.

Moments before his fumble recovery preserved a thrilling 38-33 win in this matchup of two teams with disappointing records, West learned his responsibility: Spy on Grambling quarterback Frank Rivers, then make a play if the action comes your way.

West watched as defensive lineman Donald Phillips ...



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