Nuggets, Rush extend poll streaks, face Dillard Saturday

NEW ORLEANS — For the 41st consecutive time on the women's side and the 21st consecutive time on the men's, Xavier University of Louisiana basketball teams are in the NAIA Division I Coaches' Top 25 polls.

The Gold Nuggets are in 10th place for the second consecutive week, and the Gold Rush are 16th after dropping from 14th. The polls, the 10th of 13 this season, were announced Tuesday afternoon. Voting was based on games through Sunday.

Next for both XU teams is the Crosstown Classic against longtime rival Dillard at XU's new Convocation Center. The Nuggets and Lady Bleu Devils will play at 3 p.m. Saturday, followed by the Rush and Bleu Devils at 5 p.m. Reserved tickets are available to the public for $5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Thursday at the Convocation Center box office. Tickets the day of the game will cost $10.
    
The Crosstown Classic is the regular-season finale for both schools. The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament for women and men will begin Feb. 28 in Little Rock, Ark.

The XU women maintained their top-10 status after road victories against Fisk and SUNO. The Nuggets clinched no worse than a share of their third consecutive GCAC regular-season championship on Monday when they won 71-61 at Tougaloo. They'll win the championship outright with a victory against Dillard or a Talladega loss to Edward Waters.

The Gold Rush dropped for the second consecutive week after splitting a pair of two-point decisions, a 77-75 loss at Fisk and a 68-66 victory at SUNO. Xavier and Philander Smith — 23rd this week after two consecutive times out of the top 25 — share first place in the GCAC. Philander Smith will play host to Fisk on Saturday in its finale. A Xavier victory against Dillard would assure the Rush of a piece of the GCAC regular-season championship; the Rush would win the title outright if Fisk beats Philander Smith, too.

The Crosstown Classic also will be Rush/Nuggets Alumni Weekend, and all former XU athletes attending the doubleheader are asked to sign in as they enter the Convocation Center. The athletics department will usher all former XU athletes to the court for introduction to the fans during timeouts, and special recognition will be given to former men's basketball standouts and NBA players Bruce Seals and Donald "Slick" Watts, both of whom will attend the doubleheader.

NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, Feb. 17) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Freed-Hardeman (6) 26-1 277 1 2 Oklahoma City (5) 22-2 276 2 3 Westminster (Utah) 24-2 263 4 4 Westmont 22-3 252 6 5 Lubbock Christian 24-3 246 3 6 Cumberland 25-2 229 5 7-tie Lee (Tenn.) 24-2 226 tie-7 7-tie Vanguard 20-2 226 tie-7 9 MidAmerica Nazarene 25-2 210 9 10 Xavier 22-4 200 10 11 The Master's 23-4 187 11 12 Benedictine (Kan.) 24-4 180 13 13 Rogers State 21-7 173 12 14 Shawnee State 20-7 165 14 15 Columbia (Mo.) 22-6 151 15 16 Campbellsville 20-7 146 18 17 Lyon 25-3 132 20 18 Georgetown (Ky.) 18-8 130 19 19 Faulkner 23-5 120 16 20 Wiley 22-3 115 21 21 Our Lady of the Lake 26-2 103 22 22 William Woods 22-4 82 23 23 Bethel (Tenn.) 18-9 76 17 24 Southern Poly 22-3 72 24 25 LSU-Shreveport 20-4 54 RV Others receiving votes: Carroll (Mont.) 49, St. Catharine (Ky.) 48, Auburn Montgomery 47, Baker 28, Cumberlands 14, Central Methodist 6, Talladega 5, Coastal Georgia 5, San Diego Christian 3.

NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, Feb. 17) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Columbia (Mo.) (11) 28-0 281 1 2 Lee (Tenn.) 25-1 272 2 3 John Brown 24-4 258 4 4 Lindsey Wilson 24-3 249 3 5 Lewis-Clark State 25-3 248 5 6 Cal State San Marcos 22-4 241 7 7 Southwestern Assemblies of God 24-3 225 8 8 Westmont 23-5 216 6 9 Oklahoma Baptist 22-6 206 10 10 Evangel 21-5 195 11 11 William Carey 22-4 189 19 12 Pikeville 21-5 170 17 13-tie Montana State Northern 22-6 167 12 13-tie Georgetown (Ky.) 20-6 167 13 15 Bethel (Tenn.) 24-4 156 16 16 Xavier 22-6 151 14 17 Emmanuel (Ga.) 25-3 150 15 18 Hope International 23-5 126 21 19 LSU-Shreveport 19-5 103 20 20 MidAmerica Nazarene 21-7 101 22 21 Faulkner 23-5 99 9 22 Montana Western 19-8 87 RV 23 Philander Smith 19-8 75 RV 24 Martin Methodist 17-9 68 RV 25 Culver-Stockton 21-7 65 tie-23 Others receiving votes: Arizona Christian 56, St. Thomas (Texas) 38, Mid-America Christian 38, Rogers State 20, Park 20, Shawnee State 14, Westminster (Utah) 12, Our Lady of the Lake 4, West Virginia Tech 4, Texas College 3, Campbellsville 3.

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

TSU Honors 97 Student-Athletes on Academic Night

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
 

NASHVILLE, Tennessee  -- On Monday Feb. 18, the Tennessee State Athletic Department recognized 97 TSU student-athletes during halftime of the women's basketball game against UT Martin.

Members from all 11 Big Blue sports were nominated including 22 football players, 16 Flying Tigers, 15 Tigerbelles, nine members of the men's basketball team, eight from women's basketball, seven male golfers, six volleyball student-athletes, five softball players, four female golfers, four members of the women's tennis team and one from the men's tennis team.

All 97 honorees were met at half-court by President Glenda Baskin Glover, Director of Athletics Teresa Phillips, Vice President for Administration Services Dr. Jane Jackson, Faculty Athletic Representative Dr. Celeste Williams and Assistant Athletics Director for Academic Services Dr. Johnnie C. Smith and were given a certificate signifying their accomplishment.

To be recognized, the TSU student-athletes had to maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher during the 2012 year.

List of honorees:

 

Football
Robert Armstrong
Gregory Barksdale
Anthony Bass
Bernell Brooks
Kadeem Edwards
Jerry Holt
Hunter Howard
Dinsdale Jackson
Ryan Mitchell
Timothy Murphy
Robert Myers
Jack Ndem
Demetrius Rhaney
Wilson Robinson
Wesley Samuels
Randall Seigler
Austin Taylor
Nicholas Thrasher
Harold Watson
John Williams
Devin Wilson
Aaron Woods

Men's Track and Field
Lester Blanton
Lamonte Burton
Shaquille Cragwall
Royce Dates
Alex Griffin
Jason Griffin
Shawn Harris
Osafa Hippolyte
Sean Jenkins
Donnie Johnson
Jalon McCutcheon
Kareem Nicholas
Theodore Nicholson
Jonathan Owens
Justyn Solomon

Women's Track and Field
Ja'Lyn Burr
Latia Carney
Andrea Fenderson
Destriney Fleming
Charita Harris
Ashontae Jackson
Cierra Joshua
Brielle Moore
Jasmine Owens
Carolyn Petway
Kya Riley
Diera Taylor
Amber Townsend
Sharmill Whyatt
Leslye Williams

Men's Basketball
Robert Covington
Jordan Cyphers
Deshawn Dockery
Tashan Fredrick
Devante McClung
Patrick Miller
M.J. Rhett
Kelln Thornton
Chaed Wellian

Women's Basketball
Rachel Allen
Destiny Gaston
Simone Hopes
Chelsea Hudson
Avery Jones
Brianna Lawrence
Alana Morris
Denisha Mumford

Men's Golf
Matthew Campbell
Tyler Hendrickson
Joe Hill
Shane Sampair
Cameron Scitern
James Stepp
Codie Welborn

Volleyball
Emilie Aase
Brittany Bunch
Jaime Cooper
Shawneis Jones
Jordon Piper
Calasia Williams

Softball
Kiarra Freeman
Jennifer Givens
Ashley Haynes
Brianna Roberts
Tayler Shimizu

Women's Golf
Chelsea Marlin
Kelly Merkel
Sarah Needleman
Bria Norris

Women's Tennis
Attallah Eiland
Krystan Mason
Shardel Suber
London Thomas

Men's Tennis
Jared Asher
 

 

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

XU sophomores Materre, Soifer win GCAC weekly honors

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana sophomores Amanda Materre and Nikita Soifer are the first Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Players of the Week in tennis for the spring 2013 semester. Materre, from Richmond, Texas, and a graduate of Westside High School, was 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles to help the Gold Nuggets win dual matches against NAIA No. 18 Oklahoma Baptist and NCAA Division I member Prairie View A&M. On Friday she defeated OBU's Mariana Rosa, No. 44 in the ITA/NAIA singles rankings, 6-1, 6-2.

Amanda Materre

Nikita Soifer

Soifer, from Beer Sheva, Israel, and a graduate of Hof Hasharon High School, was 3-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles to help the Gold Rush win 2-of-3 duals. He clinched Xavier's 4-3 victory against Prairie View on Saturday with a 6-3, 6-0 victory against Craig Wiltz.
    
Both XU teams were to play at Louisiana-Lafayette today. New NAIA top-25 coaches polls for men and women were to be announced by late this afternoon. The next dual at the new XU Tennis Center will start at 2 p.m. Saturday against McNeese State's women.


By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 

2013 SIAC Basketball Tournament

Gold Nuggets one place from joining Gold Rush in top 10

NEW ORLEANS — A 3-1 record — the program's best start since 2007 — moved Xavier University of Louisiana's women's tennis team from 13th to 11th in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll announced Tuesday afternoon.

Still in the top 10 are the Xavier men, who fell from eighth to 10th after a pair of losses to top-10 opponents. Still, it's the 13th consecutive time that the Gold Rush are in the top 10 and the 16th time in the last 17 polls.

Xavier never has had both tennis teams in the NAIA top 10 simultaneously, but this is the closest that coach Alan Green's programs have come to achieving that status. It's the second consecutive poll that both teams are among the top 15 — the other time that happened was in 2009.

The Gold Nuggets — a top-25 team in just 4-of-9 polls a year ago after a streak of 44 consecutive top-25 appearances from 2004-11 — bolstered their resumé this past weekend with a come-from-behind 5-4 victory against then-No. 18 Oklahoma Baptist and a 6-1 decision against Prairie View A&M. The victory against the Lady Panthers was the Nuggets' first since 2009 against an NCAA Division I member.

The Gold Rush (3-3) suffered 6-3 losses to top-10s William Carey and Bethany (Kan.) since the preseason rankings, but Xavier also defeated Oklahoma Baptist — 21st this week after receiving no votes in January — and Prairie View.

The top-25 appearance is the 43rd in a row for the XU men dating to April 4, 2007.

Xavier is one of eight schools — the others are Auburn Montgomery, Concordia (Calif.), Embry-Riddle (Fla.), Lindsey Wilson, Vanguard, Westmont and William Carey — with both teams in the top 11.

The next XU home duals will start at 2 p.m. Saturday for the Gold Nuggets against NCAA Division I's McNeese State and 3 p.m. on Feb. 28 for the Nuggets and Rush against Belhaven, which has both its teams in the NAIA top 25.

NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, Feb. 17) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Auburn Montgomery (13) 2-1 343 1 2 Brenau 3-0 332 3 3 SCAD Savannah 2-1 315 9 4 Lindsey Wilson 0-1 308 4 5 Westmont 5-1 299 8 6 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 1-3 285 2 7 William Carey 1-3 281 6 8 Concordia (Calif.) 2-4 264 5 9 Lewis-Clark State 2-1 262 7 10 Vanguard 1-4 239 10 11 Xavier 3-1 228 13 12 Indiana Wesleyan 15-0 226 11 13 Campbellsville 0-1 215 12 14 Olivet Nazarene 2-0 195 14 15 Lee (Tenn.) 1-0 187 15 16 Oklahoma Baptist 0-3 181 18 17 Robert Morris (Chicago) 0-0 168 16 18 St. Thomas (Fla.) 1-3 163 17 19 Marian (Ind.) 11-2 146 19 20 Cumberland 0-1 130 22 21 Nebraska Wesleyan 1-4 114 24 22 Belhaven 2-0 107 23 23 Martin Methodist 0-1 97 21 24 Bethel (Kan.) 0-2 79 20 25 Davenport 4-3 71 25 Others receiving votes: Georgetown (Ky.) 63, Milligan 62, Webber International 60, Evangel 23, Indiana Southeast 13, Graceland 11, Northwood (Fla.) 9, Arizona Christian 5, Cumberlands 3, Ashford 3.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, Feb. 17) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (9) 3-1 310 1 2 Auburn Montgomery (2) 3-1 302 2 3 Vanguard (1) 4-0 293 3 4 Lindsey Wilson 0-0 282 4 5-tie Westmont 3-3 266 7 5-tie William Carey 2-0 266 6 7 Bethany (Kan.) 6-1 247 10 8 Concordia (Calif.) 2-4 238 5 9 Aquinas 3-1 230 9 10 Xavier 3-3 228 8 11 Cumberland 0-0 204 11 12 Belhaven 3-0 197 12 13 Olivet Nazarene 2-0 182 13 14 Campbellsville 0-1 169 14 15 Lewis-Clark State 2-1 164 NR 16 Warner 0-1 161 15 17 McPherson 6-1 159 17 18 Graceland 2-1 155 16 19 Pikeville 0-0 127 18 20 Webber International 0-2 119 20 21 Oklahoma Baptist 1-2 108 NR 22 Northwestern Ohio 5-2 102 19 23 Georgetown (Ky.) 2-2 96 22 24-tie Coastal Georgia 2-2 83 23 24-tie Spring Arbor 10-2 83 21 Others receiving votes: Northwood (Fla.) 45, Biola 39, Indiana Wesleyan 34, Missouri Valley 25, Lee (Tenn.) 24, Davenport 23, Asbury 14, Martin Methodist 12, Bethel (Tenn.) 6, Our Lady of the Lake 6.

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

Elimination Of Guarantee Games Increases Likelihood Of NCAA Breakup

PISCATAWAY, New Jersey  --  Last week, news surfaced that the Big Ten, in a move to strengthen the leagues overall non-conference football schedule, would vote to prohibit members institutions from playing Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams. While many fans of both the B1G and other BCS leagues largely support any decision that will bolster their respective team’s schedules with more quality opponents, the news was not nearly as well received by smaller schools who rely on the money these “guarantee games” generate to fund their own athletic programs.

Athletic Directors such as Troy Dannen of the University of Northern Iowa think the loss of such games could cripple the budget of institutions like his. “I would tell you the loss of the Big Ten schools will be devastating, to UNI and to a lot of our peers,” says Dannen, adding, “If you think this will stop at the Big Ten…I look at things happening in the equity leagues in fives, and so I have to believe this might lead to additional dominoes.”


An in depth look into the Savannah State program, with head coach Horace Broadnax, as the Tigers go on the road to play a proverbial money game.

Guarantee games have been the life blood of many athletic departments, particularly for institutions who do not belong to conferences under the BCS moniker. These “paycheck games” as they are sometimes referred to – the head coach is often literally handed a check before boarding the bus home – provide a substantial portion of the athletic budgets for schools with smaller fan bases and budgets that are a fraction of their larger Division I brethren. For example, this past fall, aforementioned Northern Iowa collected almost $1 million in guarantees from playing  Iowa and Wisconsin, which accounts for almost 1/3 of the school’s $3.3 million dollar football budget. Savannah State University, also a FCS school, was paid some $860,000 to be thumped by the Oklahoma and Florida State football teams by a combined score of ...

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SHORT LIST OF 2013 HBCU FOOTBALL"GUARANTEE MONEY GAMES"

Southern U. at Houston, 8/29 or 8/31/13
Arkansas Pine Bluff at Arkansas State, 8/31/13
North Carolina Central at Duke, 8/31/13
Howard at Eastern Michigan, 8/31/13
Jackson State at Tulane, 8/31/13
Morgan State at Army, 8/31/13
Alcorn State at Mississippi State, 9/7/13
Grambling State at Louisiana-Monroe, 9/7/13
South Carolina State at Clemson, 9/7/13
Norfolk State at Rutgers, 9/7/13
Prairie View A&M at Texas State, 9/7/13
Savannah State at Troy U., 9/7/13
Howard at Old Dominion U*., 9/14/13
Bethune-Cookman at Florida International, 9/14/13 
Florida A&M at Ohio State, 9/21/13
Savannah State at Miami (Fla.), 9/21/13
Norfolk State at Old Dominion*, 10/26/13
Alabama State at Kentucky, 11/2/13
Alabama A&M at Georgia Tech, 11/23/13

* New Conference USA member 2014

(beepbeep)

Allen, Avant power Lady Pirates past Norfolk State

HAMPTON, Virigina  --  The Hampton University women’s basketball team, behind strong performances from senior guard Olivia Allen and senior forward Keiara Avant, upended Norfolk State 83-42 at the HU Convocation Center in front of a national ESPNU audience.

The Lady Pirates (20-5, 11-0 MEAC), in picking up their 11th straight win, recorded their fourth straight 20-win season – a feat Hampton had never achieved at the Division I level.

Allen (Kildeer, Ill.) led the way with a career-high 26 points, going 12-for-21 from the floor. She had 19 points in the first half alone. Avant (Chesapeake, Va.) recorded her 15th double-double of the season with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Junior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) added 13 points to go along with a team-high seven assists, while junior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.), the reigning MEAC Player of the Week, chipped in 12 points.

After Batavia Owens gave Norfolk State a 2-0 lead with a jumper, the Lady Pirates answered with a 16-0 run, taking a 16-2 lead at the 11:54 mark of the first half after a layup from Allen. Norfolk State went just over seven minutes without a basket during Hampton’s run.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Hamilton and Allen put Hampton up 22-6 with 9:30 left in the half, then Allen added a jumper at the 8:31 mark to give the Lady Pirates a 24-6 lead. Avant put the Lady Pirates up 26-7 with a pair of free throws at the 6:53 mark.

The Spartans cut the lead to 11, as Aivah Parham hit a jumper at the 4:34 mark to make the score 26-15, but the Lady Pirates closed the half on a 13-1 run to take a 39-16 lead into the break.

A 14-6 run to open the second half gave the Lady Pirates a 50-22 lead with 15:14 left in the second half on an Allen trey, and Avant added a jumper at the 13:26 mark to put the Lady Pirates up 56-24. Allen later hit a jumper with 10:47 to play to give Hampton a 62-26 lead.

Senior guard JoNiquia Guilford (Chesapeake, Va.) gave the Lady Pirates their largest lead of the night with 2:23 left with a jumper to put Hampton up 80-38.

The Lady Pirates shot a season-best 50.0 percent (32-for-64) from the floor, hitting four of their 17 3-pointers (23.5 percent) and going 15-for-20 (75.0 percent) from the free throw line. Hampton also scored 37 points off of 27 Norfolk State turnovers.

Hampton also held a 14-0 edge on the fast break. Both teams grabbed 27 rebounds.

Norfolk State (5-18, 3-9 MEAC) shot just 30.2 percent (16-for-53) from the floor and missed both 3-point attempts. The Spartans went just 10-for-16 (62.5 percent) from the free throw line.

Recca Trice led the Spartans with 10 points.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Wednesday, when they take on Maryland Eastern Shore at 5:30 p.m. at the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Nuggets clinch share of GCAC regular-season championship

TOUGALOO, Miss. -- Whitney Gaston-Loyd scored 13 points Monday to lead NAIA No. 10 Xavier University of Louisiana in a 71-61 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against Tougaloo.

The Gold Nuggets (23-4 overall, 11-2 GCAC) clinched no worse than a share of their third consecutive GCAC regular-season championship. Xavier can win the title outright by defeating Dillard on Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale. Talladega began the day tied with Xavier, but the Lady Tornadoes lost 67-64 at Philander Smith.

Loyd was one of four from Xavier in double figures. SiMon Franklin scored 12 points, Danielle Tucker 11 and Carmen Holcombe 10. Holcombe led the Nuggets with six rebounds.

Portia Craft scored 17 points for the Lady Bulldogs (17-9, 7-6), and Chasity Kearney and Kierra Addison scored 12 each. Kearney grabbed 12 rebounds.

A 17-4 run gave Tougaloo its largest lead, 23-14, at 7:59 of the first half. But Franklin and reserve Jessica Savannah combined for 11 points to cut Tougaloo's advantage to 32-31 by halftime.

Freshman Whitney Gathright's 3-pointer -- the Gold Nuggets' 100th of the season -- with 16:02 remaining put Xavier ahead to stay, 40-38, and the Nuggets made six consecutive field goals to take a 71-55 lead with 2:28 remaining. Loyd scored 11 second-half points.

Xavier completed a regular-season sweep of Tougaloo and avenged a 59-51 loss at the Lady Bulldogs' Kroger Gym from last season.

"It's never easy over here for us," XU coach Bo Browder said. "We made enough plays to win and shot very well at times in the second half."

Xavier shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half and outshot Tougaloo 43.1 to 34.4 percent for the game. Tougaloo outrebounded the Gold Nuggets 42-39.

The victory was the Gold Nuggets' 11th in a row -- their best streak since 2010 -- and the 47th in their last 51 GCAC regular-season games.

Xavier and Dillard will meet for the 78th time at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Crosstown Classic at XU's new Convocation Center. Reserved tickets are available to the public for $5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Thursday at the Convocation Center box office.

Talladega will play Edward Waters at home Saturday in its GCAC finale, and SUNO -- also tied with Talladega and a game behind Xavier -- will travel to Tougaloo that same day. The GCAC Tournament for women and men will begin Feb. 28 in Little Rock, Ark.

Box score

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

XU Rush win at Tougaloo, remain tied for first in GCAC

WANTO JOSEPH

TOUGALOO, Miss. -- Wanto Joseph scored 22 points Monday to lead NAIA No. 14 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 75-54 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory at Tougaloo.

The Gold Rush (23-6 overall, 10-3 GCAC) remained in a first-place tie in the conference with Philander Smith, a 65-58 winner at home against Talladega.

Both leaders will conclude the regular season at home Saturday -- Xavier against Dillard, and Philander Smith against Fisk.

Xavier shared the GCAC regular-season championship with Tougaloo a year ago.

Denzell Erves had 15 points and 12 rebounds -- his 16th double-double of the season -- for Xavier. Teammate Renard Smith had his first -- 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds -- and Anthony Simmons barely missed that distinction, finishing with nine points and 12 rebounds.

Erves tied his career high with six blocked shots, four in the first half.

Cordaryl Campbell scored 15 points and Juan Gray 14 for Tougaloo (7-17, 4-9). Campbell was 5-of-16 from the floor and committed eight turnovers.

The Bulldogs led 19-14 in the 13th minute, then Xavier scored the next nine points -- the last four by Joseph -- to take the lead for good. The Gold Rush led 29-23 at halftime, and the final margin was Xavier's largest of the game. Xavier led by double digits for the final 14:44.

Joseph scored 16 second-half points and finished in double figures for the 28th time in 29 games. He made 10-of-11 free throws. It was Joseph's sixth 20-point game of the season.

Xavier outshot Tougaloo 35.5 to 28.8 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Bulldogs 53-28. Both teams committed 17 turnovers. Xavier made 27-of-35 free throws, and the Bulldogs made 17-of-26.

Xavier won at Tougaloo's Kroger Gym for the first time since Feb. 3, 2005. The Gold Rush had lost six straight in the facility. It was Xavier's largest victory margin against the Bulldogs since 2002 and largest victory margin at Tougaloo since 1999.

Xavier and Dillard will meet for the 125th time at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Crosstown Classic at XU's new Convocation Center. Reserved tickets are available to the public for $5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Thursday at the Convocation Center box office.

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

NSU Runs Win Streak to 11, Takes Battle of the Bay 62-59 over HU

HAMPTON, Virginia  --  Up by 12 with seven minutes left in the game, the Norfolk State men's basketball team saw both its lead and its perfect conference record begin to fade in the final minutes against Hampton Monday night in the Battle of the Bay at the HU Convocation Center.

Someway, somehow, the Spartans survived a very wild finish to the game for a 62-59 victory over the Pirates to give NSU a season sweep of Hampton.

The win, NSU's Division I record 11th in a row, improved the Spartans' MEAC record to 12-0 and their overall mark to 17-10. NSU won its fourth straight over the Pirates with its second-straight season sweep.

NSU stayed a game ahead of North Carolina Central (11-1) in the MEAC standings. The Spartans came into the night holding the sixth-longest winning streak in the nation.

It was not without some drama, though, as Hampton (10-17, 7-4) used a 12-1 run in the latter stages of the game to cut the NSU lead to one on two occasions, the latter with just 56.9 seconds left when Deron Powers hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line.

NSU had gone almost six minutes without scoring until junior Pendarvis Williams also went 1-of-2 from the line 16 seconds prior to Powers. After the Hampton freshman made it 60-59, the Spartans bled out the play clock until junior Malcolm Hawkins hit a driving layup with 22.6 seconds left.

Hampton missed a 3-pointer on its end, and Powers lost the ball after grabbing the offensive board. NSU, though, turned it right back over, but Hampton did the same as Ke'Ron Brown stepped on the sideline with 9.3 seconds left trying to hoist up a trey.

Typical of how the game played out at the end, the Spartans immediately turned it over on their inbounds pass. Brown missed a layup for Hampton after grabbing the errant pass, and with 7.6 seconds left Ramon Mercado missed a 3-pointer from the right corner off one last inbounds pass.

Senior Rob Johnson missed a pair of free throws on the other end for NSU to keep it a one possession game, but Powers was unable to get a potential game-tying shot off in the final second.

Hawkins led all players with 18 points, while freshman Rashid Gaston had his best game of the year with a career-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting with nine rebounds. The rookie scored nine straight points at one point in the second half for NSU to keep the Spartan advantage in double digits.

Williams joined them in double figures with 11. Hampton shot just 21-of-69 (30.4 percent) for the game and was unable to take advantage of a 55-35 edge on the boards, including a 24-8 edge on the offensive glass.



The Spartans, on the other hand, hit just 24-of-58 (41.4 percent) overall.

Tied at 32 at the half, junior Jamel Fuentes scored the first four points of the second stanza to help the Spartans pick up the tempo. Hampton called timeout after NSU scored seven of the first nine points after halftime, and the Spartans eventually put together a 16-4 run over the first eight minutes of the second half. A trey from Williams and four points from junior Brandon Goode sparked NSU during that spurt.

Gaston scored his nine straight points for NSU to keep the lead in double digits as the clock ticked to less than 10 minutes to go. After a pair of free throws from Hawkins, though, Hampton countered with its final run of the contest to set up the end-of-game excitement.

Mercado and Du'Vaughn Maxwell led Hampton with 12 points each. Maxwell also had 10 boards. Powers and Brown each added 10 points.

Early in the game, Hawkins completed at 3-point play at the 13:53 mark to get NSU to within two, 9-7. Hampton went up by five at 16-11 after Emmanuel Okoroba's basket, but senior Kris Brown drove to the hoop and made a nice reverse layup at the 9:31 mark to cut the deficit to three.

NSU was forced to call timeout down 23-15, and then the Spartans used a 13-4 run over a four-and-a-half minute span to take a 28-26 lead with less than three minutes to go. Hawkins was key at the end of the run, hitting a trey with his foot just off the 3-point line – the referees went to the courtside monitor to confirm – and connecting on a driving layup to finally give NSU its first lead of the game.

Hawkins totaled 11 points in the first half, and Gaston added eight, including the last two buckets of the half for the Spartans. Aaron Austin hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line with 6.9 seconds left for HU to tie the game at 32 heading into the intermission.

Good finished with a career-high five blocks to go with four points and six boards.

NSU will play its last road game of the regular season next Saturday at Delaware State at 4 p.m. 

Box Score

By Mike Bello, Assistant Sports Information Director
NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY

WSSU Rams will lose a little homecourt edge with game at Joel

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  No. 14 Winston-Salem State has been nearly unbeatable at the Gaines Center since rejoining the CIAA three seasons ago.

The Rams enjoy a tremendous advantage because of the students, the band and crowds 2,000 strong packed in. That homecourt advantage won’t be the same Wednesday when WSSU plays Johnson C. Smith at spacious Joel Coliseum.

 The doubleheader (women at 5:30, men at 7:30) was moved for logistical reasons — limited parking at the Gaines Center and the fact that it will be Senior Night. The coliseum has plenty of room for family and friends.

It also doesn’t hurt that WSSU will be playing its biggest CIAA rival.

Guard Justin Glover, one of seven seniors who will be honored, said that playing the home game away from the Gaines Center will be a disadvantage for the Rams.



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St. Aug Sweeps 60 Hurdles, 4x400 Relay at Virginia Tech Challenge

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Saint Augustine's University won the men's and women's 60 meter dashes and 4x400 meter relays in the Virginia Tech Challenge indoor track and field meet held at Rector Fieldhouse on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 15-16, 2013.

Shamia Lassiter (Fr./Chesapeake, Va.) was the women's winner in the 60 hurdles. She ran a time of 8.57. The men's winner was Moussa Dembele (Jr./Dakar, Senegal), who was named Division II national track athlete of the week on Monday, Feb. 11. Dembele crossed the finish line 7.81 seconds.

The men's and women's 4x400 relay teams came away from Virginia Tech victorious in their events. The women's foursome of Brittany Brown (So./Akron, Ohio), Cherrisse Lynch (So./Bridgetown, Barbados), Sherri-Ann Ashman (So./Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Kelly Shaw (Sr./Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) won in 3:45.73. The men's quartet of Dane Hyatt (Jr./Goodwill, Jamaica), Joshua Edmonds (Jr./Jacksonville, Fla.), Burkhead Ellis, Jr. (Fr./Raleigh, N.C.) and James Quarles (Jr./Washington, D.C.) won easily in 3:11.55. UNC Wilmington finished second nearly 12 seconds behind the Falcons.

Marcelis Lynch (Jr./Stone Mountain, Ga.) was the other Falcon winner at the Challenge. The CIAA indoor track MVP last weekend, Lynch came away with a victory in the 800 run (1:50.45).

Several other Falcons and Lady Falcons finished high at the meet. Below are the Falcons and Lady Falcons who placed in the top five of their events.

WOMEN
Brittany Brown – 4^th – 200 dash
Cherrisse Lynch – 3^rd – 400 dash
Skyler Wallen – 4^th – 800 run
Kirsten Bowens – 4^th – Triple Jump

MEN
Jermaine Jones – 3^rd- 60 dash
Ramaan Ansley – 5^th- 60 dash
Dane Hyatt – 2^nd – 200 dash
Burkheart Ellis, Jr. -3^rd – 200 dash, 5^th – 400 dash
Josh Edmonds – 4^th – 200 dash
James Quarles – 4^th – 400 dash
Gerkenz Seneca -2^nd-60 Hurdles
Ty'reak Murray-4^th-60 Hurdles
Men's Distance Medley –(Torion Bailey, Elhadji Mbow, Jameel Walcott, Marcelis Lynch)
Eddie Shelton – 5^th – High jump
DeVonte Jenkins – 2^nd – Long jump
David Shaw, Jr. – 3^rd- Triple jump


COURTESY SAINT AUGUSTINE'S UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF SPORTS INFORMATION