Corey White finds his home at Southern

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  Still wearing the remnants of his childhood dream, Corey White may have looked lost, but he’s sure he is found again.

The former Capitol High School standout moved gracefully up the stairs to the Southern football offices despite his mountainous stature, his burly legs sheathed in baggy gray sweats with a bold “LSU” emblazoned in purple letters on his thigh.

The pants are part of a bygone era, one with an end that White hadn’t envisioned as a touted offensive line recruit coming out of Capitol.

White left LSU without realizing his dream of playing in Tiger Stadium. He spent his redshirt freshman season working toward that goal before leaving the program last year.

Football is only one part of the student-athlete equation, and his grades weren’t up to par with his physical abilities.

“Things didn’t go right, didn’t go the way I wanted to go,” he said. “I got in a bad bind with school. I couldn’t handle it. So I just decided to transfer before I got too far in it.”

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SWAC basketball standings 2013: Southern Jaguars head to league tournament as top seed

The Texas Southern Tigers ended their regular season with a 79-66 victory against the Southern University Jaguars on Thursday and finished 16-2 in SWAC play. But with a postseason ban upon Texas Southern, which finished 17-14 on the season, it's the Jaguars who head to the SWAC Tournament as the top seed.

A seven-team bracket because of additional postseason bans to Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Mississippi Valley State gives Southern the No. 1 overall seed in the conference tournament and the only bye. They will face the winner of No. 6 seed Alabama A&M and No. 7 seed Grambling State, who play on Wednesday, March 13.

No. 2 seed Jackson State, which finished fourth in the regular season with a 9-9 conference record, will play Alabama State on Thursday, March 14. The winner of that game will face the victor between the Alcorn State and Prairie View.

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Texas Southern claims SWAC Regular Season Championship

2012-13 SWAC Regular Season Champions
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY MEN BASKETBALL
(Courtesy Texas Southern University Athletics) 

HOUSTON, Texas --  History was made on Saturday night at the H&PE Arena as Texas Southern clinched the 2013 Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season championship and said goodbye to four seniors on the Tigers basketball team.

Dexter Ellington, Kyrie Sutton, Fred Sturdivant and Omar Strong concluded their collegiate careers in grand fashion helping Texas Southern to its first SWAC regular season title since the 1997-98 season. The Tigers dominated from start to finish as they led 39-27 at halftime before going on to outscore Alcorn State 39-32 in the second half of play.

Texas Southern built their largest lead of the second half at the 16:15 mark on a Sturdivant jumper that brought the score to 49-28. Alcorn State cut the lead to twelve points at 67-55 with 4:18 left to play but the Tigers pushed their advantage back to 21 points with 1:30 remaining on a Sturdivant dunk (76-55).

Sturdivant led all Texas Southern point contributors with 24 points on a 9-of-13 shooting night of the floor. He also grabbed 6 rebounds while blocking 5 shot attempts and set the tone early in the contest with his energy level.

Strong finished the game with 18 points going 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Strong became the All-time leader in school history with 222 successful three point attempts in his two year career as a member of the Tigers program.

“Our fans have been great all season so we owed them this championship,” said TSU head coach Mike Davis. “I’m excited about where we are as a program after getting off to a rough start. Our goal going into the season was to win twenty games. We came up short of that goal but we still have the opportunity to finish with one of the longest winning streaks in the country. I’m really proud of our guys and the way that they battled all season. It means a lot for us to be able to send our seniors out like this.”

Inside the Numbers
Texas Southern outrebounded Alcorn State 37-to-33 while scoring 29 points inside the paint to the Braves 26 points. TSU held the Braves to no points in transition and forced ASU into shooting just 39 percent from the field (23-59).

Season to remember
The Tigers have concluded their season with a 17-14 overall record and a 16-2 mark in league play. Texas Southern ended the season on a twelve game winning streak. The Tigers led the SWAC in league play in several statistical categories including scoring offense, scoring margin, field goal percentage, three point field goal percentage, rebounding defense, assists, and blocked shots.

Strong finished third in points per game in the conference (17.1 ppg), while fellow teammate Sturdivant finished first in blocked shots (3.4 bpg), and second in rebounds (3.4 rpg). Ray Penn led the conference in assists per game (5.9 apg) and also ranked first in assists to turnover ratio.

Tiger Notables

• Texas Southern concluded SWAC regular season play with a 7-2 record on the road.
• Texas Southern went undefeated at home in conference play at 9-0.
• Fred Sturdivant tallied six blocked shots against Southern and five versus Alcorn State.
• The Tigers had two players score in double figures against Alcorn State.
• Texas Southern led the Southwestern Athletic Conference in points scored per game this season.
• Omar Strong became the school's All-Time leader in three point field goals made (222).

By Andrew Roberts, TSU Sports Information Director
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

2013 SIAC Men's Basketball Championship: Second half ralley helps Benedict claim consecutive title

MARCUS GOODE

ATLANTA, Georgia  --  Marcus Goode was named 2013 SIAC Men's Basketball Tournament MVP as the 6-10 senior All-American recorded a double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead Benedict College to its second consecutive SIAC Men's Basketball Championship with a 68-60 victory over Morehouse College Saturday evening at Forbes Arena.

Lamar Adkins added 15 points off the bench for the Tigers, who won their fourth tournament title since 2004 under head coach Fred Watson.

"We knew that they [Morehouse] were going to come out aggressive," Watson said. "They are very well coach and know us very well and really challenged us in all phases of the game. I am happy to have a group of seniors that are self motivated and know how to get the job done."

Andrae Nelson had 20 points to lead the Maroon Tigers, and was named to the All-Tournament team, as was Darrius Williams, who had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

While Morehouse applied pressure on SIAC Men's Player of the Year Xavier Collier, the point guard managed to get his teammates involved by dishing a game-high nine assists to match his 10 points he scored. Rickie Jackson, who was named to the All-Conference team along with Goode, scored six points, but hit his 12th and 13th 3-point basket in the second half to help spark Benedict's comeback.

Morehouse opened up the second half with a 9-3 run to take a 41-33 lead, getting the large home Morehouse crowd excited and forcing Watson to burn a quick time out. Senior Cassius Bell hit a jumper on the ensuing play, but Morehouse's Shawn Allen responded with a jumper. Goode converted on a layup that would spark a 18-4 run by the Tigers.

A 3-pointer by Jackson cut the lead to three as Brenan Reynard hit back-to-back baskets to give Benedict the 46-45 lead with 11:01 to play. An Adkins jumper gave Benedict the lead for good, 48-47, with 10:17 to play, and he followed by hitting a 3-pointer on the next possession.

Benedict had a 61-53 lead with 2:27 left, but Morehouse got a 3-pointer from Austin Anderson and a jumper from Nelson to make it 61-58 with 1:43 left to play. Over the next minute, Benedict missed one field goal and two free throws, while Morehouse missed two field goals. Adkins snapped the scoring drought by sinking two critical free throws with .38 second remaining in the game to put the Tigers ahead 63-58.

Morehouse cut the lead to 65-60 with .18 seconds left on a jumper by Williams, but Adkins sank two more free throws with .16 seconds left to secure the victory.

Joining Goode, Jackson, Nelson, and Williams on the All-Tournament team was Tuskegee guard Calvin Thomas, who averaged 16 points in two tournament games for the Golden Tigers.

2013 SIAC Basketball Champions: Benedict College Tigers
2013 SIAC Basketball Tournament Runners Up: Morehouse College Maroon Tigers

2013 SIAC All-Tournament Team

Name	Position	Class	School
Darrius Williams	Forward	Junior	Morehouse
Ricky Jackson	Forward	Senior	Benedict
Andrae Nelson	Forward/Center	Senior	Morehouse
Marcus Goode	Forward	Senior	Benedict
Calvin Thomas	Guard	Senior	Tuskegee

2013 SIAC Men's Basketball Tournament Most Valuable Player
Marcus Goode

2013 SIAC Men's Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Coach
Fred Watson, Benedict
 

Benedict College Pep Band -- "Purple and Gold"

COURTESY THESIAC.COM

2013 SIAC Women's Championship Game: Clark Atlanta uses a dominate second half to defeat Benedict

ATLANTA, Georgia  -- Conisha Hicks was named MVP of the 2013 SIAC Women’s Basketball Tournament, as she had game highs of 20 points, seven assists, and five steals to lead #2E Clark Atlanta over #1E Benedict College 75-58 Saturday evening in the SIAC Women's Championship Game played at Morehouse College's Frank L. Forbes Arena.

The win secured Clark Atlanta's first SIAC Tournament Championship since 1999 and fifth in school history. Lady Panther's head coach Vanessa Moore said afterwards that she knew her team was special.

“They’ve been talking about it for a long time,” Moore said. “They’ve been talking about the possibilities of winning a championship. It’s always one of our three goals: academic goals, championships, and community service off the floor. But, I think that we really put it all together this year. The team was mature. I knew it would be tough, and we went through hard knocks throughout the season. But, in the way that we played some of our non-conference games, I knew that we had a good team. There was never a doubt. Every time we walked off the floor, we earned a little bit more respect.”

Tag-teaming Hick's performance was La’Quisha Lewis, who recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Ten of those rebounds were on the defensive end, and were a contributing cause to the Lady Tigers shooting just 17 percent from the field in the opening half (5-of-28). Lewis, along with her teammate Hicks were named to the all-tournament team.

For Benedict, London Richardson led the team with highs of 18 points and eight rebounds. Monique Weathers also had 13 points, and both players were also named to the all-tournament team.

Both teams traded baskets to start the game, but Clark Atlanta exploded on a 20-6 run to take a commanding 22-8 lead with 11:53 remaining before halftime. Momentarily, the Lady Tigers roared back into the contest with an 11-0 run of their own, and CAU’s lead was trimmed down to 22-19 with under seven minute to play in the opening half.


Courtesy Paul Brown

For a minute, it looked as if the momentum was going to shift in favor of Benedict, until Hicks took matters into her own hands. Against Benedict full-court pressure defense, the 5-foot-4 junior guard used her speed and fearless demeanor to score several transition baskets, while setting her teammates up with layups as the double-teams cavorted her. In result, Clark Atlanta opened up a massive lead that they would refuse to relinquish.

“Well, I knew that they were going to put pressure on me, and I was prepared for it,” Hicks said.
“So, I just knew that my teammates needed me. I stepped to the ball. I took control, and we came out with a victory. I learned through the playoffs I played in my freshman year and my sophomore year. After watching these other teams celebrate, we have a great team, and I just wanted to feel that win. Feel it! That’s all I wanted.”

After a strong defensive showing in the first half, where CAU held the Lady Tigers to just 17.9 percent shooting, the Lady Panthers switched up the routine by shooting lights out in the second half, as they shot 68.2 percent from the floor.

In addition to the four players from tonight’s game making the SIAC All-Tournament team, Ashley Watts from Paine College was the fifth member added to the squad. She scored a tournament high 29 points during her second game inside Frank Forbes Arena.

2013 SIAC Basketball Champions: Clark Atlanta Lady Panthers
2013 SIAC Basketball Tournament Runners Up: Benedict College Lady Tigers

2013 SIAC All-Tournament Team

Name	Position	Class	School
Conisha Hicks	Guard	Junior	Clark Atlanta
La'Quisha Lewis	Forward	Senior	Clark Atlanta
London Richardson	Guard	Sophomore	Benedict
Monique Weathers	Guard	Senior	Benedict
Ashley Watts	Guard	Sophomore	Paine

2013 SIAC Basketball Tournament Most Valuable Player
Conisha Hicks, Clark Atlanta

2013 SIAC Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Coach
Vanessa Moore, Clark Atlanta

COURTESY THESIAC.COM

 

Shaw Lady Bears Win Third Straight CIAA Championship With 72-53 Win over Fayetteville State

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Shaw University Lady Bears won their third straight CIAA Championship following a 72-53 victory over Fayetteville State in the title game on Saturday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Lady Bears outscored the Lady Broncos 42-27 in the second half to win their eighth CIAA Championship in the last 11 years. The win improves Shaw, the No. 2 seed from the Southern Division, to 25-4 overall while Fayetteville State, the No. 1 seed from the Southern Division, drops to 24-6 overall.

Shaw was led by three players in double figures with Crystal Wilson and Crystal Harris leading the way with 18 points apiece. Taylor Dalrymple chimed in with 16 points and eight rebounds and was named the Most Valuable Player for the Tournament.

"We knew it was going to be a battle of rebounds and free throws," said Shaw head coach Jacques Curtis. "When we lost to them the first time, they outrebounded us and shot more free throws than we did. When we played them the second time, we out rebounded them and shot more free throws. So we knew the key to the game had nothing to do with putting the ball in the basket, it had to do with us not putting them on the line as much."


Courtesy CIAA SIDA

The Lady Bears pulled down 48 rebounds compared to 41 for Fayetteville State. From the charity stripe, the Lady Bears were 18-of-22 while the Lady Broncos were 10-of-11.

Fayetteville State was led by Akysia Resper, who finished with a team-high 16 points. Alicia Person added 11 points in the loss. The reigning CIAA Player of the Year Kristen Hanzer was limited to just eight points and was held scoreless until midway through the second half.

"What we got from Shaw is what we expected," said Fayetteville State head coach Eva Patterson-Heath. "I'd like to congratulate them for winning a third CIAA Championship. I put the word 'relentless' on the board at the start of the game. I feel like at times it did not apply. We just did not attack, as was demonstrated in 11 attempts at the free throw line."

After a three-pointer from Akysia Resper gave the Lady Broncos the early 3-0 lead, the Lady Bears responded with a 6-0 run to take a three-point lead thanks to a layup from Crystal Wilson at the 15:19 mark of the first half.

An off balance jumper from Dalrymple tied the game up at 8, sparking a 10-0 run that helped propel the Lady Bears to an eight-point lead. Kearah Jeffreys buried back-to-back jumpers, with the last one coming with 9:06 left to give Shaw the 16-8 lead.


Courtesy CIAA SIDA

Resper buried another three-pointer to bring FSU within five at 16-11 with 8:33 left in the period. Dalrymple pushed Shaw's lead back to seven when she drained a jumper.

The Lady Broncos cut it back down to five when Shuanda Ashford drilled a shot from the post to make it 18-13. The Lady Bears answered with a 6-0 run to build a 24-13 lead with 6:01 remaining in the period.

The Lady Broncos responded with a 13-3 over the next five minutes run to get back within one thanks to a layup from Je'Lena Robertson, which made it 27-26 at the 1:09 mark.
Harris scored the final three points of the half on a layup and a free throw to give the Lady Bears a 30-26 advantage at halftime.

The Lady Bears opened the second half on a 10-2 run to go up nine. A three-point play the old fashioned way from Crystal Gordon gave the Lady Bears a 37-28 cushion with 16:28 remaining in the game.

After FSU's Tierra Coleman sank a pair of free throws to bring the Lady Broncos within seven, Harris and Wilson scored the next four points for the Lady Bears to increase their lead back to double digits. Wilson snagged down an offensive rebound and hit a jumper with 14:35 remaining to give Shaw a 41-30 lead.

A pair of free throws from Dalrymple gave Shaw another 13-point lead before Shuanda Ashford responded with a layup on the other end to bring the Lady Broncos within 11.

After a three-point play by Wilson and a layup from Harris extended Shaw's lead to 16 at 48-32, the Lady Broncos scored the next four points to get back within 10 after a layup from Kristen Hanzer for her first points of the game, which came at the 10:09 mark.

The Lady Bears answered with an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 18. A steal from Jeffreys and a layup from Diamond Mitchell gave Shaw a 56-38 with 8:04 left in the contest.

Person ended a three minute stretch without a field goal when she buried a jumper to bring the Lady Broncos within 16 with 7:05 remaining.

After a layup from Harris increased the Lady Bears' lead to 18 at 58-40, Hanzer brought it back down to 15 with a three-pointer at the 6:19 mark. Thirteen seconds later, David converted a layup to push it back to 17 at 60-43.

The Lady Bears went on a 9-5 run over the next three minutes to build a 21-point lead. Dalrymple's layup at the 2:23 mark made it 69-48.

A three-pointer by Hanzer made it an 18-point game before Harris made it a 20-point margin with a layup with 58 seconds left. Gordon sank 1-of-2 free throws to extend Shaw's lead to 21 with 11 seconds left.

A late bucket from Robertson brought it back down to 19 with one tick left. When the buzzer rang, the Lady Bears celebrated the victory.

Box Score

COURTESY CIAA.COM AND CIAA SIDA

Westmoreland leads Bowie State to second CIAA Men's Basketball Title in School History

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Byron Westmorland had a huge night in leading Bowie State to the CIAA championship.

The senior forward scored a career-high 38 points including 26 points in the second half to outduel Livingstone's Mark Thomas and help Bowie State break open a tight game for an 85-74 victory over Livingstone in the CIAA finals at Time Warner Cable Arena on Saturday. The Bulldogs (16-13 overall) won their second championship, including the first under Head Coach Darrell Brooks, after entering the tournament as the No. 4 Northern Division seed. The latest title comes 10 years after the Bulldogs claimed their first CIAA crown in 2003.

With the victory, the Bulldogs received the conference's automatic bid in the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Blue Bears (22-6 overall) are anticipating an at-large bid after reaching the title game as the No. 6 ranked team in the Atlantic Region. The top eight teams in the region will advance to the tournament.

"I'm so proud of my team, especially my five seniors," Brooks said. "They've worked hard. We've had a lot of adversity this year and all through it, they stuck together and we got a great reward for it."
However, the Blue Bears missed out on that elusive first league championship after winning their first Southern Division title and coming into the tournament as the division's top seed. The Blue Bears can blame Westmoreland, the tournament MVP, for that.


Courtesy CIAA SIDA

The Bulldogs' star sparked a late run which clinched the title for the Bulldogs. Down 53-51 with 14:42 left, the Bulldogs outscored the Blue Bears 34-21 with Westmoreland scoring 18 points during the spurt. The Bulldogs' finish was similar to Friday's semifinal against Winston-Salem State when they went on a late surge to reach the championship game.

The Bulldogs withstood an outstanding effort by Thomas of the Blue Bears, a talented guard who scored a career-high 34 points before fouling out late. Thomas kept the Blue Bears in the game by scoring 18 points in the second half. His layup on a drive cut the Blue Bears' deficit to 75-67. But Westmoreland completed a three-point play of his own for a 78-67 lead with 2:05 left that wrapped up the game for the Bulldogs, who outscored the Blue Bears 42-33 in the second half.

Westmorland finished the night making 13 of 19 shots which ranged from jumpers to layups in transition which resulted in three-point plays at times. He also made 10 of 15 free throws in addition to getting six rebounds and four steals.

Westmorland got support from his inside players. Forward Carlos Smith had 11 points and seven rebounds and forward Najee White contributed 10 points. Forward Dameatric Scott had seven rebounds and five assists. Guard Bryan Wilson also helped out on the boards, grabbing six to go along with eight points. The inside play complemented Westmoreland as the Bulldogs scored 46 points in the paint and 16 second-chance points.

"[The] game was kind of what we expected," Brooks said. "It was a war. We thought it was going to be a very physical game. We thought that the team that did the best job defending and on the backboards would be the team that would probably win the game and fortunately, it was us."

As a team, the Bulldogs shot 56 percent. Meanwhile, the Blue Bears shot 38 percent.

"Bowie came out and scored points," Livingstone coach James Stinson said. "That was the biggest fear. We knew they would score. We knew that Westmoreland was a tough person to stop, but we left some points out there ourselves, by not making free throws, by missing a few layups here and there, and I think we were a little anxious at certain points in time. We've been down this road once before and we just didn't take advantage of the opportunity that was presented to us. I take my hat off to Bowie State and congratulate them for doing such a good job."

Other than Thomas, the Blue Bears struggled from the floor. Thomas was 11 of 21 from the floor and 9 of 13 from the free-throw line in addition to three steals. Darnell Turner added 11 points but he was the only other double figure scorer. Anthony Welch scored nine points on 3 of 4 three-point shooting.
The Bowie State big men impact the contest from the start by limiting the Blue Bears to one shot and getting inside for easy baskets. A dunk by Carlos Smith off a missed layup lifted the Bulldogs to an early 15-7 lead.

Led by Thomas, the Blue Bears came back to pull within 22-19. The Blue Bears led 26-24 on his three-point play.

The Bulldogs reclaimed momentum when Wilson swished a three pointer for a 40-36 Bulldogs lead with under a minute remaining in the half. A three-pointer by Westmorland made the score 43-38 Bowie State, but Thomas answered with a three before halftime to cut the Bulldogs lead to 43-41 at the break.

Thomas scored 16 points in the first half for the Blue Bears. Westmorland scored 12 and Smith with 10 for the Bulldogs. White added eight points for the Bulldogs.

Thomas gave the Blue Bears a 46-44 lead in the second half on a three-pointer, but Bowie State reclaimed the lead at 51-46 on a free throw and layup by Westmorland.

Once again, it was Thomas who brought back the Blue Bears. His free throw and three from the deep corner put the Blue Bears back ahead 53-51. Westmoreland scored five straight points as the Bulldogs regained the lead at 56-53. A dunk by White and a layup by Westmoreland extended their lead to 65-56, giving the Bulldogs the cushion they needed to hold off the Blue Bears. When Scott scored on a tip-in, the lead reached 13 points at 75-62.

The All-CIAA Tournament team featured Westmorland and Scott of Bowie State, and Thomas, Jody Hill and Ethan Anderson of Livingstone. The other All-CIAA Tourney members are Quinton McDuffie of Chowan, Christopher Grier of Virginia State, Justin Glover of Winston-Salem State, Derrick Washington of Lincoln (Pa.), and Angelo Sharpless of Elizabeth City State. Johnson C. Smith won the John B. McLendon Team Sportsmanship Award.

Box Score


BSU Pep Band at Harding University H.S., Charlotte, N.C.

COURTESY CIAA.COM AND CIAA SIDA