EKU Women's Basketball Falls to Florida A&M, 64-58

SOUTHERN MISS THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT AT HATTIESBURG, MS

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi  –  The Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team fell to Florida A&M, 64-58, in its opening game of the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday night at Reed Green Coliseum.

EKU (3-4) led by as many as 12 points in the second half, but FAMU (5-1) went on 15-0 run and took the lead, 55-54, when Taneka Rubin hit a layup with 6:29 remaining in the game.

The Lady Colonels trailed by only one point, 57-56, and had a chance to retake the lead with 1:20 on the clock, but sophomore Shelly Harper failed to convert a layup under the basket.

FAMU's Jasmine Grice sank six free throws in the final minute of play to seal the win for the Lady Rattlers.

Harper finished with a career-high 16 points in the loss, three of which came on her first-career three-pointer in the first half. Senior Marie Carpenter also scored 16 points, sinking 4-of-11 from behind the arc.

Two Lady Colonels, sophomore Miranda Maples and freshman Nicole Bowers, grabbed 10 boards each and led EKU to a 46-39 rebounding advantage over FAMU.

EKU shot just 22.2 percent (8-of-36) from the field in the second half compared to 50 percent (14-of-28) in the first half.

Grice led all players in the game with 25 points.

FAMU led for most of the first half and held a 25-20 advantage with 5:44 on the clock. However, a three-pointer by Carpenter from the top of the key sparked the EKU offense as the Lady Colonels ended the half on a 16-6 run. A jumper in the lane by Carpenter with four seconds on the clock sent EKU into the locker room at halftime up by five, 36-31.

EKU continued to push the tempo in the first eight minutes of the second half, as Carpenter knocked down two more three-pointers and freshman Mariah Massengill connected on a triple of her own to give the Lady Colonels their largest lead of the game, 54-42, with 12:04 remaining.

The Lady Rattlers, however, exploded on a 15-0 run at that point and never trailed again.

EKU will play Mississippi Valley State in the tournament's consolation game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

COURTESY EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

Team Effort Leads PVAMU Panthers To Win Over Bethune-Cookman 89-80

GREELEY, Colorado  --  Demondre Chapman scored 21 points as the entire starting lineup scored in double figures in Prairie View A&M's 89-80 win over Bethune-Cookman in the third leg of the Colorado State Challenge on the campus of Northern Colorado Friday evening.

The Panthers led from start-to-finish as they wasted no time en route to an 11-1 lead with 14:43 left in the contest. BCU would trim its deficit to seven but the Panthers responded with a 10-2 run to lead 35-20 at the 5:19 mark. However, the comfortable lead would whittle down as the half came to an end as BCU drew to within 42-37 with 36 seconds left. With time winding down in the half, PVAMU junior forward Hershey Robinson nailed a pair of free throws to send the Panthers into the locker room up 44-37.

Prairie View A&M took BCU's best punch to open the second half as its lead dwindled down to 51-49 less than four minutes in. Sensing the momentim slipping away, junior guard Montrael Scott nailed a trey for a 54-49 lead coupled with three straight points from Chapman for a 57-51 advantage at the 14:20 mark. BCU once again kept nipping on PVAMU's heels as they closed to within four points nearly a minute later but the Panthers fought back with an 8-0 run which spanned three minutes to jump ahead 65-53.

From that point, the Panthers led comfortably and remained in control for the rest of the contest as the closest BCU would get was a seven-point margin on two occassions. Prairie View A&M was solid from the free throw line as they sealed the contest by shooting 19-of-23 from the charity stripe in the second half.

Chapman led the Panthers with 21 points and nine rebounds followed by 18 from Scott, 14 from Robinson and 10 apiece from Tre Hagood and John Brisco. Hagood also dished out 10 assists while Jules Montgomery grabbed six rebounds, forced three steals and blocked two shots.The challenge comes to an end on Sunday as the Panthers face tourney host Northern Colorado at 3 p.m.

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COURTESY PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Clark-Atlanta knocks off WSSU in Fresh Coast Classic

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin  -- Clark-Atlanta handed Winston-Salem State an 89-81 loss Friday afternoon in the first round of the Fresh Coast Classic in Milwaukee.

The Rams, 2012 tournament champions, fell to 2-3 this season.

Javan Wells came in averaging 2.5 points a game but led the Rams with 33 points. However, WSSU struggled again from the foul line, making just 20 of 45 free throws.

Jordan Husley led Clark-Atlanta with 25 points, and Jarrel Joye added 19 points.

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'Relaxed' Jenkins not pressing B-CU this time

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  -- Bethune-Cookman football coach Brian Jenkins said he is “relaxed and confident'' heading into today's FCS playoff game at Coastal Carolina.

That's a good thing for the Wildcats, because the players follow their coach's lead. And last year, B-CU was anything but relaxed heading into its playoff game with the Chanticleers.

In hindsight, Jenkins said that was his fault.

 

“I think the problem was I didn't have the team prepared well enough for the atmosphere mentally,” he said of B-CU's 24-14 home playoff loss to Coastal Carolina last year. “I think I had them too high, too juiced up, and because of that we played outside of ourselves.”

 

The Chanticleers jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead at Municipal Stadium. Johnnie Houston's 68-yard interception return made it 24-0 early in the fourth quarter. B-CU scored twice in the final seven minutes of the game.

 

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A&T Snaps Losing Streak With Win Over Longwood

WEST LONG BRANCH, New Jersey –  Senior guard Lamont Middleton scored a career-high 33 points to lift the North Carolina A&T men’s basketball team to an 85-78 victory over Longwood, Friday evening at the Barclays Center Classic.

The Aggies (2-4) snapped a four-game losing streak as Longwood fell to 2-5 overall.

Middleton knocked down five 3-pointers and was 6-for-16 from the field. Middleton made his way to the free throw line 20 times where he made 16. He also tallied a game-high four steals.

Seniors Richaud Pack and Jeremy Underwood also pitched in as Pack finished with 22 points off the bench for A&T and Underwood recorded 11. Freshman Jerome Simmons led the Aggies defensively with eight rebounds and sophomore Bruce Beckford tallied seven.



After tying the game at 35 going into the locker room at the half, the Aggies unleashed a 14-4 run to open the next 20 minutes, which was capped off with a dunk by Simmons to give A&Ta 49-39 lead at the 16:05 mark.

A&T remained ahead and took its largest advantage of the game, 68-50, with a pair of free throws from Middleton with just under nine minutes to play in the game. But Longwood found its way back into the game with a 17-6 run which produced three 3-pointers to cut the Aggies lead to 77-69 with 4:18 left.

Longwood continued to apply pressure and got within six at 79-73 with 2:12 remaining. The Aggies regained control to close out the game. A&T shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half. The Aggies also capitalized on their trips to the free throw line where they were 38-for-39.

Tristan Carey led Longwood with 20 points and hit four of the team’s seven 3-pointers, Lucas Woodhouse scored 19 and Karl Ziegler added 17.

A&T will face the winner of the Monmouth/Mississippi Valley State game on Saturday, Nov .30 at 7:05 p.m., in the final game of the Barclays Center Classic.

COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Fobbs considered a Grambling State coaching candidate

GRAMBLING, Louisiana (SportsNetwork.com) -- McNeese State assistant football coach Broderick Fobbs is considered a possible head coaching candidate for the opening at Grambling State.

The FootballScoop coaching website reported Wednesday that Fobbs could be named the team's new coach in the near future.

Fobbs, 39, was a standout running back and two-time team captain at Grambling State under legendary coach Eddie Robinson, graduating in 1997.

He is in the first year of his second stint at McNeese State and the sixth year overall. He is handling tight ends this season and was a co-offensive coordinator during his first stint with the Cowboys.

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Former Alabama State standout Greg Jenkins scores first career TD for Oakland Raiders

DALLAS, Texas  -- Former Alabama State quarterback Greg Jenkins scored his first career NFL touchdown on the game's first play for the Oakland Raiders against the Dallas Cowboys.

On the opening kickoff, Dallas' Terrance Williams fumbled. Jenkins, who was added to the active roster less than a week ago and was playing in his second career NFL game, scooped up the fumble and scored from 23 yards out.

The game was nationally televised in front of an afternoon Thanksgiving audience on CBS.

Jenkins, a Dade City, Fla., native who redshirted at Troy for one semester before transferring to Jacksonville State, is listed as a receiver for the Raiders, but is making his mark on special teams coverage and as a punt returner.

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