Nuggets, Rush resume their schedules on Monday

NEW ORLEANS -- Xavier University of Louisiana's basketball teams will end layoffs of more than 10 days on Monday.

The Gold Nuggets (8-5), winner of their last four games, will play Mobile at 7 p.m. in the Xavier Classic at the Convocation Center. The opening game of the two-day, four-team event will match LSU-Shreveport and Faulkner at 5 p.m.

The Gold Rush (9-4), ranked 25th in NAIA Division I, will travel to Jackson, Miss., to play Belhaven at 2 p.m. at the Blazers' Rugg Arena. The XU men have won four of their last five.

Tuesday's games in the Xavier Classic will match Mobile against LSUS at 3 p.m. and Xavier against Faulkner at 5.

The Gold Nuggets have not played since a 69-22 victory against American-Puerto Rico in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, on Dec. 17. The Gold Rush have not played since a 62-53 loss at NAIA No. 17 Faulkner on Dec. 19.

Both XU teams will open defense of their Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championships with a doubleheader against Fisk in Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday.

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

USC Breezes Past Howard, 82-60

LOS ANGELES, California  -- Byron Wesley led Southern Cal with 20 points, scoring 14 of them in the second half, and the Trojans defeated Howard University 82-60 on Sunday.

USC (9-4) led Howard 29-26 at intermission while grabbing 22 rebounds in the first half, to Howard's 11 but they also had 12 turnovers, and converted just five of 14 free throws.

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The Trojans turned things around in the second half, however, and eventually coasted to an 82-60 win over Howard, shooting 56 percent from the floor.

Solomon Mangham and Prince Okoroh had 11 points apiece for Howard , who shot only 38 percent from the field.

Howard (3-13) played without freshman guard and leading scorer James Daniel (19.8 points per game). Daniel missed his fourth consecutive game with a toe injury.

The Trojans posted their first nine-win season over nonconference opponents since 2011 and open Pac-12 play against UCLA on Jan. 5.

Box Score
Photo Gallery 

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

Oregon Ducks Topple Morgan State, 97-76

EUGENE, Oregon  --  Oregon coach Dana Altman said there probably isn't a team in the country satisfied with how it's playing right now and his is no different.

The 12th-ranked Ducks just look better doing it than most.

Joseph Young scored 24 points and Oregon continued its best start in eight seasons with a 97-76 victory over Morgan State on Sunday.

Richard Amardi had a season-high 16 points in his first start of the season, and Damyean Dotson scored 15 points for the Ducks (12-0), who are off to their best start since going 13-0 in 2006-07.

Oregon opens Pac-12 Conference play on Thursday at Utah and Altman said there are many areas the Ducks need to improve.

''We've got a lot of work to do,'' Altman said, a sentiment echoed by Young and Jalil Abdul-Bassit, the two players made available to the media after the game.

''I didn't think we did too good,'' Young said. ''We didn't take a step like we needed too.''

And yet, it was plenty good enough for a 21-point win.

It had been eight days since Oregon defeated BYU in overtime and the Ducks looked more rested than rusty after the long layoff.

Oregon, the national scoring leader coming in, increased its average to 90.8 points per game and were a 3-pointer from a school-record fifth 100-point game this season.

The Ducks got there with a balanced and efficient scoring attack. Six players scored seven or more points and Oregon shot 54 percent from the field overall, 7 for 15 from 3-point range and 22 for 26 from the free throw line.

Young, who had three 3-pointers, was 9 for 13 from the field and Amardi made all but one of his nine shots.

''They're good. They're really good,'' Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman said. ''There's a reason why they're undefeated. Dana does a good job with them guys and they keep coming at you. They can sub in five guys and there's not that big a drop off.''

Justin Black scored 22 points for the Bears (3-9), and Anthony Hubbard added 15 and Ian Chiles had 13 points and tied the Matthew Knight Arena record with five blocks.

The Ducks led 54-30 at halftime behind 17 points from Young and 12 from Amardi.

Oregon used a 16-1 run to lead 16-5 4 minutes into the game.

The Ducks put the game out of reach with one last surge in the first half, outscoring the Bears 20-6 over the final 5:30 to turn a 10-point lead into the 24-point halftime advantage.

Morgan State made the first two baskets of the game but went just 6 for 22 the rest of the half. The Bears made just one field goal after a jumper by Black made it 34-24 with 6:40 to play.

The second half opened with layups by Johnathan Loyd and Dotson as the Ducks extended their lead to 58-30. They led by as many as 30 points.

But the Ducks were outscored 46-43 and committed 13 of their 18 turnovers in the second half. They sent the Bears to the free throw line 35 times and despite outrebounding them 42-26, Oregon gave up 14 second-chance points.

''Everybody can score on this team,'' said Abdul-Bassit, who had a career-high nine points. ''Anybody can go for 20 every night, but we really need to focus on our defense and stopping other teams.''



Oregon-Morgan State Box Score (PDF)

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Winthrop Eagles Drops Hard Fought Double-Overtime Contest At Hampton, 101-95

HAMPTON, Virginia  -- Turnovers proved costly as Winthrop dropped its third straight game in a 101-95 double-overtime hard fought loss at Hampton, Sunday afternoon in non-conference men's basketball action.

With the loss the Eagles fall to 6-5 on the year and will remain on the road as they will open the New Year with a 2 p.m. battle at Dayton on Wednesday, Jan. 1. Hampton improves to 6-7 on the year and 4-1 at home.

The two teams combined for 79 free throws in the game as the Eagles were 34-38 (89.5%) and the Pirates were 30-for-41 (73.2%). The game featured 18 lead changes and 14 ties. Winthrop finished the game shooting 37 percent from the floor and just 23 percent in overtime as Hampton shot 46 percent and 43 percent in overtime.

"I give all praise to Hampton for playing their rear ends off and I give a lot of credit to our kids for fighting their butts off in a really, really hard fought game," said Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey. "There were a couple of crucial stretches when the game was hanging in the balance and we had a couple of crucial turnovers in crucial situations that we had an opportunity to kind of seal the deal, or put the nail in the coffin so to speak."

Winthrop held an early 89-88 lead in double-overtime after freshman Keon Johnson drained a three before Hampton grabbed the lead back on a Ramon Mercado three-pointer. Winthrop had a couple of chances to tie the game trailing 93-91, but couldn't get shots to fall and Hampton made just enough plays down the stretch to hold on for the win. Mercado had only played five minutes in regulation and didn't even attempt a shot, but came through for the Pirates with seven points and two assists in the two overtime periods.

Johnson led all scorers with a career-high 24 points on 7-for-13 shooting and 4-for-6 behind the arc. Keon Moore also had a career-high 22 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Johnson and Moore were two of five Winthrop players in double-figures.

In regulation, Winthrop led 76-72 after James Bourne made two free throws with 37 seconds to play. The Pirates were able to get to the foul line to stop the clock and make it a one possession game after Deron Powers made two free throws with 31 seconds left. Winthrop had a chance to send the game back to a two possession lead but an errant pass by Andre Smith was snatched by Hampton, who went down and tied the game on a lay-up by Powers with 17 seconds left. The Eagles had a chance to win the game at the end, but Joab Jerome drove the lane as the clock ran down and lost the ball out of bounds with two seconds left as the game went to overtime tied at 76-76.

Overtime didn't start off well for the Eagles as Du'Vaughn Maxwell scored inside and was fouled as he made the free throw to complete the three-point play and give Hampton a 79-76 lead. Moore responded with a jumper, but the Pirates came right back as Emmanuel Okoroba made two free throws for another three-point advantage.

The Eagles took their first lead in overtime when Keon Moore made two free throws, but Powers took a pass from Mercado and drained a contested three to push Hampton back into the lead, 84-82 with 1:40 to play. Johnson tied the game with two free throws, but Hampton grabbed the lead again with 19 seconds to play in overtime after Mercado made two free throws. After Winthrop called a timeout, Johnson came through in the clutch with a runner off the glass that tied the game and sent it to double-overtime.

In the second half Winthrop worked its way to a 48-47 lead behind an 11-2 run capped off by a Larry Brown layup with 13:15 to play. Joab Jerome made it a one-point game after he scored on an easy basket after a long pass from Brandon Vega to beat the Pirates down court.
From that point the two teams went back-and-forth until the end of regulation.

Winthrop fell behind by 12 points in the first half after the Pirates started a 17-0 run midway through for a 28-16 lead with 6:24 to play. Brian Darden connected on four of his five first half triples during the run that came to an end after Christian Farmer knocked down a short jumper. Johnson followed with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to seven points, but back-to-back possessions with turnovers allowed Hampton to push the lead back to double-figures at 32-21.

Over the final four minutes of the first half, Winthrop battled its way back to a 37-32 deficit at the break. Moore made 1-of-2 free throws to make it a 10-point Hampton lead before Smith hit a three with 2:46 on the clock to cut the lead to seven points. Three more free throws for Hampton made it a 10-point advantage with less than two minutes to play before Johnson hit another three as Hampton led 35-28. Winthrop made four free throws over the final minute and 13 seconds while Hampton was 2-for-2, which made it a five-point game at the half.

Winthrop shot just 31 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, but matched Hampton behind the arc with six threes made and also finished the first half 8-for-10 at the foul line. Both teams combined for 20 first half turnovers with Hampton scoring nine points on nine Winthrop turnovers and the Eagles getting just six on 11 for the Pirates.

"I was proud of our kids' efforts," added Kelsey. "They fought and were worthy of wearing that Winthrop jersey today."

Smith finished the game with 15 points as he came off the bench to play 30 minutes as he also had two assists. Bourne finished with 11 points as he was 10-for-12 from the foul line and had 10 rebounds to record first career double-double. Farmer added 11 points as he made his first start as an Eagle and also added two rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes.

Maxwell led Hampton with 20 points and 10 rebounds as well as five blocks as he was one of five Hampton players in double-figures. Darden finished with 19 points while Dwight Meikle added 16.

The Eagles finished the game 11-for-29 behind the arc as the 11 triples are the most under a Kelsey led team in two seasons and the fifth time the team has hit 10 or more in a game. Winthrop's 95 points were the most by a Winthrop team on the road since Jan. 31, 2007 in Lexington, VA with a 109-96 win at VMI.

Box Score 

COURTESY WINTHROP UNIVERSITY EAGLES ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS            

FDU Concludes Florida Trip With 62-52 Loss to Florida A&M

MIAMI, Florida  -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team concluded the FIU Sun & Fun Classic on Sunday with a 62-52 loss to Florida A&M from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena. With the victory, the Lady Rattlers improve to 7-8 on the season, while the Knights fall to 1-10 overall.

The first half was a sloppy affair that saw the two sides combine for 18 turnovers, 34 free throws and poor shooting percentages from the field. FAMU would lead the entire game.

With FDU trailing 14-11 after a pair of free throws from freshman Valerie Oyakhilome at the 10:54 mark, the Lady Rattlers would outscore the Knights by nine the rest of the first half to go into the break leading 34-22.

FDU converted on only 17 percent (4-of-23) of its shots but converted 14-of-21 from the charity stripe. FAMU shot 11-of-31 (35.5 percent) and outscored the Knights by 12 from three-point range.

The second half appeared to be much of the same in the opening minutes, with each team only scoring two points by the first media timeout. After that, the offenses awoke, as FDU outscored the Lady Rattlers 30-28 over the course of the second half, which included a 10-0 run beginning at the 5:38 mark.

Juniors Amanda Andrades and Tiffany Grant hit back-to-back threes, followed by a senior Desiree Crawford's layup during the run. Ultimately, FAMU would hold on to and extend its lead back to double digits until the final whistle.

Desiree Crawford had a monster game for the Knights despite battling an illness, finishing with a career-high 19 points to go along with a season-high 12 rebounds and two blocks, while converting 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Andrades finished with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and a block while playing the entire 40 minutes.

FDU shot much better from the field in the second half (40 percent) and finished the contest shooting 30.2 percent (16-of-53) overall from the field. The Knights outscored FAMU 24-10 in the paint and 13-4 on second-chance points due to their 14 offensive rebounds.

"We played a very good second half, outscoring them, did a great job on the boards, outrebounding them (44-38) against what I think is a good rebounding team," Head Coach Peter Cinella said. "Desiree Crawford had a very good all-around game. Anastasia Williams did a good job on the boards as well, and Amanda Andredes had a good all-around effort in the second half."

The Lady Rattlers' star performer, graduate student Jasmine Grice, finished the game with 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

After the final game, Desiree Crawford was named to the All-

Coach Cinella on Crawford: "Desiree showed a lot of toughness this weekend and great leadership. She responded with a career game and a double-double effort today against Florida A&M. Her All-Tournament selection is well deserved."

FDU will return to action Saturday, Jan. 4 when it starts Northeast Conference play at Bryant, with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m.

Box Score 
Tournament team. The senior averaged 12 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks on 8-17 shooting over the two games.

COURTESY FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS  

NSU Defeats UMBC 56-43 to Claim 1st Road Win of the Season

HARRISONBURG, Virginia – Senior Rachel Gordon and junior Quineshia Leonard each scored 11 points to give NSU a 56-43 victory over UMBC in the JMU Invitational on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center. The win against UMBC is the Spartans' first win away from Echols Hall this season.

NSU moved to 5-6 on the season while UMBC fell to 1-10 overall.
Gordon also tallied 11 rebounds in her effort to claim her fifth double-double of the season. She now has 864 rebounds in her career. Gordon needs 11 more rebounds to tie Beverly Davis for seventh all-time career rebounding at NSU.

UMBC started the first half with a layup from Liz McNaughton at the 19:47 mark that sparked an 8-0 run. Tayler McCarley closed the run on a jumper in the paint with an assist from Emily Russo with 16:48 to go before halftime.

From there it was all NSU as freshman Logan Powell scored the first bucket of the game for the Spartans with 16:34 on the clock. Powell's basket started a 24-3 run for NSU that included field-goals from freshmen Kieera Basey and Koryn Lawrence. Leonard and junior Ebony Brown also contributed in scoring during the run. Gordon ended the run on a layup with 7:08 remaining in the half to give NSU a 24-11 lead over UMBC. Gordon's basket was the last field-goal of the half for the Spartans.

UMBC closed out the half with a 6-1 run as McNaughton drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:35 left to send the Retrievers into halftime trailing NSU, 25-17. This the second time this season that NSU has held an opponent to 20 points or less in a half. The last time the Spartans held an opponent under 20 points in a half was against Virginia University-Lynchburg on Dec. 20. VUL only scored 16 points in the second half.

NSU came out hot in the second half as Corbo nailed a 3-pointer with 19:14 on the clock to ignite a 17-2 run. Corbo ended the run on a jumper at the 15:19 mark to give NSU a 42-21 lead over UMBC. This was the Spartans' largest lead of the game.

UMBC finally came to life in the second half after Janelle Saling knocked down a 3-pointer with 14:58 on the clock. Bridget O'Donnell closed out UMBC's 15-4 run with a jumper, but the Retrievers still trailed NSU, 46-36, with 8:30 remaining in the game.

Ebony Brown answered on the other end with another 3-pointer to keep NSU ahead by 13 with 7:36 to go in the half. The Spartans' last field-goal of the half was from Leonard with 3:45 left that gave NSU a 55-37 lead over UMBC.

The Spartans ended the game shooting 41.2 percent (21-of-51) from the field and 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from the free throw line. NSU shot only 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from beyond the arc on the afternoon. Aside from Leonard and Gordon, Ebony Brown contributed nine points, Corbo posted eight points to go along with her three assists and Lawrence finished the game with six points.
The Spartans outrebounded the Retrievers 38-31 on the afternoon. NSU outscored UMBC in the paint, 28-14, and also outscored UMBC on second chance points, 18-3.

UMBC shot 34.0 percent (16-of-47) and was 60.0 percent (6-of-10) from the free throw line. The Retrievers also shot only 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from 3-point range. Saling and McCarley led UMBC in scoring with 12 points each. O'Donnell contributed eight points, six rebounds and three blocks, while McNaughton totaled seven points and two assists.

The Spartans will face James Madison tomorrow in the JMU Invitational. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m.

Box Score

By Chaundrea Lee, Media Relations Assistant
COURTESY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

Wofford Women's Basketball Falls to Howard at Terrapin Classic, 63-55

COLLEGE PARK, Maryland  -- The Wofford College women's basketball team was defeated by Howard University, 63-55, in the consolation game of the Terrapin Classic on Sunday from Maryland's Comcast Center.

The Terriers (2-10) were hurt most by 24 turnovers while Howard (4-8) took care of the basketball with just 13. It helped the Lady Bison put up 14 more shots and use a 9-0 run to take a 46-33 lead midway through the second period. The Terriers got back within six with a minute to play, but could not close the gap any further and suffered its sixth straight defeat.

For Wofford, sophomore Ashton Fleming recorded her first collegiate double-double. Fleming posted career-highs in both points and rebounds, putting down 10 points and collecting 14 boards. She shot 4-of-5 from the field and filled up the stat sheet with two steals, one block and one assist.

Classmate Jordan Frazier tied Fleming's team-high 10 points, marking her ninth double-figure scoring game of the season. Frazier scored 19 against Maryland on Saturday and was named to the Terrapin Classic All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of the championship game between the Terps and College of Charleston. Khadijah Joyner, another sophomore, grabbed a career-high eight rebounds, seven of which came in the second half, and posted her fourth multi-block game of the year.

Howard's Te'Shya Heslip scored a game-high 16 points, also recording eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals. Cheyenne Brown scored in double figures with 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting and grabbed five boards. Shavonne Duckett had a team-high nine rebounds.

Brown came out ready for the early 11 a.m., tip and scored on each of Howard's first two possessions. A few minutes later, she downed her sixth point to get the Lady Bison off to an 11-2 start and force an early Terrier timeout. Rebounding was hurting Wofford early on, as well as not being able to get a few open jumpers to fall.

Down 13-5, Wofford scored the next five points to make it a one possession game. Redshirt senior Erin Frost got fouled on a drive to the basket and made both free throws, and sophomore Chanel Stokes went 1-of-2 from the line on Wofford's next trip down the floor. Out of a media timeout, freshman Kentra Washington hit a layup to get the score to 13-10.

Frost went on to score Wofford's next five points, hitting a jumper and a 3-pointer to cut the gap to two, 17-15. Meanwhile, Howard was having trouble from the field, unable to sink a basket for nearly seven minutes.

Howard ended the drought and with the two sides trading points, the Terriers remained behind by one to two possessions. Buckets by senior Logan Morris and junior Lauren Kirby brought the Terriers within just one point, 22-21, at the 4:06 mark.

Howard scored six of the half's last seven points to get some breathing room heading into the break. Wofford trailed 24-22 with less than a minute to play, but Brown sank a layup, followed by a jumper with 10 seconds on the clock to give the Lady Bison a 28-22 halftime lead.

At the half, Wofford was shooting 28.6 percent (8-28 FG) while Howard was at 36.4 percent (12-33 FG). The Lady Bison held a 26-20 rebounding edge and were sharing the ball well with seven assists on their 12 baskets. Brown led the game with 12 points (6-8 FG), while Frost headed Wofford with 7 points (2-5 FG, 1-2 3FG, 2-2 FT).

Wofford head coach Edgar Farmer went with a bigger lineup to begin the second half, starting 6-foot-2 Joyner in favor of 5-foot-2 Frazier. Kirby scored 14 seconds into the half and with a made free throw from Fleming the Terriers were within a basket, 29-27.

It remained a one possession game until Imani Bailey, Victoria Gonzalez and Heslip scored the next six points to put Howard up eight. Wofford cut it to four on buckets from Frazier and Morris, but Howard responded with the game's biggest run, scoring nine consecutive points and burning another Wofford timeout with 11:45 to play ahead 46-33.

Kirby, Morris and Fleming got the margin to seven with a made field goal apiece, but Heslip killed the momentum with a trey to get her team back ahead by double digits. Joyner and Fleming were doing a good job on the glass to make sure Howard didn't get second and third chances, but the Terriers hurt themselves by going 1-of-2 from the free throw line on three consecutive trips. Instead of a four-point game, the missed attempts kept Howard ahead by seven, 51-44. Two Lady Bison baskets later, Wofford trailed by 11 with less than four minutes remaining.

The Terriers gave it one final push. Down by 10, Washington got to the line for a pair of free throws and sank both. Fleming stole the ensuing in-bounds pass and hit a quick layup, making it a six-point game, 57-51, with 1:05 showing on the clock.

It was not to be. Howard hit its free throws and after Wofford got the margin back to six, Cabria Johnson found Heslip wide open down court on an in-bounds pass. Heslip sank an easy layup to leave the game out of reach.

The Wofford women's basketball team returns home for the first time in a month on Saturday, welcoming Western Carolina to Benjamin Johnson Arena. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m., and is part of a Wofford basketball doubleheader. The men's team takes on Davidson that evening at 7 p.m.

Terrier Notes

- Ashton Fleming recorded her first collegiate double-double, setting career-highs of 10 points and 14 rebounds

- Jordan Frazier scored 10 points, marking her ninth double-figure scoring game of the season

- Frazier was named to the Terrapin Classic All-Tournament Team.

- Khadijah Joyner marked her fourth multi-block game of the year and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds, seven of which came in the second half

- The matchup was the consolation game of the Terrapin Classic

- It was the first ever series meeting between Wofford and Howard

Box Score

COURTESY WOFFORD UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS