Sunday, September 28, 2014

Ivy leads Jackson State to its first SWAC victory

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas – The pocket-passing quarterback was told he needed to run more.

So that's just what he did.

Jackson State's LaMontiez Ivy saw an opening to his right, sprinted for the 15-yard game-winning touchdown and handed JSU its first Southwestern Athletic Conference win.

The Tigers defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 33-30 in overtime Saturday at Golden Lion Stadium and grabbed a much-needed victory after back-to-back losses.

"People been talking to me about running, so I put it in my head that if I have an opportunity to run I'll run," Ivy said. "So on the last play, the play before that, we had trips (formation). And nobody lined up on the same receiver side. So I told Coach to go to the draw on the other side, and I would just have to beat one person. So we called it, and I got to the end zone. And I beat him."

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Bethune-Cookman fends off Florida Tech upset bid, 34-33



DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  Florida Tech traveled to Daytona Beach to pull off an upset.

The Panthers came within one play of accomplishing their mission.

Bethune-Cookman thwarted FIT's 2-point conversion attempt with 19 seconds left and escaped the second-year Division II program's upset bid with a 34-33 victory Saturday at Municipal Stadium.
“All I know is we won,” B-CU coach Brian Jenkins said. “Good, bad, ugly, whatever. A win is a win. I don't think at the end of the day they judge how pretty the win was.”
For a while, it looked like Florida Tech (3-1) would celebrate with a big victory for the second consecutive week. The Panthers knocked off D-II No. 12 Tarleton State on Sept. 20. This time, they set their aim on the 14th-ranked Division I FCS Wildcats.



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TSU beats FAMU with defense



NASHVILLE, Tennessee  --  Tennessee State's offense made an appearance Saturday night, but as usual, it was the defense that won the game for the Tigers.

TSU beat Florida A&M 27-7 in the Tigers' homecoming before an LP Field crowd of 29,225.
After the Rattlers (0-4) threatened throughout the second half, TSU defensive end Roc-M Nesbitt hit backup quarterback Carson Royal and jarred the ball loose near the goal line.

Defensive tackle Samquan Evans scooped it up and ran untouched 12 yards into the end zone with 6:56 remaining. It was the only score of the second half for TSU (4-1).

"Coach (Rod Reed) saw that (Royal) was out there and said we had to get after him because he is not a mobile quarterback," Evans said. "We had a defensive line stunt on. When I came around, I saw the sack and the ball was loose. I'm an athlete, so I bent my knee, picked it up and scored."

RELATED: TSU scores again off interception



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Jackson breaks 4-mile school record at McNeese meet

LAKE CHARLES, La. -- Kwame Jackson broke the Xavier University of Louisiana men's cross country record for four miles Saturday at the McNeese Cowboy Stampede.

Jackson, a senior, finished 36th out of 74 runners in 21 minutes, 21.7 seconds. The previous XU record was 21:24.37 by Ray Walston in 2008. This was the second time at Xavier that Jackson competed at four miles; his previous best was 21:46.1.

It was the second time this season that Jackson broke a school record. He set a 5,000-meter mark of 15:30.90 on Sept. 6.

"My next goals are to win conference and try to break the 8K school record there," said Jackson, the 2011 and 2013 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference individual champion.

XU sophomore Christopher August placed 49th in 22:12.7, the ninth fastest in Gold Rush history. Emmanuel Detiege was 61st in 24:30.4.

The Gold Rush did not qualify for team scoring. Jarrett LeBlanc of McNeese alumni won the race in 19:08.3, and Tulane's Moses Aloiloi (19:16.1) was the first collegiate finisher.

Xavier's women originally were scheduled to compete but did not. Next race for both XU teams will be the GCAC Championships at City Park in New Orleans on Oct. 18.

Abbes and Nelson beat top seed, reach regional final

NEW ORLEANS -- Xavier University of Louisiana's Nour Abbes and Carmen Nelson won 8-6 against Auburn Montgomery's top-seeded Paula Diaz and Anna Rudolfova on Saturday in the women's doubles semifinals of the USTA / ITA NAIA South Regional Championships at City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center.

Abbes and Nelson, the No. 4 seed, will play Sunday for the championship against Brenau's third-seeded Maria Perdomo-Medina and Patricia Recalde or AUM's Claudine Maheu and Alice Baudeign.

Abbes and Nelson won 8-5 in the quarterfinals against Georgia Gwinnett's Judith van Fraaijenhoven and Luma Schwab.

Abbes, the No. 1 singles seed, defeated Maheu 6-4, 6-2 in the round of 16, then advanced to the semifinals when Georgia Gwinnett's Chiara Di Salvo retired because of injury with Abbes leading 3-0.

Abbes will play sixth-seeded Diaz in the semifinals at 9 a.m. Sunday. The other semifinal will match Baudeign and Georgia Gwinnett's second-seeded Valeria Podda, who eliminated Xavier's Brion Flowers 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

Flowers beat Rudolfova 6-3, 6-3 in the round of 16.

In men's doubles, XU's Kevin Chaouat and Tushar Mandlekar defeated AUM's Sergi Espias and Othmane Lalami 8-5 to reach the semifinals.

XU senior Nikita Soifer defeated Mobile's Marcio Dal Pont 8-6 to win the men's singles consolation championship. A No. 4 seed, Soifer won four matches -- three on Saturday -- after being upset in the main draw on Friday. Soifer led 3-0 against Dal Pont, then dropped four consecutive games before rallying for the victory.

All remaining matches will be played at XU Tennis Center. The three-day tournament is scheduled to conclude Sunday, weather permitting. The National Weather Service is predicting a 60-percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 2 p.m.


Echebelem doubles up again, leads Xavier past Dillard


NEW ORLEANS -- Senior Chinedu Echebelem, recording back-to-back double-doubles for the first time in her career, had 14 kills and 12 digs Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 25-18, 25-16, 25-10 women's volleyball victory against Dillard at XU's Convocation Center.

The victory was the eighth in a row for the Gold Nuggets (8-2, 5-0 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference). Xavier has won 48 consecutive matches against GCAC opponents, 39 in the regular season.

It was the fourth double-double of the season for Echebelem, who hit .379 in 29 attempts, and the 18th of her career. She had 10 kills and 13 digs Friday in a three-set home sweep of Loyola.

"We carried over our energy from the third set against Loyola," Echebelem said. "We played better than we thought we would. Our new players overcame any anxieties they had about playing Dillard, and we didn't let anything distract us."

Claudia Haywood had 10 kills and hit .500 for the Gold Nuggets -- she's hitting .481 this season against conference opponents -- and Jodi Hill, CeCe Williams and Jada Broussard had six kills apiece. Franziska Pirkl had 36 assists, eight digs and two aces, and Darian Harris had 17 digs to reach double figures for the eighth consecutive match.

Mercades Chevis had six kills for Dillard, and Demetria Horton had 16 digs.

Xavier closed the first set with an 11-2 run after trailing 16-14. Echebelem had four kills during a 12-3 second-set run which erased an 11-9 deficit, and Haywood had four kills and Echebelem three during a 13-2 run in the third.

Xavier outhit Dillard .267 to .019 -- .290 to minus-.029 in the final two sets -- and had match advantages of 43-22 in kills, 4-0 in aces and 52-42 in digs.

Xavier defeated its longtime city rival for the 10th consecutive time. They'll meet again Nov. 6 at Dillard to close the regular season.

Xavier's next match will start at 7 p.m. Monday against GCAC member Voorhees at the Convocation Center.

Photo Gallery: XU women's volleyball vs. Dillard

Week 5 HBCU Football ScoreCard


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SATURDAY, September 27, 2014

OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE
Tennessee State 27, Florida A&M 7

MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
North Carolina Central (Bye Week)
North Carolina A&T 38,  Howard 22
South Carolina State 17, Hampton 10
Norfolk State 15, Morgan State 14
Bethune-Cookman 34, Florida Tech 33
Delaware State 35, Savannah State 10
Tennessee State 27, Florida A&M 7

SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Alabama A&M 42, Mississippi Valley 20
Grambling State 26, Prairie View 20 at Dallas (State Fair Classic)
Alcorn State 56, Southern 16
Alabama State 38, Texas Southern 3
Jackson State 33, Arkansas Pine Bluff 30 O.T.



OTHER CONFERENCES
Fairmont State 24, West Virginia State 12
Edward Waters 40, Point U. 7
Hardin-Simmons 30, Langston 29
West Georgia 42, Clark Atlanta 2
Oklahoma Panhandle State 70, Texas College 27
Bethune-Cookman 34, Florida Tech 33
Saint Francis (Pa.) 80, Virginia University Lynchburg 0
Delta State 72, Central State (Ohio) 8
Kutztown 74, Cheyney 0
West Alabama 60, Concordia-Selma 7
Truman State 29, Lincoln (Mo.) 20

CENTRAL INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
Shaw 38, Lincoln (Pa.) 27
Livingstone 36, Bowie State 33 
Saint Augustine's 33, Chowan 31
Virginia Union 27, Johnson C. Smith 26
Virginia State 35, Fayetteville State 14 
Winston-Salem State 35, Elizabeth City State 7 

SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
Tuskegee 44, Lane 3 
West Georgia 42, Clark Atlanta 2
Morehouse 20,  Paine 10
Stillman 34, Kentucky State 20 
Fort Valley State 33, Benedict 30
Delta State 72, Central State (Ohio) 8 
Albany State 14, Miles College 7