Texas Southern Stuns #25 Michigan State 71-64 in OT

EAST LANSING, Michigan -- Chris Thomas scored 22 points, and Texas Southern beat 25th-ranked Michigan State, outlasting the Spartans 71-64 in overtime Saturday.

The Tigers (2-8) were coming off a loss to Gonzaga, but coach Mike Davis' team was poised throughout against Michigan State.

The Spartans (8-4) were without starting forward Branden Dawson, who fractured his wrist in a win over Eastern Michigan earlier in the week. Michigan State needed a free throw by Javon Bess with 6.8 seconds left in regulation just to force overtime, and the Spartans never led in the extra session.

The Spartans came into the game shooting 44 percent from 3-point range, but they went 4 of 21 against the Tigers of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

The Tigers won the SWAC tournament last season to advance to the NCAA tournament, but they have endured struggles against a tough nonconference schedule.

But the Spartans struggled from the perimeter all game. They led 30-25 at halftime, and belief began to build on the Texas Southern bench when the Tigers tied it early in the second.

Texas Southern took a 53-52 lead on Jason Carter's 3-pointer with 1:26 remaining, and the Tigers were up one when Bess came up with an offensive rebound and was fouled in the final seconds of regulation. A freshman playing only his second game, Bess made one of two free throws to tie it at 55.

Texas Southern regrouped and scored the first four points of overtime. The Spartans didn't make a field goal in overtime until the final minute.

The Spartans had 18 offensive rebounds, but they were outscored 36-32 in the paint.

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U.Houston Men's Hoops Falls to South Carolina State

HOUSTON, Texas -- University of Houston sophomore forward Danrad Knowles scored a career-high 22 points with 11 rebounds to lead the Cougars, but it would not be enough as South Carolina State claimed a 71-63 win on Saturday afternoon in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic Regional Round inside Hofheinz Pavilion.

Knowles enjoyed the first double-double of his collegiate career. The Nassau, Bahamas, native connected on 8-of-13 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc, and snared 11 offensive rebounds.

With his performance, Knowles became the fourth different Cougar to post a double-double in 2014-15. He joined teammates Devonta Pollard, Cavon Baker and LeRon Barnes.

The Cougars (5-3) fell behind early and played catch-up for most of the game. Trailing 32-27 at the half, the Cougars continued to threaten and used a 10-3 rally early in the second half to take a 43-41 lead on a Knowles' 3-pointer.

However, South Carolina State took advantage of a 15-4 run over the next 8:27 to build a 56-47 advantage. Houston could move no closer than five points the rest of the way.

Although the Cougars committed a season-low five turnovers in the game, South Carolina State outrebounded Houston 50-35 and connected on 47.2 percent from the field while limiting the Cougars to only 31.3 percent.

Guard Edward Stephens led four Bulldogs in double digits with 19 points, including three 3-pointers, while guard Jalen White added 17 points with four rebounds. Forward Darryl Palmer posted 10 points with 13 rebounds, five assists and eight blocked shots, and forward Tashombe Riley finished with 10 points and five assists in the win.

In addition to Knowles, junior point guard L.J. Rose posted 14 points with two rebounds and three assists, while junior guardJherrod Stiggers totaled 12 points with three rebounds and a pair of steals.

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UP NEXT
Houston opens the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic Championship Round play at 9:30 p.m. (CST) Monday against Boise State inside Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Cougars then meet the winner/loser of Texas Tech-Loyola (Ill.) on Tuesday evening in the final game before Christmas.

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North Carolina A&T Aggies Escape Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles At Christmas Classic

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CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee  –  It took a complete team effort for the North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team to defeat Tennessee Tech 54-49 Saturday afternoon in the opening game of the Chattanooga Christmas Classic at McKenzie Arena. 

The Aggies (7-4 overall) used 11 players, including nine who scored, to shoot a season-best 49 percent (24 of 49) from the field. Redshirt junior Eboni Rossmade it hard for the Golden Eagles (2-9) offensively as she recorded a career-high eight blocks, a team-leading eight rebounds and eight points.

“Before the game we talked about being positive, and we focused on having good vibes so that we could get over the back-to-back losing hump,” head coach Robinson explained about the Aggies who lost two straight before facing Tennessee Tech. “It was a great defensive effort. Everyone who played contributed. I’m excited about the win.”

Redshirt junior Adriana Nazario finished with nine points ahead of redshirt juniors Aprill McRae and Christina Carter who recorded eight points each.

After taking a 27-22 lead at the half, the Aggies opened the second half on a 7-2 run to push the score to 34-24 with 16:44 left. Tennessee Tech answered and scored seven consecutive points capped off with a 3-pointer from Hannah Goolsby to trail A&T 38-35. The Aggies slowly pulled away and held a solid 50-41 lead after Ross hit a short jumper with 6:02 remaining. But Goolsby nailed another three as the Golden Eagles orchestrated an 8-2 rally to cut A&T’s lead to 52-49 at the 3:35 mark.

Tech had several opportunities to score but it missed six shots over a three-minute span. A fast-break layup by McRae from redshirt sophomore Dana Brown made it a two possession game as A&T clung to its 54-49 lead with 10 seconds remaining in the game.

A&T held a 12-10 edge with 10:44 remaining in the first half but used an 11-4 rally to stretch its lead to 23-14 at the 4:06 mark. The Golden Eagles cut the lead to five after scoring four straight points to trail the Aggies 27-22 at the half. During the first half Tech held a 21-12 advantage on the glass over the Aggies.

“We didn’t do a good job boxing out,” Robinson said. “Tech played hard to crash the boards. We’ve got to get better in that aspect.”

Candace Parsons led all scorers with 11 points on 5-for-10 (50 percent) shooting. Samaria Howard finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Catherine Taylor also added 10 points.

A&T will face host Chattanooga on Sunday, Dec. 21 at 2 p.m., in its final game of the tournament.

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Jackson State Conquer Northwestern State Lady Demons 62-61 in Home Opener

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Ayanna Hardy-Fuller and Alisa Ross led the Lady Tiger to a 62-61 overtime win over Northwestern State in their first home game of the season on Saturday.

Both Hardy-Fuller and Ross led the Lady Tigers with 16 points apiece. Hardy Fuller shot 7-9 in field goal range and 2-4 from the free-throw line. Ross shot 5-13 at the field goal, 4-9 in the three-point range, and 2-5 at the free throw line. Hardy-Fuller recorded her fourth double-double of the season tying the game high of 10 rebounds.

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The Lady Tigers were able to out-rebound Northwestern 49-35 but had issues with turnovers. JSU had 39 turnovers while forcing 29 from the Lady Demons.

“We had to really focus on our defense,” said head coach Surina Dixon. “We had to make the stop and then we had to score.”

The Lady Tigers played an intense first half, leading most of the first half. Ayanna Hardy-Fuller went 4-5 at the field goal with 8 points and 5 rebounds. JSU shot 30.0 percent at the field goal, 11.1 percent at the three-point range, and 50.0 percent at the free throw line. The first half ended with Northwestern up by 3 points.

Entering the second half down by three points, the Lady Tigers struggled to regain the lead. At 6:04, Northwestern was up by 10 points.

Refocusing, JSU got back in the game with 3 three pointers from Ross, ending the second in a 54 point tie. The Lady Tigers increased their field goal percentage shooting for 43.5 percent in the second half, 44.4 percent in the three-point range, and 69.2 percent from the free-throw line.

In overtime, the Lady Tigers were able to close the game by out-scoring Northwestern 8-7, shooting 2-4 at the field goal, 0-2 in three-point range, and 4-9 at the free throw line.

The Lady Tigers will be back in action when they play their final game of the non-conference season at Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday, Dec. 28. The game is set to tip off at 4 p.m.

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SCSU: Eddie Moe: "He Was Loved by Everyone"

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- This week, the South Carolina State University and the Orangeburg community is mourning the loss of one of their own.

Eddie Moe - arguably one of the most iconic people in Orangeburg--was hit and killed Thursday.

"Eddie marched and danced the heels off of his shoes and he came to me and said, I need another pair of shoes," said Marching 101 Band Director Eddie Ellis.

At every South Carolina State University football game, halftime is show time for many. But often times all eyes weren't on the band, they were on Eddie Moe.

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Dan Land named interim ASU head football coach

DAN LAND
Courtesy: Albany State Athletics

ALBANY, Georgia  -- Albany State has announced that ASU football assistant coach Dan Land has been named the interim head coach for the program.
 
"We are pleased that Coach Land has accepted the position of head coach on an interim basis," ASU athletics director Dr. Richard H. Williams said. "He is familiar with our program and has been a part of our many successes. 
 
"We are confident he will do a stellar job for Albany State football during our continue search."
 
Land has served as an assistant coach for Albany State since 2002. During that time, he has coached the defensive backs and has been a part of six SIAC championships and 11 NCAA Division II playoffs appearances.  Land has also coached numerous defensive backs who have been named to the SIAC all-conference and NCAA South Regional teams.
 
A former standout player Albany State, Land joined the Golden Rams football program as a running back in 1983.  As a Golden Ram, he was a two-time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) team member. During his junior and senior seasons, Land accumulated 2695 rushing yards and led the team and SIAC in rushing touchdowns.
 
In 1987, Land was drafted as a running back by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He later played 10 years with the Oakland Raiders as a defensive back and completed his career with the Atlanta Falcons.
 
Albany State will launch a national search for its head football coaching position.

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Hampton Pirates Back With Win Over Tennessee State

HAMPTON, Virginia  --  The Hampton University men's basketball team got back into the win column Friday night, as the Pirates swept the season series with Tennessee State after a 66-54 win at the HU Convocation Center.

The Pirates (5-6) have won four of their last five games.

Three Pirates finished the night with a team-high 15 points: junior guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.), guard Quinton Chievous (Chicago, Ill.), and junior guard Brian Darden (Hampton, Va.). Chievous also grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.

Powers also had seven assists, while Darden came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers.

Head coach Edward Joyner Jr., in his sixth season, is now four wins away from becoming the program's all-time winningest coach at the Div. I level. He has 87 wins during his tenure.

Hampton shot 34.3 percent (23-for-67) from the floor and hit four of 22 3-pointers (18.2 percent). The Pirates also turned 21 Tennessee State turnovers into 20 points and held a 44-39 advantage on the glass.

Tennessee State led for much of the first half, controlling from the opening tip, and the Tigers held a 24-15 lead with 4:38 left in the half after Christian Crockett hit a jumper. But that marked the last time Tennessee State scored in the half.

Meanwhile, the Pirates kicked off a 14-0 run to close out the half after Chievous hit four straight free throws. Those shots cut the lead to 24-19 with 3:18 left in the half, before Darden added a trey at the 2:20 mark.

Powers tied the game at 24-24 with two free throws with 1:32 left, before senior forward Emmanuel Okoroba (Garland, Texas) converted an off-balance, reverse layup to put the Pirates up 26-24 with 53 seconds left in the half.

Powers hit a deep 3-pointer with eight seconds left to send Hampton into the half with a 29-24 lead.

A one-handed slam from redshirt junior guard/forward Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) with 18:22 left in the second half put the Pirates up 33-25, but the Tigers answered by scoring the next five points to cut the lead to 33-30 with 16:51 remaining.

Hampton answered with a 10-0 run, taking a 43-30 lead at the 14:48 mark after a Meikle jumper.

Tennessee State scored 19 of the next 29 points, cutting Hampton's lead to 53-49 with 7:52 remaining after Jay Harris hit a pair of free throws. But the Pirates scored the next six points to go up 59-49 after a fastbreak layup from junior guard Reginald Johnson (Chicago, Ill.).

The Pirates held control from them on, never leading by fewer than nine points.

Tennessee State (2-9) shot 34.7 percent (17-for-49) from the floor and hit three of 10 3-pointers, but the Tigers went just 17-for-30 (56.7 percent) from the free throw line.

Harris led the Tigers with 16 points.

The Pirates will play host to Northern Arizona on Sunday at 4 p.m. 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.

Next Game:

Northern Arizona
12/21/2014 - 4 p.m.

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