No. 9 Concordia (Calif.) Eagles defeat No. 22 XU Gold Rush 70-65

XU men's basketball vs. Concordia (Calif.) — at Xavier University Convocation Center
Photos by Yamlak Tsega

NEW ORLEANS -- Matt Scott scored 12 points, including four free throws in the final 1:07, to help Concordia (Calif.) defeat Xavier University of Louisiana 70-65 Tuesday in a matchup of ranked NAIA Division I men's basketball teams.

The Eagles (14-2), ranked ninth, won for the eighth time in nine road games.

After trailing 29-26 at halftime, Concordia took the lead for good, 48-47, on Lucas Simpson's basket with 7:35 remaining. Scott's final two free throws gave the Eagles a 67-60 lead with 32 seconds remaining.

Justin Davis and Ty Armstrong scored 10 points apiece for Concordia.

Troy Salvant and Morris Wright scored 14 points apiece for Xavier (11-5), ranked 22nd, and Gary Smith scored 12.

The Gold Rush trailed 43-34 in the 29th minute before rallying to take a 47-46 lead with 7:49 remaining.

Xavier outshot Concordia 38 to 34.4 percent from the floor. The Eagles had a 46-34 rebound advantage, with Stephen Grosey grabbing 11 and Armstrong 10.

Xavier will open defense of its  Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championship at 7:30 p.m. Monday at NAIA No. 6 Talladega. It will be the Gold Rush's third consecutive game against a top-10 opponent.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

XULAATHLETICS

XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

https://twitter.com/xulagold

https://www.facebook.com

Southern Jaguars fall to Hawai'i 71-57 in Honolulu (Video)

HONOLULU, Hawaii — Despite forcing 23 turnovers and grabbing 15 steals, the Jaguars' offense struggled and the defending Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season champions failed to secure a signature upset in its final non-conference game.

Stefan Jovanovic and Aaron Valdes each scored 13 and Hawaii led almost the entire way in a 71-57 win over Southern on Monday night.

Hawaii (11-4) pulled away during the middle of the second half with a 17-2 run to take its largest lead at 58-34.



Southern (3-11) had runs of seven and eight straight in the final 10 minutes but got no closer than 69-56 on Tre Lynch's jumper with 1:28 left.

Lynch led the Jaguars with 13 points and made all three of Southern's 3-pointers. Trelun Banks added 12 points.

Hawaii held Southern to 23 first-half points and Mike Thomas finished with five blocks.

Both Hawaii and Southern host Prairie View A&M for their next games -- Hawaii for its final nonconference game on Tuesday and Southern, which claimed last season's regular season title, to open league play on Saturday at home.

Box Score

COURTESY SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY JAGUARS SPORTS INFORMATION

Dillard beats Harris-Stowe in XU Holiday Classic opener

PHOTO GALLERY: Dillard vs. Harris-Stowe women's basketball in XU Holiday Classic

NEW ORLEANS -- Ciara Morgan and Alena Evans scored 12 points apiece Monday to lead Dillard to a 65-55 women's basketball victory against Harris-Stowe in the opening game of the Xavier Holiday Classic.

The Lady Bleu Devils (7-4) won for the fourth time in five games. They never trailed and led for all but 21 seconds.

Morgan scored all her points on 3-pointers and made her first four attempts.

Brittany Smith scored 10 points for Dillard. The Lady Bleu Devils had a season-high 19 steals, five by Rashida Ademosu and four by Shantrell Lumar.

Mia Wesley had 19 points and eight rebounds for Harris-Stowe (3-5), and Kyera Smith grabbed nine rebounds.

Dillard outshot the Lady Hornets 38.2 to 32.7 percent from the floor.

Dillard scored eight points in the first 54 seconds, but Harris-Stowe rallied to tie the score at 10 on KeAris Vaughn's 3-pointer at 17:09. Lumar made two free throws at 16:56 to put the Lady Bleu Devils ahead to stay, 12-10, and they led 39-32 at halftime.

This was Dillard's only game in the five-team, two-day event. Harris-Stowe will play NAIA No. 19 Xavier University of Louisiana -- a 66-62 overtime loser to LSU-Shreveport -- at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

The Lady Bleu Devils return home to host eighth-ranked Loyola at The Battlefield in Dent Hall Tuesday night at 5:30 pm.

COURTESY GULF COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SPORTS INFORMATION
COURTESY XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA SPORTS INFORMATION

Lady Pilots' OT victory snaps Nuggets' home win streak

PHOTO GALLERY: XU vs. LSU-Shreveport women's basketball in XU Holiday Classic

NEW ORLEANS -- Kourtney Pennywell and Erica Noel combined for 55 points Monday to lead LSU-Shreveport to a 66-62 women's basketball victory in overtime against NAIA No. 19 Xavier University of Louisiana in the Xavier Holiday Classic.

Pennywell had 29 points and 16 rebounds, and Noel scored 26 -- she made 6-of-9 3-pointers -- to help the Lady Pilots (5-5) snap the 24-game home win streak of the Gold Nuggets (7-7).

LSUS scored the first seven points of overtime, four by Noel.

Xavier rallied from an 8-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation, but Gathright missed the front end of a 1-and-1 -- her only missed free throw in eight attempts -- with nine seconds remaining and the score tied at 59. The Lady Pilots rebounded but were unable to get a shot before the buzzer.

Sierra Contreras had 11 assists for LSUS.

Vinnie Briggs had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Xavier, and Alesha Smith scored 12. It was the Gold Nuggets' third consecutive loss.

Xavier had not lost at home since a 63-56 decision against SUNO on Jan. 14, 2013. It was the Gold Nuggets' first overtime loss at home since Jan. 31, 1987.

Dillard defeated Harris-Stowe 65-55 in the opening game.

Tuesday's games will match LSUS vs. SUNO at 3 p.m. and Xavier vs. Harris-Stowe at 5 p.m. Also at the Convocation Center, Xavier will play Concordia (Calif.) at 7 p.m. in a matchup of ranked men's teams.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

XULAATHLETICS

XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

https://twitter.com/xulagold

https://www.facebook.com/

FAMU rallies past UNCG, 70-64 Monday at Miami

PHOTO GALLERY: FAMU defeats UNCG

CORAL GABLES, Florida -- The FAMU Women’s Basketball team rode a 41-point second half surge to slither past UNC Greensboro, 70-64 in the second round of the Miami Post Christmas Invitational Monday afternoon.

FAMU (4-7) led in the early going at 7-6 and 9-8 in the first six minutes, but UNCG got hot, outscoring the Lady Rattlers, 31-20 to close the opening half with a 39-29 lead.

The second half saw FAMU climb back into contention with a 41-25 scoring run of their own, led in part by the scoring of local product Khaderja Young (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), who led the Lady Rattlers with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Young’s layup with 5:23 left put FAMU ahead for good at 61-59, capping a 32-30 Orange and Green rally to take control of the game.

Junior Olivia Antilla (Minneapolis, Minn.) added 13 points, three rebounds and three assists, while freshman Brooksie McGraw (Gainesville, Fla.) finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, helping FAMU end a three-game losing skid.

Jade Scaife led UNCG with 15 points and six rebounds, followed by Bailey Williams with 13 points, Shanese Harris with 12 points and five boards, and Lucy Mason with 11 points.

WHAT’S NEXT: FAMU winds up their holiday road trip Friday and Sunday in Georgia, facing Kennesaw State at 7 p.m. Friday, and Mercer in Macon on Sunday at 2 p.m.

COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

North Carolina A&T Aggies Close Out 2014 At VCU

North Carolina A&T Aggies (7-5) at Virginia Commonwealth Rams (8-4)
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m.
Facility: Siegel Center
Probable Starters: G Debbie Smith (8.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg), G Adriana Nazario (6.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg), G Ariel Bursey (2.4 ppg, 1.0 rpg), G Dana Brown (4.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg), F Eboni Ross (9.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg)

Aggies Overview:  North Carolina A&T will set its sights on closing out 2014 with a win when it faces VCU on Tuesday. The Aggies are coming off a 58-43 loss to Chattanooga at the UTC Christmas Classic where they went 1-1 with a 54-49 win over Tennessee Tech. It will be a homecoming for several Aggies on Tuesday including redshirt juniors Aprill McRae, Christina Carter and head coach Tarrell Robinson who spent three seasons with the Rams before returning back to A&T. McRae and Carter each spent a season with the Rams before making the move with Robinson. On the road, the Aggies have been led by three players -- Ross (11.5 ppg), McRae (11.0 ppg) and Smith (10.3 ppg). A&T is 2-4 on the road and has averaged 57.7 points per game away from Corbett Sports Center.

Rams Overview: Virginia Commonwealth enters the matchup on a four-game winning streak after topping MEAC foe Coppin State, 63-52 on the road Sunday. The Rams have also pinned a 5-0 mark at home this season under first-year head coach Beth O’Boyle. The Rams were picked to finish 10th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll after finishing the 2013-14 season with a 22-10 overall record and 9-7 mark in the conference. VCU is led by Isis Thorpe (10.8 ppg) and Adaeze Alaeze (10.2 ppg) in scoring. Camille Calhoun (7.8 rpg) leads a solid rebounding team that is averaging 45.4 rebounds a game. Tuesday’s game will be the first time both teams have met since the 2003-04 season when the Rams claimed a 62-43 win at home.

News & Notes:

• In A&T’s last three games, Ross has averaged 16.0 points per game along with 8.7 rebounds.
• Carter is 14^th in the nation in steals, averaging 3.25 per game.
• VCU holds a 2-0 all-time record over A&T.
• The Rams are 2-0 against MEAC teams this season (Coppin State, UMES) and 3-0 against North Carolina schools (High Point, UNCG, UNCW).

From the head coach: "As we get closer to conference time we want to start getting into a groove on both ends of the floor. We hope this game against VCU to end 2014 will be the beginning of things to come for Lady Aggie Basktball in 2015. I haven't thought much about the sentimental side of this game. My focus is just for this team to get into gear so we can start playing up to our own expectations. My time with Beth Cunningham at VCU gave me a solid foundation to come back home to Aggieland and live out my dreams. So much has changed there since I left."  Head coach Tarrell Robinson.

COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Tough road for NSU basketball leads to Baylor

NORFOLK, Virginia -- The road hasn't been entirely kind to Norfolk State this season, and the Spartans say they have themselves to blame.

NSU's 9-5 start, which matches its best since moving to Division I in 1997, includes a 2-4 record away from home. Improving upon it will require further navigation of a tough six-game road swing that continues at No. 22 Baylor at 8 tonight.

The ambitious Spartans visit Georgia, Princeton and MEAC foes Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman before returning home to face North Carolina Central on Jan. 17.

NSU's road resume was boosted by a thrilling 74-71 overtime win at James Madison on Dec. 22, the Spartans' last time out. Coach Robert Jones said he hopes his upstart team isn't done.



"We were able to overcome that hurdle," Jones said Monday before a team workout in Waco, Texas. "Hopefully, we can overcome a few more in this stretch, and I think we'll put ourselves in a good position."

CONTINUE READING