Texas Southern Tigers get a triple overtime win over MVSU

GREENWOOD, Mississippi -- Tonnie Collier scored 26 points including two free throws with 11 seconds left in triple-overtime as Texas Southern beat Mississippi Valley State 85-84 on Monday.

Collier's free throws came after Isaac Williams' jumper put MVSU up 84-83 with 19 seconds left. MVSU had one last possession, but a turnover and foul by Billy Jackson sealed it.

Mississippi Valley State had the last shot in regulation and the first two overtimes, but missed each time.

MVSU's Vacha Vaughn forced overtime with his lone basket of the game, a layup with 50 seconds left.

TSU's Malcolm Riley prompted the third overtime with a jumper with 25 seconds left.

Collier was 8 of 14 from the floor and made five three pointers for the Tigers. Madarious Gibbs added 17 points.

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COURTESY TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Alabama A&M Bulldogs roll over Alcorn State

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama  –  Ladarius Tabb and Adrian Edwards each had a double-double Monday night to help lead the Bulldogs to a 78-66 win over Alcorn State.

Tabb, the No. 3 scorer in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, had a season-high 33 points while Edwards had 13. Tabb also pulled down 12 rebounds and Edwards had 10.

The win snaps a two-game losing streak and lifts the Bulldogs to 4-3 in the SWAC. Alcorn State falls to 3-5 in the conference.

Alabama A&M hits the road this weekend with a game Saturday at Prairie View A&M and Monday at Texas Southern. Monday's game will be televised on ESPNU. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m.

Rakiya Battle, who averages 5.4 assists per game to lead the conference, had 12 assists Monday, several to Tabb – including a couple of alley-oop slams.

Marquis Vance led a trio of Braves in double figures with 17 points; LeAntwan Luckett scored 13 and Kenyan Pittman added 10.

The Bulldogs shot 50 percent from the field and led at the half 42-35.

BOX SCORE

COURTESY ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Funeral for Coach James Wright is Wednesday in Birmingham

OBITUARY: James Wright

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Funeral arrangements are set for Coach James Wright, assistant men's basketball coach at Alabama A&M.

Services will be noon Wednesday at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, 1329 Avenue G in Birmingham.

Coach Wright died last Wednesday at home. He was 46.

The popular coach was in his fourth year as an assistant coach with the Bulldogs.

He came to The Hill from the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Before that, he was an assistant at the University of West Alabama where then-Athletic Director E.J. Brophy nicknamed him "The Recruiting Machine."

Wright also served as the coach, president and general manager of the AAU basketball team Rise & Shine from 1993-2004.

COURTESY ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Despite rough final few minutes, Southern women hold off Alabama State 53-49

MONTGOMERY, Alabama — The Southern women’s basketball team seemed to be rolling toward its fifth consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference victory.

The Jaguars led Alabama State by double figures for nearly all of the first 34 minutes, but then everything changed. They started missing shots and turning the ball over, and they watched their lead shrink to a point.

But two free throws by Britney Washington and two big defensive plays by Jasmine Jefferson saved the day in the final minute as Southern beat the Lady Hornets 53-49 on Monday night in the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.

The Jaguars, 8-10 and 6-2 in the SWAC, visit Alcorn State on Saturday. ASU fell to 8-9 and 4-3.

“I thought we played solid basketball for about 28 minutes, then we just lost focus,” Southern coach Sandy Pugh said. “We made a lot of mental mistakes, especially on defense. It was a lot of little things.”

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Southern falls to Alabama State 63-59 in OT

HEAD COACH ROMAN BANKS
SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Southern men’s basketball coach Roman Banks and his staff lingered in the hallway outside the visitors locker room after the game Monday night in the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.

Banks was trying to find the right words with which to address his team after a 63-59 overtime loss to Alabama State that determined first place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

It was a game in which the Jaguars led by as many as 17 points in the first half, had a chance for a tie-breaking score in the waning seconds of the second half, and thought they had secured possession for a possible tying or winning basket at the end of overtime only to see the officials rule a held ball that went the Hornets way rather than a Jaguars timeout.

“You want to calm down and make sue that you say the right things,” Banks said. “They didn’t intentionally miss a shot or intentionally throw a bad pass. We were a little inconsistent offensively, but other than that, we played a pretty good ballgame.”

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Coleman, defense deliver for XU in victory at Voorhees

XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUSIANA MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM 2014-15
ROSTER
COACHES

DENMARK, South Carolina -- Sydney Coleman had 17 points and eight rebounds Monday, and NAIA No. 20 Xavier University of Louisiana produced its best field-goal defense of the season in a 73-59 men's basketball victory against Voorhees.

The Gold Rush (16-6, 5-1) have a season-high five-game win streak and won on the road for the second time in three days.

Coleman, an All-GCAC forward last year, was 6-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the line. It was the 10th time this season he scored in double figures.

Xavier is 4-0 this season when Coleman leads the team in scoring.

The Gold Rush limited the Tigers (8-10, 1-4) to 29.3 percent from the floor, 21.9 percent in the second half. Voorhees was 0-of-8 on 3-pointers after making 2-of-10 in the first half.

RJ Daniels, in his best performance for Xavier since Nov. 14, had 12 points and nine rebounds. Anthony Goode scored 12 points, and Morris Wright and Jarvis Thibodeaux had nine points apiece. Thibodeaux grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, six offensive, to reach double figures for the fifth time this season.

Jerrod Brown had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Voorhees -- he made 14-of-16 free throws -- and Greg Henry had 12 points and seven rebounds.

For the sixth time this season, Xavier won after trailing at halftime. Voorhees led 31-28 at the break, but the Gold Rush rallied to lead by double digits midway through the second half. Wright's layup gave Xavier a 52-40 advantage with 10:48 remaining.

It was Xavier's eighth double-digit victory of the season and second in conference. The score was the same as the Xavier-at-Voorhees women's game played prior to the men.

Xavier shot 41.5 percent from the floor, 46.4 percent in the second half, and outrebounded Voorhees 40-33. Both teams committed 29 fouls, with Xavier making 25-of-32 free throws to the Tigers' 23-of-32.

Thibodeaux made 7-of-8 free throws, and Goode made 4-of-4. Goode, who ranked sixth in free-throw accuracy in NAIA Division I entering the game, has made 66-of-75 (88 percent) this season.

Box score

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

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XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

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Nuggets win at Voorhees in 3rd straight road victory

DENMARK, South Carolina -- Alesha Smith's career-high 15 points and Vinnie Briggs' 14 points and 10 rebounds carried Xavier University of Louisiana to a 73-59 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory Monday against Voorhees.

The Gold Nuggets (12-10, 5-1) won for the fourth time in five games and earned their third consecutive road victory.

Smith also had two assists, two steals and no turnovers in her second consecutive career-high scoring performance. Briggs recorded her team-leading second double-double and Xavier's fourth of the season.

Donyeah Mayfield had eight points and nine rebounds for the Gold Nuggets, and Daylin Boatner scored eight. Kelsey Joseph had a career-high six steals, four in the first half.

Xavier trailed 12-4 through five minutes before taking control with a 19-7 run. The Gold Nuggets led 39-32 at halftime.

Keosha Hardaway had 21 points and eight rebounds for Voorhees (4-13, 0-5), and Kritofia Smart scored 12.

Voorhees outshot Xavier 39.1 to 35.1 percent from the floor. The Gold Nuggets outrebounded the Lady Tigers 43-40 and gained 26 turnovers, 15 by steals. Xavier committed one first-half turnover and finished with a season-best-tying seven.

Both teams struggled at the line despite plenty of opportunities. Xavier made 16-of-34 free throws -- a season-worst 47.1 percent -- and Voorhees made 21-of-34.

It was Xavier's seventh double-digit victory of the season and their third in conference. The Gold Nuggets climbed two victories above .500 for the first time since Dec. 17.

Xavier will visit city rival Dillard at 3 p.m. Saturday. The next XU home game will start at 5:30 p.m. next Monday against Edward Waters.

Box score

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

XULAATHLETICS

XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

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