NEW ORLEANS -- Senior guard Morris Wright scored all 17 points in the second half Friday to lift NAIA No. 19 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 69-57 men's basketball victory against Carver.
The Gold Rush won for the second consecutive day and are 2-0 for the 13th straight season.
Wright, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year, scored 16 points in the final 12:18 -- including back-to-back 3-pointers in the 34th minute -- to build on the Gold Rush's 33-29 advantage. Xavier took its largest lead, 57-38, on Chris Ward's basket with 5:06 remaining.
"This was one of his best floor games," XU coach Dannton Jackson said of Wright, who also had a game-high five assists. "He let game come to him and didn't force anything."
Wright led Xavier in scoring in both games this season and needs 38 points to become the 25th Gold Rush player to reach 1,000 in a career.
Lucas Martin-Julien, with 10 points, was Xavier's other double-figure scorer. RJ Daniels scored nine points, all in the first half, and newcomers Ward and Leland Alexander scored eight points apiece.
Troy Swanson scored 15 points and Brannon Hopkins 14 for Carver (0-1), a National Christian College Athletic Association member from Atlanta, and Jamil Saaka had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Ward, Alexander and another newcomer, Elex Carter, combined for 20 of Xavier's 39 rebounds. Carter and Ward grabbed eight apiece, and Alexander had six.
Xavier led 26-23 at halftime.
The Gold Rush outshot the Cougars 46.7 to 25 percent from the floor. Xavier made 23-of-32 second-half free throws after 1-of-2 in the first half.
Jackson, in his 13th season and the Gold Rush's all-time winningest coach, is 275-117.
Xavier's next game will be a 7 p.m. Wednesday exhibition at NCAA Division I's Southeastern Louisiana.
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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Saturday, October 31, 2015
Former Rattler Footballer 'Kool Breeze' Gets Presidential Award
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| Indian River County Sheriff's Deputy, Teddy Floyd COURTESY: FLORIDA A&M SPORTS INFORMATION |
TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- If you mention the name Teddy Floyd on Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University’s (FAMU) campus, you may send minds wandering. If you say the name “Kool Breeze,” it will bring smiles to many of their faces. A member of former Coach Rudy Hubbard’s football team from 1982-1985, Floyd was a popular figure on campus.
Although he has been honored by several organizations over the years, his recognition reached the pinnacle this year as President Barack Obama bestowed the President’s Volunteer Service Award on him for his deeds. He was awarded the Gold Award, the highest of the presidential volunteer awards for service.
He was known for his wit, dancing skills, and his all around fun-loving persona. What he does now, though, is no laughing matter. Floyd has taken the lead in the Vero Beach community as the Indian River deputy sheriff and crime prevention practitioner, building relationships between law enforcement and citizens, rebuilding homes in the community, and saving lives along the way.
Floyd graduated from Orange Park High School in Jacksonville, Fla., before attending FAMU. An athletic linebacker, Floyd had a solid career on the gridiron. But, it is his degree in criminal justice from Florida A&M University that serves him to this day.
“When I came to the place they call “the highest of seven hills” in Tallahassee, I was an energetic young man. My focus at the time was just like any other teen entering college,” Floyd said.
It would be his experience with Hubbard that would guide his career path.
“I can’t express enough how proud I am of what he’s done. I just recently began to hear about all the good things he’s done in the community and it fits with what I always felt about him…that he was a good guy,” Hubbard said.
Hubbard recalled Floyd’s time at FAMU.
“Teddy was always full speed. There might have been a few players that may have had more talent than him in college, but nobody would outwork him, so I’m not surprised by all of the good he is doing right now,” Hubbard said.
Floyd has logged thousands of hours of community service in Vero Beach, where he has served for 26 years. The main organization he works with is called “Every Dream Has a Price.” One of his main partners in the endeavors he undertakes is Julianne Price, who works with the Indian River Health Department. He also volunteers his time with Shop With A Cop, the American Cancer Society, the March of Dimes, the United Way, Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches, Treasure Coast Stampede of Vero Beach, Habitat for Humanity, and several others organizations.
Volunteering numerous hours after work and on weekends, he still makes time to coach youth football. His philosophy is that if he can get to kids at a younger and more influential age, he can help foster great results.
What’s the driving force behind Floyd’s success? It’s simple, he says.
“Coach Hubbard used to always say ‘You’ve got to do the right thing,’” Floyd recalled. “For some reason that has stuck with me throughout my professional career. I live by that. Whenever I’m involved in something, this seems to echo in my head. I don’t know if coach even knows how powerful this simple statement is,” he said.
Hubbard is thrilled with the results of sowing seeds into the minds of his former players.
“You never know what effect your words are having on athletes. What Teddy is saying sounds exactly like statements that Nate Newton, former football player, has made in recent years. It does my heart good to know that things I said resonated with these young men to the point that they adopted it as grown men. Some guys picked it up right away, but for some guys it took on more meaning as they got into the real world,” Hubbard said.
Floyd was inspired to get involved in the community by Price, who was doing similar work. Floyd was known for taking down known drug houses, particularly abandoned homes used for drug trafficking, housing stolen goods, and prostitution. Floyd has leveled several abandoned homes in Indian River County as part of his objectives.
“I was working for the health department in the community and I heard about this officer who was famous for his work in the community. Since then, we’ve knocked down over 100 houses,” Price said.
While he is famous for knocking down homes, he is much more proud of the homes he’s helped to restore and build in the community. With partners such as Florida Blue and other corporations, the necessary funding is a vital part of his restoration effort. Currently, he and Price are overseeing one of his most prized projects, the construction of a veterans’ duplex for homeless veterans in the Vero Beach area.
COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
Friday, October 30, 2015
Gold Rush rally late to defeat Warriors in opener
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| ROSTER |
NEW ORLEANS — Morris Wright scored 19 points, including the go-ahead free throws in the final minute, to rally NAIA No. 19 Xavier University of Louisiana in a 75-73 men's basketball victory against Webber International.
The Gold Rush won a season opener for the 20th consecutive time. Coach Dannton Jackson is 13-0 in season openers.
Xavier never led in the second half until Wright produced a steal and was fouled with 30 seconds remaining. His two free throws gave the Gold Rush a 74-73 lead. Wright concluded the scoring by making 1-of-2 free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining.
The Warriors (0-1) missed two field-goal attempts in the final five seconds. Their final try was by Jovany Decues from the foul line as time expired.
After a halftime tie at 37, Webber International took a pair of seven-point leads, the second after a Decues basket at 4:22.
Wright, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year, made three of Xavier's four 3-pointers and had four rebounds and four steals. Lucas Martin-Julien, playing for the first time since the 2013-14 season, had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Gold Rush.
Giovanni Poitier had 13 points and eight rebounds for Webber International, an NAIA Division II member from Babson Park, Fla., and Sam Auguste had 12 points and eight rebounds.
Webber International made 12 3-pointers and outshot Xavier 40 to 36.5 percent from the floor, but Xavier made 33-of-42 free throws to the Warriors' 13-of-22. Martin-Julien made 9-of-10 free throws, and Wright and RJ Daniels made 6-of-8 apiece. Xavier won the boards 43-37, with Daniels grabbing seven rebounds and Wesley Pluviose-Philip getting six.
Xavier will play host to Carver College of Atlanta at 6 p.m. Friday.
BOX SCORE
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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Nuggets stretch streak with 5-set victory at Loyola
NEW ORLEANS — Claudia Haywood had a career-high 21 kills, and Ruby Hunt-Thompson produced kills on all four of her fifth-set attacks Thursday in Xavier University of Louisiana's 25-21, 27-25, 22-25, 20-25, 15-12 volleyball victory at city rival Loyola.
The Gold Nuggets (14-7) won their sixth in a row and defeated the Wolf Pack (16-17) at The Den for the second time in eight attempts all-time. Loyola leads the series 12-5, but Xavier won five of the past six meetings.
Haywood, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Preseason Co-Player of the Year, produced the most kills in a match by an XU player this season. Her previous best was 17 kills in four sets at Tougaloo last season. Hunt-Thompson had three kills to give the Gold Nuggets a 7-4 lead in the fifth, and the freshman ended the match with a kill.
Hunt-Thompson had a 15 kills and five blocks, both career bests, and hit .538.
Jodi Hill had a season-high 15 kills and CeCe Williams 10 for Xavier. Williams and Taylor Reuther had 18 digs apiece, and Darian Harris had 16.
Eva Allen had 19 kills and 15 digs for Loyola. Allison Hartmann had 12 kills, and Jordan Davis had 11.
Xavier hit .310 and had season highs of 72 kills and 66 assists. The Gold Nuggets' nine blocks matched a season high. Franziska Pirkl had 51 assists, a season high, for Xavier.
"We played with a lot of energy and heart," XU coach Hannah Lawing said. "It took a while to get into a rhythm, but when we found our groove, our side of the net felt unstoppable."
The victory was the Gold Nuggets' second this season in five sets and their first on the floor of a non-conference opponent.
Xavier will play its final home match of the regular season at 1 p.m. Saturday against SUNO. The Lady KniBghts lead the GCAC by a match over the Gold Nuggets. Xavier will honor six seniors — Haywood, Reuther, Harris, Pirkl, Williams and Hill — in a pre-match ceremony.
BOX SCORE
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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Rams' mission during Homecoming week: Focus
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- If there’s one message Winston-Salem State coaches have tried to convey to players this week, it’s about focus.During homecoming week there are so many distractions that it sometimes can keep coaches up at night.
Offensive coordinator John Eder has made it a point to tell all the Rams the only focus should be on beating Shaw. Game time at Bowman Gray Stadium is 2 p.m. in what is sure to be an overflow crowd.
Punter Will Johnson said Eder’s message was simple.
“He just told us homecoming is for the alumni and the fans,” Johnson said. “When you come back after you graduate, then you can enjoy it. Now, it’s about taking care of business.”
CONTINUE READING
Miles rolls Stillman, Tuskegee next
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Miles has known all season that the road to a SIAC Western Division title goes through Tuskegee, Ala. But Thursday night, the Golden Bears had one final stop to make before reaching their final destination.
By the time Miles (5-4, 4-0 SIAC West) wrapped up its 37-7 rout of Stillman (3-5, 1-4), the offense had racked up 545 total yards, the defense had forced three turnovers and recorded seven sacks, and the team could finally turn its attention towards the rival Golden Tigers, who have stood in the way of a trip to the conference title game the last two seasons.
"They were the team picked to win (the division) by a vote of our peers, so there's no pressure on us," said head coach Reginald Ruffin. "They're a good football team with history and tradition so our kids have to get ready to play."
For a team with an eye on what's next, the Golden Bears certainly paid attention to dominating on the field against the Tigers. Behind quarterback David Whipple, the offense – which has struggled for most of the season – put on its best show thus far and it didn't take long to get started.
Whipple scored on a 7-yard run on the game's opening drive, tossed a 21-yard scoring pass to Jordan Walker on the next possession, then got a 30-yard field goal from Nick Christiansen (one of three on the game, including a 51-yarder) to lead 17-0 before the end of the first quarter. When Ger'Kerry Jackson (66 rushing yards) closed out an 8-play, 99-yard drive late in the second quarter with a 17-yard touchdown run, the Golden Bears lead 24-7.
For a team that has had trouble putting together a full effort each game, Miles looked ready to roll all night.
"Our guys came out fast, we stalled a little bit, but then we came out, controlled the ball in the second half, and the defense didn't give up the big plays like we did in the first half," Ruffin said. "Overall, I'm proud of our effort."
Whipple, who is in his third incarnation as Miles' starting quarterback this season, was outstanding. He was 18-of-32 passing for 229 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 119 yards and another score. His second touchdown pass was again to Walker (five catches, 91 yards, 2 TD), this one from 23 yards out, to give Miles a 34-7 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.
"We're starting to understand the offense a little bit more," Whipple said. "We're also understanding the defenses, where the weak spots are and hitting them a little more."
Kickoff at Tuskegee next Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m. and Ruffin said his team will be ready to go.
"It's been 365 days that we've been waiting for it so now, we get the opportunity."
Box Score
COURTESY MILES COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION
By the time Miles (5-4, 4-0 SIAC West) wrapped up its 37-7 rout of Stillman (3-5, 1-4), the offense had racked up 545 total yards, the defense had forced three turnovers and recorded seven sacks, and the team could finally turn its attention towards the rival Golden Tigers, who have stood in the way of a trip to the conference title game the last two seasons.
"They were the team picked to win (the division) by a vote of our peers, so there's no pressure on us," said head coach Reginald Ruffin. "They're a good football team with history and tradition so our kids have to get ready to play."
For a team with an eye on what's next, the Golden Bears certainly paid attention to dominating on the field against the Tigers. Behind quarterback David Whipple, the offense – which has struggled for most of the season – put on its best show thus far and it didn't take long to get started.
Whipple scored on a 7-yard run on the game's opening drive, tossed a 21-yard scoring pass to Jordan Walker on the next possession, then got a 30-yard field goal from Nick Christiansen (one of three on the game, including a 51-yarder) to lead 17-0 before the end of the first quarter. When Ger'Kerry Jackson (66 rushing yards) closed out an 8-play, 99-yard drive late in the second quarter with a 17-yard touchdown run, the Golden Bears lead 24-7.
For a team that has had trouble putting together a full effort each game, Miles looked ready to roll all night.
"Our guys came out fast, we stalled a little bit, but then we came out, controlled the ball in the second half, and the defense didn't give up the big plays like we did in the first half," Ruffin said. "Overall, I'm proud of our effort."
Whipple, who is in his third incarnation as Miles' starting quarterback this season, was outstanding. He was 18-of-32 passing for 229 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 119 yards and another score. His second touchdown pass was again to Walker (five catches, 91 yards, 2 TD), this one from 23 yards out, to give Miles a 34-7 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.
"We're starting to understand the offense a little bit more," Whipple said. "We're also understanding the defenses, where the weak spots are and hitting them a little more."
Kickoff at Tuskegee next Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m. and Ruffin said his team will be ready to go.
"It's been 365 days that we've been waiting for it so now, we get the opportunity."
Box Score
COURTESY MILES COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION
GameDay Preview: Central State at Tuskegee
FOUR-DOWN TERRITORY
1 History in the making: With a win over Central State, Tuskegee coach Willie Slater will tie Rick Comegy for second on the school's all-time wins list. Slater is 89-22 in 10 seasons with the Golden Tigers. Comegy was 90-26. It'll take a bit longer for Slater to reach the school's all-time wins mark, 202 by Cleve L. Abbott in 32 seasons. "Really hadn't thought about it. I feel very fortunate. It's a blessing that we've been able to accomplish that here. A lot of the tribute goes the coaching staff. I have a very good coaching staff that's stuck with me," Slater said. "It's a special thing for me. He's coached many great quarterbacks. Just to even be one of his students of the game, it's an honor. Coach Slater's an amazing coach, he has great knowledge of the game. Just to be a part, 90 wins is a lot, just to be the quarterback to help him achieve this goal, it's very special to me," quarterback Kevin Lacey said.
2 The best feeling in the world: After spending six of its first eight games on the road, Tuskegee returns home for the final two games of the season. After Central State this week, the Golden Tigers host Miles for the season finale on Nov. 7. No one on the team is happier about returning home than junior defensive end Julian Morgan. "It's the best feeling the world," Morgan said. "I think the crowd, the student section at Tuskegee, is the best student section in the nation. You can't beat The Shed. You want The Shed to be happy when you're out there on the field."
CONTINUE READING
1 History in the making: With a win over Central State, Tuskegee coach Willie Slater will tie Rick Comegy for second on the school's all-time wins list. Slater is 89-22 in 10 seasons with the Golden Tigers. Comegy was 90-26. It'll take a bit longer for Slater to reach the school's all-time wins mark, 202 by Cleve L. Abbott in 32 seasons. "Really hadn't thought about it. I feel very fortunate. It's a blessing that we've been able to accomplish that here. A lot of the tribute goes the coaching staff. I have a very good coaching staff that's stuck with me," Slater said. "It's a special thing for me. He's coached many great quarterbacks. Just to even be one of his students of the game, it's an honor. Coach Slater's an amazing coach, he has great knowledge of the game. Just to be a part, 90 wins is a lot, just to be the quarterback to help him achieve this goal, it's very special to me," quarterback Kevin Lacey said.
2 The best feeling in the world: After spending six of its first eight games on the road, Tuskegee returns home for the final two games of the season. After Central State this week, the Golden Tigers host Miles for the season finale on Nov. 7. No one on the team is happier about returning home than junior defensive end Julian Morgan. "It's the best feeling the world," Morgan said. "I think the crowd, the student section at Tuskegee, is the best student section in the nation. You can't beat The Shed. You want The Shed to be happy when you're out there on the field."
CONTINUE READING
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