Texas Southern downs UTSA on Wednesday afternoon, 91-80

LAS VEGAS, Nevada  —  Ryan Bowie and J.R. Harris combined for 43 points, but Texas Southern went on a 20-4 run in the second half to score a 91-80 win on Wednesday afternoon in the consolation game on of the Men Who Speak Up Main Event.

Bowie went 9-of-15 from the floor to finish with 22 points, his third game of at least 20 points this season, for the Roadrunners (1-5). Harris connected on 6-of-9 from behind the arc for his season-high 21 points, while George Matthews added a career-best 10 points off the bench.

Meanwhile, David Blanks and Chris Thomas led the Tigers (1-4) with 23 points apiece. Texas Southern shot 51 percent in the contest and attempted 41 more free throws than UTSA.

Nick Allen extended a 42-35 halftime lead with a drive to the basket and layup on the Roadrunners’ first possession of the second half and another layup from Bowie with 18:15 to play gave UTSA a 48-39 advantage.

However, that’s when the Tigers rattled off their 20-4 run to take the lead for good.

Blanks scored eight points during the stretch and his 3-pointer with 15:10 on the clock gave Texas Southern a 51-50 lead, which was its first advantage since early in the first half.

Bowie slowed the run with an inside basket, but Thomas hit a trey and capped the spurt with a pair of free throws for a 59-52 cushion.

The Tigers answered every charge by the Roadrunners in the final eight minutes.

Harris tried to keep UTSA close with three consecutive 3-pointers and a pair of Bowie free throws trimmed the Tigers lead to 81-75 with 1:39 remaining in the contest. Another Harris trey cut the deficit to 85-80 with 1:02 left, but the Roadrunners would get no closer.

Texas Southern enjoyed a healthy advantage at the foul line all afternoon and went 4-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute to salt away the 91-80 final.

Austin Karrer’s 3-pointer helped UTSA jump out to a 7-1 lead and another triple from Matthews pushed the cushion to 12-5 in the early minutes. The Tigers responded with a 7-0 run to tie the score and Texas Southern took its first lead, 15-14, with 13:33 to play in the half.

The Roadrunners quickly regained the upper hand as Nick Billingsley ignited a 10-1 spurt with a jumper. Harris sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a basket inside from A.J. Cockrell to extend the lead to 24-16 with 10 minutes remaining in the period.

After the Tigers had trimmed the UTSA lead to 26-23, Bowie and Matthews teamed up to give the Roadrunners their first double-digit cushion of the day with seven straight points. Bowie knocked in a 17-foot jumper before Matthews connected on a layup and 3-pointer for a 33-23 lead.

The Roadrunners would noCt trail for the rest of the half and they took a 42-35 lead to intermission.

UTSA will be back in action at 6 p.m. on Sunday when it opens its home slate against UT Permian Basin (3-2).

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO ATHLETICS

A BOWL TO CELEBRATE? SCSU, MEAC left to wonder why conference shut out of FCS playoffs

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- Has the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference uninvited itself to the party?

Having an automatic qualifying berth to the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for years had given MEAC programs a fighting chance to put their best team into the field to play for the national trophy.

But this past offseason, the MEAC decided to relinquish the conference’s automatic qualifier status. This was done in favor of signing an agreement with the Southwestern Athletic Conference to send both conferences’ regular-season champions to the newly created Celebration Bowl, set for Dec. 19 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.



Fast forward to this past Sunday when the FCS playoff bids were announced, and no MEAC school is in the mix — not Bethune-Cookman (9-2 record), not North Carolina A&T (9-2 record) or even N.C. Central (8-3 record).

Granted, N.C. A&T won the tiebreaker to represent the MEAC in the inaugural Celebration Bowl, which will be broadcast live at noon on ABC television affiliates nationwide. The Aggies will take on the SWAC Championship winner from a game between Alcorn State and Grambling State, which will be played on Dec. 5.

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XULA Friday game vs. CAU Panthers moved to Convocation Center

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana announced Tuesday a venue and time change for its men's basketball game against Clark Atlanta University.
     
The Gold Rush and Panthers will play at 7 p.m. Friday at XU's Convocation Center. There will be no admission charge. The game originally was scheduled for noon at SUNO as one of three games in the Big Easy Hardwood Classic, but that event was canceled.
     
It will be the first meeting of Xavier and Clark Atlanta since an 84-72 XU victory at The Barn on Nov. 22, 2004. It also will be the last of four games Friday at Xavier. The other three are in the Xavier Classic, with two women's games — including Xavier vs. Langston at 5 p.m. — and a high school girls game.


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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LSUS defeats Gold Rush 65-55 in matchup of ranked teams

SHREVEPORT, Louisiana — Lyndale James scored 19 points, and LSU-Shreveport used two runs in the final seven minutes to defeat Xavier University of Louisiana 65-55 in men's basketball Tuesday.

The Pilots, ranked 14th in NAIA Division I, are 3-2. The Gold Rush, ranked 19th, are 6-2.

A Morris Wright 3-pointer with 7:03 remaining gave Xavier its final lead, 48-47. LSUS scored the next eight points and took the lead for good, 49-48, on Manny Martin's basket at 6:41. Another Wright 3-pointer trimmed the Pilots' lead to 55-53 at 3:12, but LSUS answered with another 8-0 run.

James was 9-of-13 from the floor and had seven rebounds and two steals. Tyrell Springer had 14 points, six assists and five steals for the Pil ots, Manny Martin scored 12, and Josh Walker had 10 points and nine rebounds.

For Xavier, Wright scored 22 points, 15 in the second half, and made four 3-pointers. RJ Daniels scored 14. Elex Carter blocked a career-best four shots — it was his sixth consecutive game with multiple blocks — and Gary Smith grabbed a career-high nine rebounds.

LSUS scored 13 consecutive points after Wright opened the game with a 3-pointer and led 28-24 at halftime.

Both teams shot 41 percent from the floor. The Pilots were plus-4 on turnovers and outrebounded the Gold Rush 40-34.

It was the teams' first meeting since the 2012 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship in Kansas City, Mo., and their first regular-season meeting since 2010. They'll meet again at 5 p.m. Dec. 29 in the Gold Rush Holiday Classic. The Pilots lead the series 13-3.

Next for Xavier will be a 7 p.m. Friday game against NCAA Division II's Clark Atlanta at the Convocation Center.

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Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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SWAC Football Teleconference - Week 13

Alabama A&M - James Spady 

Alabama State - Brian Jenkins

Alcorn State - Jay Hopson

Jackson State  - Derrick McCall

Mississippi Valley State - Rick Comegy

Prairie View A&M - Willie Simmons

Grambling State - Broderick Fobbs

Southern - Dawson Odums

Texas Southern - Darrell Asberry

Arkansas-Pine Bluff - Monte Coleman

COURTESY SWAC MEDIA RELATIONS

Lemon squeezes more of his talent to push JCSU Golden Bulls

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- Stedmon Lemon thought he knew it all.

In Lemon’s first season at Johnson C. Smith, the junior college transfer flashed brilliant offensive skills to earn all-CIAA recognition but didn’t always buy into coach Steve Joyner’s team-first concept. So, Lemon thought long and hard about his role with the Golden Bulls and decided to become more coachable.

“Last year I had a lot to say back,” he said. “This year, I’m trying to take a lot more in and trying to listen to become a better player because at the end of the day, I need him more than he needs me.”

The change in attitude is paying ...

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FAMU Lady Rattlers Upend Kennesaw 69-67 In Overtime

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  – It took an extra frame, but the Lady Rattlers of FAMU (2-3, 0-0 MEAC), defeated the Owls of Kennesaw State (2-4), 69-67 on a put-back by Khadejra Young. The game marked the first contest played in the Lawson Center under the new four quarter rule implemented this season by the NCAA.

Shalaunda Burney-Robinson had the hot hand for the Lady Rattlers, pacing the team in the first half. Head coach LeDawn Gibson credited her development as a sophomore to focusing on her play in the off season. “Shalaunda’s play was key for us getting off to a good start. Her improvement was expected this season as we were able to concentrate on her in the off season. Bringing back coach Latasha Shipman-Ganus was huge as well, as she specializes in teaching players how to maneuver in the post,” Gibson said.

Burney-Robinson and Young both led the Rattlers with 15 points each. Olivia Antilla scored 14 points and Cedricka Sweeting added 11 to round out the foursome of double-figure scorers. Burney-Robinson also led the Rattlers with eight rebounds, while also collecting two assists.

The Owls were led by Taylor Smith, who led all scorers with 17 points. Deandrea Sawyers had 12, Jasmine McAllister had 11 and Iceis Walker chipped in 10 to lead the Owls. McAllister would grab a game-high 13 rebounds to round out her double-double on the night.

The Rattlers led 21-17 after the first quarter and took a 34-32 lead into halftime. After the third quarter the score was 51-48 in favor of FAMU. At the end of regulation, the teams were tied at 63.

Gibson is please with the depth on her team. “Last season, I really couldn’t look down my bench and feel confident that the players we were putting in could get the job done. We had three key players lost before the season began. This season, I can look down with confidence and substitute at any position. That makes the difference in how we can stay in games. I’m proud of our ladies for hanging in there when we needed to,” Gibson said.

The Rattlers were dominated by KSU last season 79-58 in Kennesaw, Ga. The turnaround for this year’s team was not lost on the players. “We definitely felt like we owed them something for the way we got blown out last year,” Young said.



What’s next: The Lady Rattlers will travel to Kennesaw to play in the Kennesaw Tournament, Nov. 28-29.

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COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION