JCSU Blows By Fayetteville State, 97-78; Tie for Southern Division Lead

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina  –  The Johnson C. Smith University men's basketball team shot 50.8% from the field, including 53.3% from long range and had three players in double figures and routed visiting Fayetteville State 97-78 on Saturday afternoon in Brayboy Gym.  The win coupled with a Winston-Salem State loss at St. Augustine's pulls JCSU back into a tie for first place in the CIAA Southern Division.

The Golden Bulls improve to 11-10 overall, 6-6 in CIAA play and 4-2 in the Southern Division while FSU drops to 10-12 overall, 4-8 in league play and 2-4 in divisional play.

Senior Stedmon Lemon (Lithonia, Ga.) finished with 24 points and nine rebounds while Diondre Pratt (Morven, N.C.) had 23 points on an 8-of-14 shooting effort including a perfect 3-of-3 from long range and 4-of-4 from the line.  Alandre Davis (Florence, S.C.) continued his solid play, finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the year.

Fayetteville State got 19 points behind Michael Tyson and 10 from Isaiah Vinson in the loss.

The first half saw the two division rivals battle through eight lead changes, with Fayetteville State holding their largest lead at the 15:38 mark at 11-7.  The lead would go back-and-forth through the first half, with JCSU taking a 47-46 lead into the halftime break.

In the second half, JCSU jumped ahead by 10 points after Lemon tipped in his own miss, making it 56-46 with 17:31 remaining.  After FSU closed to 56-50, JCSU went on a 14-3 run that gave JCSU the 72-53 lead with 10:30 left.

JCSU never let the lead get below 12 points the rest of the way as the Golden Bulls pulled away for the 97-78 win.

BOX SCORE

COURTESY JOHNSON C. SMITH UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Gold Rush beat No. 7 Crusaders; Nuggets lose to Carey

NEW ORLEANS — Fourth-ranked Xavier University of Louisiana recorded its first men's tennis victory of the season against a top-10 NAIA opponent when it defeated seventh-ranked William Carey 8-1 Saturday.
      
Xavier's women, ranked 11th, lost 6-3 to sixth-ranked William Carey.
    
The Gold Rush (2-2) have 12 victories in the last five seasons against top-10 NAIA opponents. Carey is the highest-ranked opponent to lose to the Gold Rush since n No. 7 Cumberland two years ago.
    
Karan Salwan, Kyle Montrel, Kevin Chaouat, Manav Chakma and Adam Albrecht won in doubles and singles for the XU men. Montrel clinched the dual when he defeated Clement Fosse 6-0, 6-3.
      
In the women's dual, William Carey won the final three singles matches after the Gold Nuggets (1-1) tied the dual at 3.
    
Charlene Goreau evened the dual for the Gold Nuggets with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory against Sara Valero Marin at the top flight. Mathilde Rinderknech clinched for the Crusaders by beating Tess Guarino 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.
    
Goreau and Brandi Nelson teamed for a doubles victory, and Nelson defeated Alexia Rycroft 7-5, 7-5 in singles.
    
William Carey's women are 1-3, and its men are 0-2.
 
 "I was very pleased with what I saw from our men," XU coach Alan Green said. "We beat a very good Carey team. On the women's side, I thought we let one slip away. I have to do a better job coaching them on some of the little things that can make matches go either way. But I give credit to the Carey women for closing the match."
    
Xavier's women will visit LSU-Alexandria at noon next Saturday, and both XU teams will visit Nicholls State at 11 a.m. the following day.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold 

Dillard beats Nuggets at XU for 1st time since '91

NEW ORLEANS — Shaelynn Moore scored 15 points and sparked a late third-quarter run which lifted Dillard to a 57-52 women's basketball victory against NAIA No. 24 Xavier University of Louisiana in the Crosstown Classic at XU's Convocation Center.
    
The Lady Bleu Devils (9-11, 4-3 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) defeated the Gold Nuggets (15-9, 4-4) at XU for the first time since Jan. 26, 1991. Xavier lost its second straight at home after winning its first eight home games this season. The Gold Nuggets have lost four of their last six games.
    
Xavier led 37-31 after Kiera Robinson's basket at 2:56 of the third quarter, but Dillard scored the final nine points of the period and took the lead for good, 40-37, on Moore's 3-pointer at 0:49. Moore scored five points during the run.
    
Dillard protected its lead by making 11-of-14 free throws in the final five minutes. The Lady Bleu Devils dominated at the line, making 22-of-31 overall to Xavier's 9-of-12.
    
Keona Favis scored 13 points for Dillard, and Alyssa Washington had 12 points, eight rebounds and five steals.
    
Trana Hopkins scored 20 points and Whitney Gathright 10 for Xavier, and Donyeah Mayfield had seven points and 13 rebounds.
    
Dillard outshot Xavier 34.7 to 32.8 percent from the floor. The Gold Nuggets had a 39-36 rebound advantage.
    
Xavier will play host to William Carey in a non-conference game at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Convocation Center. It will be the Nuggets' annual Play 4Kay Game for cancer awareness, and fans are encouraged to wear pink.

BOX SCORE

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold 

Former Hampton Pirates Swinton Lands Coaching Gig With San Francisco 49ers

Hometown: Richmond, Virginia
High School: Thomas Dale
PHOTO COURTESY: KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Hampton, Virginia -- Former Hampton University football standout Darius Swinton II has been named Special Teams Coordinator by the San Francisco 49ers.

"Darius' appointment as special teams coach with the 49ers is a testament to what it means to be a Hampton student athlete: to succeed not only in the athletic arena, but in life in general," University President Dr. William R. Harvey said. "I have no doubt he will continue to represent Hampton University and uphold a standard of excellence in everything he does."

From 2003-06, Swinton donned the Pirate blue and white, and he was part of Hampton's back-to-back-to-back MEAC championship teams from 2004-06. He finished his collegiate career with 103 tackles, 19 pass deflections, and eight interceptions.

As a player, Swinton's NFL debut came in 2007 with the St. Louis Rams.

He has also worked with the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, and Chicago Bears. This past season, Swinton was an assistant special teams coach with the Bears. Chicago was 12th in the NFL in special teams, while San Francisco was 27th.

For more information on Hampton University football, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

S.C. State tops Coppin State, 88-83, takes first place atop MEAC standings

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- It was a bit of a surprise -- like putting a mug of hot chocolate in a microwave to warm it up, only to take it back out and have some fresh marshmallows suddenly appear around the top of the mug.

The S.C. State men’s basketball team pulled away late for an 88-83 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win against visiting Coppin State on Saturday evening, only to find out upon reaching the locker room that other MEAC results on the day had boosted the Bulldogs to atop the MEAC standings.

It was great news after a big win inside S.C. State’s Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center, warming things up with excitement for players and fans alike as chilly rain fell outside in February temperatures.

“It was a constant battle,” S.C. State head coach Murray Garvin said of Saturday’s game. “In the last five minutes we did a better job defensively, kind of locked down and made them (CSU) earn every basket.

“We had to limit them to one shot, and I felt like we did a good job of that in the first half. We made some turnovers and missed some free throws; but again, it’s a conference game and you expect 20 minutes of tough basketball every half. I’m just grateful that we came out with the victory.”

CONTINUE READING

Grambling Lady Tigers smother Southern to avenge January loss

GRAMBLING, Louisiana — Southern caught Grambling at a good time last month in Baton Rouge to put together a 12-point win over its rival.

Grambling, at the time, was coming off an emotional win over Alabama State with a young team that hadn’t quite grasped the meaning of Grambling-Southern.

On Saturday, the Lady Tigers were well versed in the magnitude oCf the game.

Grambling smothered Southern the entire game to force 26 turnovers en route to a 65-52 win at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Arena. The Lady Tigers used constant defense pressure to overcome a cold shooting night (34 percent from the field) to avenge an 80-68 loss in January.

“Now they understand what is expected of them they came ready to play,” Grambling women’s coach Nadine Domond said. “We prepared very, very hard this week. If you came to our practice we focused on this and worked on this a lot.”

CONTINUE READING 

Southern’s Adrian Rodgers, Trelun Banks shoot down Grambling 79-66

GRAMBLING, Louisiana — Southern started its winning streak four weeks ago with a hard-fought 66-61 victory against Grambling.

Any notion that the streak might end or that the rematch would be as close as the first meeting was shot down by Jaguars guards Adrian Rodgers and Trelun Banks on Saturday.

Rodgers made four 3-pointers in seven attempts, eight field goals in 14 attempts and 10 free throws in 12 attempts as he scored a game-high and career-high 30 points. Banks was 5-of-7 on 3-pointers, missed his only 2-pointer, and made 3-of-4 free throws in scoring 18 points as Southern won its eighth straight game by beating the Tigers 79-66 in the Fredrick C. Hobdy Athletic Center.

The Jaguars (16-7, 8-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) will go for nine in a row when they visit Jackson State on Monday. Jackson State lost to Alcorn State 72-64 Saturday to fall out of a second-place tie with Southern and into a third-place tie with the Braves.

Grambling (6-16, 3-7) lost for the seventh time in eight games, a stretch that began with the first meeting between theseC teams.

CONTINUE READING