Ben Ellzey's streak ends, FAMU gets by Mercer 9-6

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Last season, Florida A&M’s offense was one of the best in the nation – third baseman Ben Ellzey’s .388 batting average helped with that.

He led the conference in batting average, was tied for fourth in the MEAC with 69 hits and was tied for fifth in the conference with 42 RBIs.

Now a senior, the third baseman is picking up exactly where he left off.

Ellzey on Monday was named the MEAC’s Player of the Week. He went 8-for-17 last week and hit a walk-off RBI single to give the Rattlers a 3-2 series-opening victory over George Washington. FAMU would go on to sweep the Colonials.

Ellzey also stepped up against SEC foe Auburn (two hits and an RBI) in FAMU’s midweek game.

“All of us are just picking it up, one right after the other,” he said. “We’re getting hits in a row. We’re getting bunts down when we need to. It’s just a nice chain reaction and I’m just glad we’re still winning. It feels good to just keep winning.”

CONTINUE READING

No. 2 Rush in NAIA's top 3 for 10th consecutive poll

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana remained No. 2 Tuesday in the newest NAIA men's tennis coaches poll and made its 10th consecutive appearance in the top three.

Since the previous poll Feb. 14, the Gold Rush (5-3) have victories against an NCAA Division I opponent (Nicholls State), the NAIA's No. 3 team (Keiser) and NCAA Division III's No. 2 team (Emory). Since XULA's 5-4 victory at Emory Feb. 18, the Eagles have won the ITA's D3 national indoor championship.

Next for the Gold Rush will be a 1:30 p.m. Friday dual against NAIA No. 6 William Carey in Hattiesburg, Miss., at the Southern Miss Tennis Complex. The Crusaders (5-1) climbed one place in the poll. This dual originally was scheduled for XULA, but the schools agreed Tuesday to swap venues. The April 15 XULA-William Carey dual will move from Carey to XULA Tennis Center.
For the 22nd consecutive poll, Georgia Gwinnett is unanimous at No. 1. The Grizzlies defeated XULA 5-0 Feb. 19 at GGC's Grizzly Invitational.

Other XULA poll streaks:
• 80th consecutive appearance in the top 25 . . . streak began April 4, 2007.
• 71st consecutive appearance in the top 20 . . . streak began April 30, 2008.
• 56th consecutive appearance in the top 15 . . . streak began Feb. 1, 2011.
• 50th consecutive appearance in the top 10 . . . streak began May 3, 2011.
• 12th consecutive appearance in the top 5 . . . streak began Jan. 26, 2016.

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

XULA Rush, Tigers to lead off GCAC tourney at noon Friday

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball will lead off the 2017 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament with a noon game Friday against Edward Waters at Dillard's Dent Hall.

The GCAC announced seedings and pairings Tuesday for the seven-team event, which is being played in New Orleans for the fourth consecutive year.

The Gold Rush (10-19) are seeded fourth by virtue of their 6-6 conference record and fourth-place finish. Edward Waters (12-17, 5-7) tied for fifth place with Tougaloo. Edward Waters and Tougaloo split their two regular-season games, and the Tigers earned the fifth seed in a tiebreaker — their 1-1 record against third-seeded Talladega. Edward Waters and Tougaloo and had identical records against the GCAC's highest two seeds.

The XULA-Edward Waters winner will play top-seeded Dillard at 7 p.m. Saturday at XULA's Convocation Center. All semifinals and finals for the men and women will be played at XULA. Dillard, the regular-season champion, No. 1 seed and defending GCAC Tournament champion, has a first-round bye.

The other men's first-round matchups, also at Dillard Friday, will be Talladega vs. sixth-seeded Tougaloo at 2 p.m. and second-seeded Philander Smith vs. seventh-seeded SUNO at 5 p.m.

XULA and Edward Waters will meet in the GCAC Tournament for the first time. The Gold Rush are 13-2 all-time against the Tigers, including victories of 72-69 at XULA Jan. 21 and 65-61 at Jacksonville, Fla., Feb. 4. The Gold Rush have not lost to the Tigers since Jan. 4, 1996, and have a current series win streak of 11.

XULA's leading scorers are 6-foot-4 junior guard/forward Jalen David (11.8 points per game), 6-1 senior guard Seth Jackson (9.8), 6-3 freshman guard Mike Williams (9.3) and 5-9 freshman guard Donovan Armstrong (8.1). Edward Waters' leading scorers are 6-4 senior guard Keith Williams (13.9), 6-6 senior forward Oshey Washington (12.0) and 6-3 junior guard/forward Charles-Eddie Smith (10.0).

XULA was the GCAC Tournament runner-up in 2016, 2015, 2011 and 2008. The Gold Rush have not won this event since 1996.

2017 GCAC Men's Basketball Tournament

First Round — Friday, March 3 (Dillard's Dent Hall)
#4 XULA (10-19) vs. #5 Edward Waters (12-17), noon
#3 Talladega (21-9) vs. #6 Tougaloo (10-15), 2 p.m.
#2 Philander Smith (13-12) vs. #7 SUNO (4-20), 5 p.m.

Semifinals — Saturday, March 4 (XULA's Convocation Center)
Talladega-Tougaloo winner vs. Philander Smith-SUNO winner, 2 p.m.
XULA-Edward Waters winner vs. #1 Dillard (22-7), 7 p.m.

Championship — Sunday, March 5 (XULA's Convocation Center)
Semifinal winners, 4:15 p.m.

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

FAMU rallies to beat Mercer in baseball

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Florida A&M (6-2) rallied from an early four-run deficit and handed Mercer (7-1) its first loss of the season, 10-7, at Moore-Kittles Field Tuesday afternoon.

Aubrey McCarty’s grand slam highlighted a six-run sixth inning for the Rattlers, who won their fourth consecutive game.

FAMU recorded 11 hits for its sixth double-digit hitting performance of the season.

Second baseman Kaycee Reese went 3-for-3 for the winners, who scored 10 runs over their final three at-bats.

First baseman Austin Michaud added three hits and three RBIs for FAMU.

FAMU third baseman Ben Ellzey extended his hitting and on-base streaks to 29 and 35 games, respectively, with a 2-for-4 performance.

CONTINUE READING

Future NFL Draft prospect Devante Kincade, Grambling State will carry FCS torch

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- 2018 NFL Draft prospect Devante Kincade will try to emulate his 2016 success. If he continues his play, he”ll likely get a decent selection in the draft.

When players transfers from FBS to FCS competition, they typically become a lower priority to the NFL. However, many recent drafts have proven FCS quarterbacks can be drafted early. Obviously, Carson Wentz just went second overall in last year’s draft.



Joe Flacco, Steve McNair, Doug Williams and Phil Simms are a few of the other notable selections. The next quarterback in that prestigious line could be Grambling State’s Devante Kincade. The Dallas Skyline product still has his senior season to prove he’s worth such an investment, but his efforts in 2016 were admirable.

Kincade transferred from Ole Miss after the 2015 season. He saw snaps in each of his first two seasons, but he would’ve sat behind Chad Kelly in 2016. And he would have to battle five-star quarterback Shea Patterson in his final season just to start one year. He made the right decision to leave and it paid off well.

CONTINUE READING

Gold Nuggets win at Tougaloo to close regular season

TOUGALOO, Mississippi — Freshman point guard Maya Trench scored 16 points Saturday, seven during a decisive third-quarter run, to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 62-50 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against Tougaloo.

The Gold Nuggets (17-12, 6-6) snapped a two-game losing streak in their regular-season finale. They'll play Friday in the opening round of the GCAC Tournament at SUNO — time and opponent are still to be determined. Game times at The Castle will be noon, 2 and 5 p.m.

After Tougaloo's Shenequa Foster made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the score at 25 at 8:11 of the third quarter, XULA pulled away for good with a 16-3 run. Trench and Mikayla Bates made 3-pointers during the run, and Trench's deuce at 2:26 gave the Gold Nuggets a 41-28 advantage.

For the third time this season, XULA outscored its opponent in every quarter. The Gold Nuggets led 23-20 at halftime.

Bianca Brown and Trench were the only Gold Nuggets with more than six points. Brown had nine points, eight rebounds and a career-best three blocked shots.

Ahsia Clayton made 4-of-7 3-pointers and scored 17 points for Tougaloo (10-14, 5-6), which never led.

XULA outshot the Lady Bulldogs 37.9 to 33.3 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 35-23.

XULA beat Tougaloo for the 14th consecutive time and the 27th time in their last 28 meetings. Tougaloo will close its regular season at home Monday against Dillard.

BOX SCORE

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

Gold Rush fall at Tougaloo; GCAC tourney starts Friday

TOUGALOO, Mississippi — Andravious Smith had 23 points, 17 rebounds and three steals Saturday to lead Tougaloo in a 73-57 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory against Xavier University of Louisiana.

Denarius Odell also scored 23 for the Bulldogs (10-14, 5-6), who beat the Gold Rush (10-19, 6-6) for the first time in their last 13 meetings.

Smith, a 6-foot-5 guard/forward, produced his fourth consecutive double-double against XULA and the fifth of his career. It was the third consecutive time he reached 20 points and 10 rebounds against the Gold Rush. His rebound total is the most by a XULA individual opponent since Tougaloo's Patrick Bass grabbed 18 on Jan. 15, 2004.

Seth Jackson scored 12 points for XULA. Donovan Armstrong and Jalen David scored 11 apiece, and Leland Alexander scored 10. Mike Williams grabbed seven rebounds and had three steals to match his career highs, and Alexander grabbed six rebounds.

Tougaloo never trailed and led 40-30 at halftime. The Bulldogs outshot the Gold Rush 46.9 to 35.1 percent from the floor.

Both teams will play Friday in the opening round of the GCAC Tournament at Dillard's Dent Hall. Pairings have not been determined. Tougaloo will close its conference schedule Monday at home against GCAC regular-season champion Dillard, which has a first-round tournament bye. Friday's games are scheduled for noon, 2 and 5 p.m.

BOX SCORE

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