University of the District of Columbia Wins Historic Men’s Lacrosse Game vs. HBCU Division I Rival Hampton

HAMPTON, Virginia -- In the historic first ever meeting between the nation's only NCAA Division I HBCU Men's Lacrosse program – Hampton University, and the nation's first and only NCAA Division II HBCU Men's Lacrosse program – University of the District of Columbia, the visiting Firebirds came out on top by a final score of 19-15 on Saturday afternoon at Armstrong Stadium.

The Firebirds (1-1), a fourth-year program under first-year head coach Rodger Colbert, were led offensively by five multiple-goal scorers and aided tremendously by a combined 24-for-37 on faceoffs by junior midfielder Teilen Celentano (16-of-23) and freshman midfielder Jose Leon (8-of-14). Junior midfielder LaRon Hinton tied for the game-high with five goals and added one assist while sophomore midfielder Tyler Mace was UDC's point-leader with four goals and three assists. UDC, for the 2nd straight game, set a program record for goals scored in a game with 19.

Defensively, sophomore transfer goalkeeper Nikolas Lund-Murray improved to 1-1 on the season by stopping nine of 24 shots faced in a complete game effort. The Firebirds also combined for 10 caused turnovers, including two apiece by Hinton, Mace and freshman midfielder Connor Mosby.

Hampton, a 2nd year program which has opened both its seasons with losses to Division II East Coast Conference school Roberts Wesleyan, fell to 0-2 this season with today's loss. The Pirates were led offensively by attack John Tarver's game-high eight points on five goals and three assists, and fellow attack Kendall Sapp's four goals and one assist. Goalkeeper Kevin Mondy, Jr. stopped 15 of 34 shots faced in the loss.

UDC's freshman attack Alan Singleton scored the game's first goal a little over two minutes into the action on a man-up opportunity off of an assist by Hinton. Hampton responded with a goal 20 seconds later by Sapp, but Hinton began and ended a 3-0 burst by the Firebirds with a man-down goal at 13:06 and an unassisted goal at 8:43 to put UDC in front, 4-1 still in the 1st quarter.

Hampton's Lemuel Randolph then kicked off a 5-0 Pirate surge with an unassisted goal at the 8:43 mark, and with Sapp's 3rd goal of the day at 4:29, the Pirates jumped ahead, 6-4. The Firebirds answered though with three straight unassisted goals to end the quarter by Mace, Hinton and Singleton, and they led 7-6 at the end of the first period.

Sophomore transfer attack Zach Hart (four goals, two assists) scored the first of his multiple goals just over five minutes into the 2nd quarter to push the UDC lead to 8-6 with a 4-0 run that spanned the 1st and 2nd quarters. But back came Hampton with four straight goals – the final two of which were man-down goals that came within 13 seconds of each other – and the Pirates were back on top, 10-8. Junior midfielder Syrrus Nash scored the first of his three goals on the day to stop the bleeding, but UDC still headed to halftime trailing 10-9.

Hart quickly opened the scoring in the 2nd half with a man-up goal just over 20 seconds into the 3rd quarter off of an assist by Singleton and evened the score at 10. Then, following a Hampton man-up goal by Darrel Kidd, Hinton and Mace each tallied unassisted goals at 13:34 and 11:21, respectively, to give UDC back the lead, 12-11.

Hampton would force two more ties at 12 and 13,but Nash's 2nd goal of the day at the 3:50 mark in the 3rd quarter would put the Firebirds ahead to stay. UDC closed out the 3rd period on a 4-0 run and took a 17-13 lead heading into the final quarter.

The two HBCU rivals traded goals twice with Hampton never coming any closer than three goals in the final quarter. Nash's 3rd and final goal gave UDC a 19-15 lead at the 5:33 mark, and that remained the score at the final buzzer.

UDC out-shot Hampton 58-34, won the ground ball battle, 21-11, and converted 4-of-10 man-up opportunities compared the Pirates' 3-of-5.

Next up, the Firebirds visit Georgian Court on Wednesday, March 1st at 3:30 p.m.

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UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPORTS INFORMATION

TSU Falls to SEMO, 78-75, in Overtime in OVC Tournament First Round

NASHVILLE, Tennessee --  The eighth-seeded Tennessee State men’s basketball team suffered a 78-75 overtime loss to fifth-seeded Southeast Missouri in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament First Round at Municipal Auditorium on Wednesday night. Wayne Martin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led four Tigers in double figures with 19 points and eight rebounds.

TSU (17-13) held a 34-28 halftime edge over Southeast Missouri (15-17) before the Redhawks outscored the Tigers by a 36-30 margin in the second half. In the five-minute overtime period, Ken’Darrius Hamilton (Montgomery, Ala.) drilled a three pointer with 7.2 seconds left to level the scoring, but SEMO’s Tahj Eddy answered with the game-winning three with 2.2 seconds to go to pull out the victory.

For TSU, Armani Chaney (Chicago, Ill.) tallied 14 points with Tahjere McCall (Philadelphia, Pa.) adding 12 and Hamilton scoring 10. The Tigers held a 49-30 rebounding edge and limited the Redhawks to 35.0 percent shooting.

Southeast Missouri jumped out to a 16-8 lead eight minutes into the contest before pair of Chaney three-pointers got the Tigers back in the game.

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PHOTO GALLERY - By Sam Jordan

PHOTO GALLERY - By Katherine Seghers

Another Chaney three with 7:38 left in the opening half put the Tigers up 24-21 as part of a 10-0 run over a three-minute span. McCall’s layup with 2:10 remaining before halftime gave TSU its largest lead of the opening half of eight points at 34-26.

TSU, which shot 52.0 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, carried a 34-28 lead into halftime.

Out of the break, Tennessee State stretched its lead to 14 at 44-30 thanks to a 10-2 run to open the half.

The Tigers continued to lead by double figures until SEMO’s Trey Kellum hit a layup to trim the TSU advantage down to 48-39 with 11 minutes to play. The Redhawks continued to press and cut the deficit to just two at 51-49 with 7:18 left.

With four minutes to play, TSU led 58-54 and the game remained close throughout the rest of regulation.

TSU found itself down by two with 27.8 seconds left when Chaney tied things up at 64-64 with two made free throws. The Tigers came up with a stop on the defensive end on SEMO’s final offensive possession to force overtime.

TSU trailed by five points in overtime when Delano Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) hit a free throw and Darreon Reddick (Belleville, Ill.) followed with a layup to put the Tigers down just two at 72-70 with 27.5 seconds to go.

After SEMO made one free throw on the other end, Reddick hit two from the line, again cutting TSU’s deficit down to one point at 73-72. Two more SEMO free throws put the Tigers down three until Hamilton tied the game at 75-75 and Eddy answered with the winner.

SEMO’s Denzel Mahoney led all scorers with 34 points.

GAME NOTES: TSU is 12-25 all time in the OVC Tournament… TSU was the eighth seed in the OVC Tournament for the fifth time… The Tigers are now 25-20 in the all-time series versus Southeast Missouri.

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

HU Spring Football Practice Begins March 13

HAMPTON, Virginia -- The Hampton University football team will start its Spring Practice schedule on Monday, March 13 and will run for 15 dates throughout early April.

Practices will be held at Armstrong Stadium starting on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday schedule. Saturday practices will be at noon, while the rest of the practice times will be from 6:30 – 8 a.m.

The spring season will conclude on April 7 with the Spring Game at Armstrong Stadium at 3 pm.

Hampton will hit the practice field after finishing tied for third in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with a 5-3 mark and a 5-6 overall record.

For more information on Hampton University football, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5757 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

HAMPTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

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.”

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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 
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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 
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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.

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