Nuggets knock out Dillard to reach another GCAC final

NEW ORLEANS -- Through two rounds of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament, Xavier University of Louisiana's second-half field-goal shooting has been a downer -- just 24 percent -- but the Gold Nuggets' timing has been perfect.

For the second straight day, the Gold Nuggets used a late surge to survive and advance. They outscored Dillard 13-4 in the final 4 1/2 minutes to grab a 61-53 victory at XULA's Convocation Center and earn a spot in the championship round for the seventh time in eight years.

Sunday's scenario will be the same as last season. Third-seeded XULA (19-12) will play top-seeded Talladega (21-8) for the title at 2 p.m. at XULA.

XULA senior reserve center Bianca Brown scored a career-high 15 points Saturday and grabbed 11 rebounds to match her career high. She and Kelsee Singleton, another senior center, had four points and an assist apiece during the closing rally. Adriiana Jackson's basket at 5:36 gave Dillard (19-9) its final lead, 49-48. XULA scored the next six points, with Brown passing to Singleton for a basket that put XULA ahead to stay, 50-49, with 4:27 remaining.

The Gold Nuggets clinched by making 5-of-6 free throws -- three by Mikayla Bates, two by Maya Trench -- in the final 23 seconds.

In the first round Friday, XULA outscored Philander Smith 15-4 in the final 4:05 to erase a 61-58 deficit.

"We've had too many games this year where we had chances to close the door and did not," XULA coach Bo Browder said. "It's been great to see our team step up and respond to that sense of urgency two straight days in the postseason."

Bates had 11 points and seven rebounds, and teammate Jordan Coleman scored a career-best nine points and had four assists. Singleton had eight points and blocked four shots, all in the first half, to increase her season total to 44. Jayla Nichols didn't score but grabbed eight rebounds to help the Gold Nuggets win the boards 53-39. Essence Wells was limited to 18 minutes because of foul trouble but still finished with a career-best four steals and a career-high-tying four assists.

Shaelynn Moore led Dillard with 17 points, two assists, two blocks and two steals. She made all four of the Lady Bleu Devils' 3-pointers. Jackson and Alexia McDonald scored 10 apiece. The Nuggets limited Alyssa Washington, first-team All-GCAC this season, to four points -- her second-lowest total this season -- on 2-of-11 from the floor.

XULA led the majority of the game, outscoring Dillard 17-5 in the first 12 minutes and leading 28-19 at halftime. Then the Lady Bleu Devils opened the third quarter with a 15-3 run to take their largest lead, 34-31.

For the game, Dillard shot 33.3 percent from the floor, and XULA shot 32.9 percent. Both teams committed 17 turnovers.

XULA denied Dillard its first 20-win season since 2003-04. Dillard also was seeking two wins in the same season against XULA for the first time since 1984-85.

In the first semifinal, Talladega outscored fifth-seeded Tougaloo 13-2 over 7 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter and held on for a 69-64 victory. Tajanee Wells, the GCAC Player of the Year, had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Tornadoes.

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Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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TSU Tigers Earn Hard Fought Win Over Arkansas Pine Bluff

MEMPHIS, Tennessee -- The Tennessee State men’s tennis team defeated Arkansas Pine Bluff 5-2 for their 4th win of the season.

TSU won two out of three doubles matches, before taking four out of six singles matches in straight sets for the win.

“The guys played a rough match,” Head Coach Monroe Walker III said. “We got the win which is most important. The conditions were not ideal but we played tough. It was a good match and Pine Bluff has gotten better since last year. We need to keep improving. Shashank played great today and was very impressive. We cannot play loose. We have to have a dominating mentality. I am looking forward to our matches tomorrow.

Matt Brown and Grant Maddox edged out a tough doubles win at the No. 1 slot by a 7-6 score. Shashank Nautiyal and Larry Sloan combination played together for the first time this season winning the No. 3 doubles match with a convincing 6-1 win.

After the Tigers dropped the first two matches in singles, TSU bounced back to win the next four singles matches to earn a hard fought win. Tom Parant won a three set thriller playing at No. 3 by scores of 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. Nautiyal cruised to his win at No.4 6-2, 6-1. Kyle Burton won his team leading 9th victory of the season at No. 5 with 7-5 6-1 win. Maddox closed the match at No. 6 with a dominating 6-0, 6-2 win.

The Tigers take on Rhodes and LeMoyne Owen today to close out the matches in Memphis.

Singles competition

1. GREIG, Jualon (APB) def. BROWN, Matthew (TSUM) 6-2, 6-3
2. RAHMAN, Sajid (APB) def. RICHARDSON, Kato (TSUM) 6-2, 6-2
3. PARANT, Tom (TSUM) def. LEWIS, Simon (APB) 6-3, 5-7, 7-5
4. NAUTIYAL, Shashank (TSUM) def. VANGALA, Aravind (APB) 6-2, 6-1
5. BURTON, Kyle (TSUM) def. LEDBETTER, Le'darrie (APB) 7-5, 6
-1
6. MADDOX, Grant (TSUM) def. LEDWABA, Khusto (APB) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles competition

1. MADDOX, Grant/BROWN, Matthew (TSUM) def. RAHMAN, Sajid/LEWIS, Simon (APB) 7-6
2. GREIG, Jualon/LEDBETTER, Le'darrie (APB) def. BURTON, Kyle/PARANT, Tom (TSUM) 7-5
3. SLOAN, Larry/NAUTIYAL, Shashank (TSUM) def. LEDWABA, Khusto/VANGALA, Aravind (APB) 6-1

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

Texas Southern Tigers race past Southern 82-69, enter SWAC tourney as No. 1 seed.

HOUSTON, Texas – Four Texas Southern players scored in double figures Saturday as the Tigers concluded the regular season with an 82-69 win at home over Southern.

Jalan McCloud scored a game-high 23 points and Demontrae Jefferson added 22 and five assists as the Tigers (20-11) closed out Southwestern Athletic Conference play with a conference-best 16-2 league record.

Kevin Scott turned in 12 points and four assists, while Zach Lofton chipped in 10 points for the Tigers. Teammate Marvin Jones scored seven points and tallied game-highs of 10 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Southern's Chris Thomas led five Jaguars in double-figures, scoring 13 points. The Jaguars (14-7) fell to 10-8 in SWAC play.

Southern couldn't slow down TSU's offense, which shot 56 percent (29 of 52) from the floor and knocked down 55 percent (11 out of 20) of its 3-point tries.

The Tigers asserted their collective will early in the second half after finishing the first 20 minutes down 39-37. TSU opened with 13 of the second half's first 17 points and led 50-43 with 14 minutes left in regulation. The Tigers would also outscore Southern 21-11 over the last eight minutes.

The win improved TSU's record to 9-0 in home games this season. The Tigers will have one more game on campus, when they open the Toyota SWAC Basketball Tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 8 seed Alabama State at the Health and Physical Education Arena.

Tipoff for Tuesday's playoff game is tentatively scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. It will start a half-hour after the conclusion of the women's basketball team's quarterfinal matchup against Prairie View A&M.

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TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

Grambling women win, clinch share of SWAC title

GRAMBLING, Louisiana — The Grambling State women’s basketball team clinched a share of the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season championship with an 87-57 win over Alabama A&M here on Saturday.

Grambling ends the regular season at 16-13 overall and 14-4 in the SWAC. With the win, Grambling also clinched the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament.

Alabama A&M completed a winless SWAC season at 0-18 and 2-25 overall.

Grambling led 21-16 after the first quarter before taking command on the game in the second quarter. The Tigers outscored Alabama A&M, 26-7 in the second quarter for a 47-23 halftime lead. Grambling scored the first 13 points of the second quarter and had a 20-5 run to open the period.

Grambling built its lead up to 34 points.

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Davis Homerun Leads FAMU Past ETSU 7-3 Friday Night

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- In baseball, sometimes it’s the little things that make a big difference. That was the case Friday afternoon at Moore-Kittles Field as Florida A&M (8-2) beat East Tennessee State (6-3) by a score of 7-3, taking the first game of the three-game series.

In what looked like a hopeless scoring opportunity in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs and nobody on base, Kaycee Reese worked a walk in a tremendous 10-pitch at bat. John Capra then hit a ground ball to the shortstop on what appeared to be an inning-ending play, but Reese hustled his way to second base, beating the shortstop to the bag, extending the inning. The next hitter, Brian Davis, put an exclamation point on the inning, launching a three-run homerun over the right field fence, surging the Rattlers ahead of the Buccaneers by a score of 6-3.

That would be all the runs FAMU would need as relievers Jamie Grant (3-0) and Hunter Fillingim were outstanding once again.

Grant entered the game with runners on first and second and executed a perfect pitch in the bottom of the zone to induce an inning-ending double play. Grant threw 3.1 scoreless innings before handing it off to Hunter Fillingim who struck out the only hitter he faced to record his third save of the season.

Florida A&M starter, JoJo Durden (5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 4 K) gave the Rattlers another strong outing as he was unfazed by a few defensive miscues. Although Durden did not factor into the decision, his ability to limit the damage and work around three FAMU errors paved the way for the Rattlers sixth consecutive win.

ETSU took an early lead in the top of the second inning. With two outs, the Buccaneers recorded three consecutive singles to score two unearned runs.

Florida A&M tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Kaycee Reese got things started with a leadoff walk. With one out, Brian Davis roped a double down the right field line, placing runners on second and third with one out. Ben Ellzey then walked for the eighth time this season, loading the bases for Aubrey McCarty. ETSU starting pitcher, Ryan Simpler, fielded a ground ball off the bat of McCarty and made an errant throw into center field, bringing in two runs for FAMU.

The Buccaneers capitalized on two Florida A&M errors in the top of the fourth inning to regain the lead at 3-2, but the Rattlers answered back in the bottom of the fourth, scoring an unearned run of their own to tie the game at three apiece.

After Davis’ big three-run homerun in the sixth, FAMU extended the lead to four in the seventh courtesy of a one out RBI double down the right field line by Garrett Wilkinson, scoring Dallas Oliver all the way from first for a final score of 7-3.

Brian Davis led the Rattlers offensively, finishing 2-for-3 with his second homerun of the season, a double, three RBI, two runs scored, and two walks. Garrett Wilkinson also had a good day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored, an RBI, and a walk.

Ryan Simpler (2-1) earned the loss for the Buccaneers after allowing five runs (three earned), on two hits, and five walks in 5.2 innings pitched.

Florida A&M and East Tennessee State will play the second game of their three-game series tomorrow at 1:00 PM at Moore-Kittles Field, where the Rattlers will look to win their seventh contest in a row.

As always, fans can follow Rattler Baseball on Twitter @BaseballFAMU and on Facebook.

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XULA David earns second-team all-conference honor

NEW ORLEANS — Jalen David, the only Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball player with a double-figure scoring average at the close of the regular season, is the lone Gold Rush honoree on the 2016-17 All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference team.

The GCAC announced awards Thursday night at a banquet for all teams. The GCAC Tournament for men and women will begin Friday.

Although he started just 10-of-29 games and ranked fourth in minutes played per game, David averaged a XULA-leading 11.8 points per game. He also led the Gold Rush with 37 steals, 19 double-figure scoring games and in field goals and free throws made and attempted.

"This is a great honor," said David, a 6-foot-4 junior guard/forward from Mount Vernon, N.Y., a graduate of Mount Vernon High School and a transfer from Moberly Area (Mo.) Community College. "I want to thank the GCAC for this award. I'm very appreciative. But I especially want to thank my teammates and coaches for making this possible."

David averaged 15.3 points in the first seven games, then averaged 8.6 in the next 12 games, then closed the regular season by averaging 13.3 points and making 39.4 percent of his 3-pointers in the final 10 games.

"It's been an up-and-down year," David said. "But I think I've made progress as a person and an athlete. I know we have more work to do at the conference tournament."

The Gold Rush (10-19) are seeded fourth in the tournament and will play fifth-seeded Edward Waters (12-17) at noon Friday at Dillard's Dent Hall.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Trench becomes 1st freshman on GCAC All-Defensive team

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Maya Trench was named Thursday to the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference All-Defensive women's basketball team.

Trench, a 5-foot-2 point guard from Edgard, La., and a graduate of West St. John High School, is the first freshman, female or male, to be named to a GCAC All-Defensive team. The conference picked its first All-Defensive teams in 2015-16.

Trench, who leads the Gold Nuggets with 69 steals and 84 defensive rebounds in 29 games, said she has become a much better defensive player since her arrival at XULA. "Thanks to coach Bo (Browder)," Trench said. "He's made me work hard. He's made sure I'm competing and that nobody gets past me."

Trench was the Gold Nuggets' only honoree at a banquet held the day before the GCAC Tournament's opening round. The XULA women had no one on the all-conference team for the first time ever. The GCAC's first season was 1981-82.

The Gold Nuggets (17-12) are seeded third in the tournament and will play sixth-seeded Philander Smith (13-15) at 2 p.m. Friday at SUNO's The Castle.

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