2017 Bayou Classic Battle of the Bands -- Southern vs. Grambling

2017 Celebration Bowl tickets on sale now

ATLANTA, Georgia – With the college football postseason fast approaching, tickets are now on sale for the third annual Celebration Bowl. As the Bowl season’s opening game, the Celebration Bowl is a championship-style game between the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) champions. The game will be broadcast live on ABC at noon ET on Saturday, Dec. 16, from the brand-new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. SportsCenter on the Road will once again air live from the Stadium beginning at 10 a.m.

Establishing itself as a premier bowl game, the Celebration Bowl celebrates the heritage, legacy, pageantry, and tradition of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and is owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN. ESPN works with 100 Black Men of Atlanta to organize the game’s ancillary events which include a youth symposium, robotics showcase, fan experience and more. Each conference has claimed a victory in the event’s first two years, with MEAC Champion North Carolina A&T defeating Alcorn State 2015 and SWAC Champion Grambling State beating North Carolina Central in 2016. Two bowl champions were selected in the 2017 NFL Draft: 2015 Offensive MVP Tarik Cohen (Chicago Bears) and 2016 First Team All-SWAC member Chad Williams (Arizona Cardinals).



Fans can purchase tickets to the Celebration Bowl online at thecelebrationbowl.com or ticketmaster.com, or by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000. Prices range from $50 to $175. A full list of events surrounding the game are available on the event’s website.

For more information, visit www.TheCelebrationBowl.com, and follow the event on Twitter and Facebook.

About ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a large portfolio of 31 collegiate sporting events worldwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games; FCS opening-weekend game; 14 college bowl games, 11 college basketball events and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 300-plus hours of programming, reaches almost 64 million viewers and attracts over 700,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in Albuquerque, Birmingham, Boca Raton, Boise, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Montgomery and St. Petersburg, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.



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Prairie View A&M Panthers Beat Georgia State, Win MGM Main Events Tournament Middleweight Bracket

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Prairie View A&M men's basketball won the 'Battle Of The Panthers', defeating Georgia State 71-56 in the Middleweight Bracket final of the MGM Resorts Main Events Tournament at T-Mobile Arena.

Gary Blackston posted his first double-double with game highs of 21

points and 10 rebounds along with four assists. Zachary Hamilton scored 17 points and added three assists, and Dennis Jones continued his solid play off the bench with 13 points.

Prairie View A&M shot 47 percent from the field (20-43), including a blistering 50 percent from three-point range (11-22) and 91 percent from the free throw line (20-22).

"I'm really proud of our young men," PVAMU head coach Byron Smith. "I'm happy for our administration who work so hard to give us everything we need to be successful. Georgia State has established itself as one of the top mid-major programs in the country. That is our goal here at Prairie View A&M, and today's win has us headed in that direction."

There were six lead changes in the first five+ minutes of the game before Prairie View A&M (2-3) took the lead for good on a three pointer by Jones at 13-11 with just under 14 minutes to play in the first half. After Georgia State (3-2) of the Sun Belt Conference tied the score for the final time at 13-13, a three-pointer by Blackston gave PVAMU a 16-13 lead with 12:30 to play in the first half.

The three-pointer sparked a 21-5 run over the next seven minutes, as Blackston's third three of the half provided a bookend to the run and gave Prairie View A&M a 34-18 lead with 5:29 to play in the first half.

Leading 40-27 at intermission, the lead dwindled to four points as Prairie View A&M did not make a field goal for nearly the first 10 minutes of the second half. Shay'rone Jett made a pair of layups sandwiched around a GSU basket, with the second Jett layup at the 9:15 mark sparking a 10-2 run. A pair of free throws by Jones gave PVAMU a 14-point lead at 57-43 with 6:19 to play. PVAMU never lead by less than nine points the remainder of the game.

J.D. Wallace added eight points, five rebounds, and one blocked shot. Jett added seven points, four rebounds and two blocks off the bench as PVAMU held a 14-5 advantage in second-chance points and a 23-8 advantage in bench scoring.

The Panthers limited Georgia State to 37 percent field goal shooting, including only of four of 20 from three-point range.

"We are and always will be a defense-first program," Smith said as his purple and gold-clad Panthers outrebounded Georgia State 37-25. "We really guarded well today because at times we had trouble scoring because Georgia State is very similar to us in terms of style of play."

Prairie View A&M returns to action Friday at UC-Santa Barbara. The game, scheduled for tipoff at 9 p.m. CT, can be viewed via pvpanthers.com.

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Prairie View A&M Football To End Regular Season Against Rival Texas Southern in Labor Day Classic on Saturday

HOUSTON, Texas -- Prairie View A&M football ends the 2017 season in a Saturday night showdown against Texas Southern in the 33rd Labor Day Classic at 6 p.m. at BBVA Compass Stadium.

The PVAMU Sports Network radio broadcast begins at 5:30 p.m. online at pvpanthers.com/sportsnetwork with interviews with PVAMU QB Neiko Hollins and HC Willie Simmons ahead of kickoff. The game will also be televised on ATT SportsNet.

A win by the Panthers (5-5 overall, 3-3 in SWAC) would give the football program its third straight winning season, a feat only accomplished once since 1968 (four straight winning seasons from 2007-10). It would also give PVAMU a winning record in SWAC play, which would be the ninth non-losing season in conference play in the last 11 seasons.



"You seem a team that's playing its best football at this time of year," said Simmons of Texas Southern, which has won two of its last three games following an 0-7 start. "They are playing with confidence. They went on the road and won a tough road game at UAPB (24-10 last week). I expect a hard fought football game. A Mike Haywood coached football team is one that is going to be well coached, is going to be disciplined and going to play hard. They are going to make us execute."

Prairie View A&M has won two straight and three of its last four contests. Since the October 21 bye week, the Panthers have posted home wins over Bacone (34-17) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (35-12), with the victories sandwiched around the lone loss in that stretch at Southern (37-31). PVAMU is coming off a 42-28 road win last Thursday night at Incarnate Word.

In five starts under Hollins, the offense has averaged 32.6 points and 461 yards per game, with four 400+ yard games, which includes 515 total yards at Incarnate Word and 610 yards against UAPB in the last two weeks. Hollins earned SWAC Player and Newcomer of the Week honors after passing for 348 yards and a career-high tying four touchdowns. WRs Khadarel Hodge, who leads the SWAC with 12 touchdowns, and Darius Floyd, who is second in the nation in kickoff returns, each caught a pair of touchdown passes last week. Floyd had career-best 268 all-purpose yards to earn his second SWAC Specialist of the Week honor.



In those last four games, the defense has forced seven turnovers, five of them interceptions. DB Ju'Anthony Parker, who is tied for the SWAC lead in both interceptions (four) and interception returns for touchdowns (two), has two of the five picks for the defense. LB Jalyn Williams continues to rank second in the nation in tackles for loss with 19.5 and has at least one TFL in nine straight games.

The Tigers have posted road wins at Miss. Valley St. (38-21) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (24-10), sandwiched around a home loss to Southern (33-7). TSU has turned a heavy focus on running the football, rushing the football on more than 87 percent of its plays (152 of 173) in the last three weeks.



"You can throw records, you can throw everything else out the window when it comes to rival games," Simmons said. "We saw that last week with Alcorn and Jackson State (A 7-3 JSU win over SWAC East Champion Alcorn)…Whenever there's a rivalry, given our proximity being 45 minutes from each other and being the two premier HBCUs in the state of Texas, we understand how huge this game is. There's a lot riding on it for both teams, for both coaching staffs, for both administrations, the student body, the alumni bases. For 365 days, there are bragging rights."

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Texas Southern Lady Tigers Downs New Mexico State Aggies

EL PASO, Texas – The New Mexico State women's basketball team traveled to take on Texas Southern in the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic at the Don Haskins Center on Friday afternoon. The Aggies fell to the Lady Tigers 66-50 to open the tournament.

NM State (2-3) began the contest with an 8-0 run in the first quarter. The Aggies lead dwindled late when TSU (1-3) scored eight–straight to tie the game at 14-14. Monique Mills hit a three-pointer with less than a minute remaining in the opening period, putting NM State ahead 17-14 at the break.

New Mexico State fell behind early as the Lady Tigers went on a five-point run to start the second quarter. Mills ended the Texas Southern rally by nailing a three-pointer and converting her free-throw on the play. The back-and-forth action continued but NM State maintained a single-point advantage as the team went to the locker room leading 25-24.

The Aggies started the second half on a seven-point run with Gia Pack hitting back-to-back jumpers and Brooke Salas nailing a shot from behind the arc. The Lady Tigers did not go away quietly as the team closed the gap back to a pair of points with 4:58 left in the period. NM State surged back with a Salas scoring 10-straight points for the Aggies and at the end of the third quarter, the New Mexico State squad held the 46-34 edge.

In the fourth quarter, NM State collapsed as TSU posted a 13-2 run to bring the Aggies advantage to a single point. A three-pointer by the Lady Tigers put New Mexico State behind 50-48 late in the game but a steal and layup by Salas tied the contest with 3:18 remaining. The layup proved to be the final basket the Aggies converted and Texas Southern ended the game on a 16-0 run, handing NM State the 66-50 loss.

New Mexico State was led on offensively by Salas, who posted 23 points for the Aggies. Pack recorded her second double-double of the season when she tallied 10 rebounds and 10 points. Mills was the third player from NM State to post double-figures in points with 11 total points in the game.

The Aggies continue play at the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic by facing Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 12 p.m. (MT).

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Sharpshooting UMES Hawks Fly By Jackson State Tigers in Emerald Coast Classic

NICEVILLE, Florida -- Behind hot shooting and an early second half surge, Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball established control, holding off a late Jackson State run to win 66-63 on Friday at The Arena at Northwest Florida State College.

The Hawks (2-3) now move onto the fifth-place game in the Emerald Coast Classic tomorrow, where they will meet Tennessee Tech. The Golden Eagles knocked off Omaha 86-85 earlier in the day. The teams will tip at 1:30 p.m. EST.

“I was very proud of the fight our guys gave,” said Hawks head coach Bobby Collins after the win. “That’s a very talented basketball team we played, but today the ball just fell our way, and I thought we were very deserving of that.”

Down 45-43 with 15:15 to play, The Shore evened things up behind an Ahmad Frost (Cincinnati, Ohio) layup. Frost was fouled on the play and missed the free throw but tipped out his own rebound to teammate Logan McIntosh (Atlanta, Georgia), who drove in and drew his own foul before hitting a pair of shots to put his team up 47-45 at the 14:47 mark.

After a LeAndre Thomas (St. Petersburg, Florida) block on the defensive end, Cameron Bacote (Norfolk, Virginia) pushed it in transition and found an open Tyler Jones (Atlantic City, New Jersey) for a layup. Bacote then ripped down a board at the other end and again found Jones, who drained a three from straightaway to make it 52-45 with 13:41 to play, capping a 9-0 run over just over a minute.

The Hawks kept the Tigers (1-4) at an arm’s length for most of the rest of the second half. Colen Gaynor’s (Berlin, Maryland) three at the 8:48 mark made it 57-49 and capped a spectacular day for Gaynor. The freshman led the Hawks with a career-high 15 points on a perfect 5-for-5 from long range.

“I was proud to see Colen shoot the ball as well as he shot the ball,” said Collins of his local standout’s career game. “He was really in the dumps earlier, I’ve been riding him pretty hard, but he really stepped up and did some things today.”

Eastern Shore led by as many as nine with five minutes to go, but Jackson State hung around thanks to several missed Hawk free throws down the stretch. Chace Franklin’s layup with 37 seconds to go got the Tigers within one possession at 64-61, and a botched inbound play gave possession right back to JSU. Franklin immediately took a deep three from the wing that hit nothing but air. Jeremiah Jefferson got the offensive rebound and scrambled for the left corner, but his three clanged off the bottom of the iron and into Jones’ hands. Jones hit 1-of-2 ensuing free throws to make it a two-possession game and then hit another after a JSU miss with two seconds left. Jackson State hit a shot at the buzzer to give the game its final margin.

Jones recorded his first career double-double on the afternoon, scoring 13 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. McIntosh played 37 minutes in his return to the lineup after a back injury, contributing 10 points, three boards, three assists, and two steals, in addition to a calming hand in the backcourt.

“It was great having Logan McIntosh back to give us some stability,” said Collins. “He broke the defense down and was finding the right guys all day. He does a lot for us.”

Eastern Shore fell behind by as many as nine in the first half, trailing 29-20 with 5:44 to play. A Jones three within that minute started the comeback, then Gaynor hit back-to-back treys from the left corner to make it 31-29. JSU responded with a Maurice Rivers three-point play, but Gaynor’s hot hand again connected to make it 34-32 with 3:23 before the break. Down 37-32 inside of two minutes to go, Bacote spotted up from deep on the right wing for three, and McIntosh went up for a rebound and bobbed through the defense for a coast-to-coast layup, tying things at 37-37 and giving the Hawks all the momentum going into the locker room.

Jefferson led the Tigers with 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting, while Franklin added 18 of his own.

The Hawks lit up the scoreboard all afternoon, shooting 50 percent (19-for-38) from the floor and hitting 11-of-18 from downtown, including 9-of-12 threes in the first half.

Eastern Shore wraps up play in the Emerald Coast Classic on Saturday afternoon against Tennessee Tech. Tip from The Arena at Northwest Florida State College is set for 1:30 p.m. EST. Saturday’s game will be broadcast locally on flagship radio station Fox Sports 960 AM WTGM and online at EasternShoreHawks.com. Pregame coverage starts at 1:15 p.m. with Will DeBoer on the call for The Shore Sports Network.

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Clemson beats Texas Southern 84-77

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CLEMSON, South Carolina — Elijah Thomas reached career-highs with 26 points and 16 rebounds to lead Clemson to an 84-77 victory over Texas Southern on Friday.  Thomas, who recorded his second double-double of the year, made 10 of 11 field goals, the most of the junior center's career.
Senior Clemson guard Gabe DeVoe scored 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting and made all five of his 3-pointers, all career-highs.

"Both of those guys had subpar games (last game) against Temple and felt awful about it," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "Just didn't play very well. Those guys in a lot of ways won the game for us today."

Donte Grantham and Shelton Mitchell added 10 points each for the home team.  The ACC Tigers enjoyed a nice afternoon of shooting as they hit a season-high 61 percent from the field and connected on seven 3-pointers.

"This was a good win for our team. Texas Southern is talented," Brownell said. "They're hard to guard. We knew that coming in. We held them to 40 percent shooting. They play four guards and a 7-footer. They can all make 3s and they can drive right by you."

Demontrae Jefferson led Texas Southern with 22 points on 7-of-18 field goals. Kevin Scott added 14 points while Derrick Bruce chipped in with 12 points.

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