Sports

Teams continue in SWAC play

Although their record in conference play before the game was only 1-6, the Lady Lions of the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff weren’t ready to hand over a win to the Grambling State University Lady Tigers as the two went head to head in the first half of the game. The Lady Lions had the lead at halftime with a score of 46-27. When the game ended, the Lady Lions won, 83-68.   

CEONTE HOUSE/Courtesy photo Guard Monisha Neal goes up for a basket in front of defenders from Pine Bluff.

CEONTE HOUSE/Courtesy photo
Guard Monisha Neal goes up for a basket in front of defenders from Pine Bluff.

In the first half, GSU’s Shakyla Hill had nine points and three of the Lady Lions — Destiny Brewton, Ajia Richardson and Niya Head — had scored in double digits. The Lady Tigers struggled with scoring, and rebounds. Grambling State had a total of 10 rebounds compared to 23 for UAPB.

 The second two quarters of the game for the Lady Tigers were a struggle as they attempted to come out victorious, but missed shots and turnovers contributed to them falling short to the Lady Lions. The Lady Tigers’ lead scorer was Hill with 23 points and nine rebounds and UAPB’s Richardson put up 17 points with Brewton, Head and Attirah Munir scoring 15 each.

For the men’s game, five minutes  expired from the clock before the Grambling Tigers scored. Finally, two points, but the team struggled for a large portion of the first half to keep up with the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions as the Pine Bluff team played with intensity. Numerous turnovers and missed shots attributed to the GSU Tigers’ inability to gain the momentum  needed, and trailed by 12 at halftime with a score of 40-28.

By the end of the game, the score of 63-59 in favor of UAPB.

GSU’s Deonte Hearns put up nine points; UAPB’s Marquis Cunningham had 12.

 During the second half of the game the Tigers worked to come back from the halftime deficit, and they came close. Down by two points with 1:12 left, GSU had a chance, but it was not enough.

Finishing the game with 20 points was Hearns followed by Ervin Mitchell with 10. Cunningham put up 13 with seven rebounds while teammates JoVaughn Wallace, Ghiavonni Robinson and Thaddeus Handley each had 11 points.

In Greenwood, Mississippi, Monday evening, guard Chanta Poole said before the team’s game against Mississippi Valley State University that she and her teammates “know that we have to win today.”  Head basketball coach Nadine Domond’s team did win at the Leflore County Civic Center against the Valley’s Devilettes. The final score was 65-52.

 During the first half of the game Grambling State wasted no time creating a lead over their opponents, with 3-pointers from Poole, Monisha Neal and Boyd. The score was 30-22 as Boyd put up ten points and Hill had eight with four assists and three steals. Lady Devilette Christina Reed put up eight points.

In the second half, the Devilettes tried to make a comeback, even tying the score at 30 in the third quarter. In the final quarter of the game, the Devilettes used their best defensive skills against the Lady Tigers, but Hill and Boyd teamed up on the court and the MVSU efforts to win fell short.

Hill, of Little Rock, Arkansas, led GSU scoring with 27 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, and four steals. Zemoria Jernigan of Mississippi Valley put up 20 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals.

As the men’s team were looking to secure their first on-the-road conference win they were defeated by the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State University Monday (February 1), 72-59.

In the first half, only 12 rebounds from the entire team were accounted for as head coach Shawn Walker’s team shot only 34.8 percent of their field goals while their opponents were only doing slightly better with 42.9%.  GSU was down by seven points and starter Deonte Hearns had two fouls. Ervin Mitchell and Carlton Lowe each had six points.

During the second half of the game, the Tigers attempted to come back and came close. The Delta Devils put the Tigers in the bonus to shoot 1-1 at the free throw line early in the half. It was somewhat of an advantage to score, but, in the end, the Delta Devils won.

GSU’s Nigel Ribeiro finished the game as the team’s leader in scoring with 14 points, and 11 points were scored by Mitchell and by Hearns. Marcus Roman of Mississippi Valley put up 25 points and ten rebounds followed by Isaac Williams with 17 points.

On Saturday (February 6) both teams will play Southern University in the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center. The women will play at 3 p.m. followed by the men at 5 p.m.