Pilots Picked Fourth In G.C.A.C. Preseason Basketball Poll
October 13, 2004
The LSUS Pilots are picked fourth in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference preseason poll, the conference announced Monday. The teams were voted on by the conference team's head coaches. The Pilots open up their season on November 5, against nationally ranked Oklahoma Baptist University.
2004-2005 Men's Pre-Season Rankings
1. Mobile(6) 77
2. SUNO(2) 73
3. Xavier(1) 62
4. LSUS 53
5. William Carey 43
6. Dillard 40
7. Tougaloo 39
8. Spring Hill 32
9. Belhaven 21
10. Loyola 10
First place votes in parenthesis
LSUS Ranked 35th in NAIA Preseason Polls
October 27, 2004
Sports Information
Athletic Department
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Sports Release
After a 21-12 overall record in the 2003-2004 inaugural season for men’s basketball at LSUS, the Pilots have made a first impression on NAIA men’s basketball that could not go unnoticed. On October 26, 2004, the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Preseason Ratings were released with LSUS receiving 3 points, placing them as the 35th ranked team in the country. Head coach Chad McDowell and his Pilots are returning 8 players which include the entire starting line-up from the ’03-04 squad. A strong recruiting class in the off season which has added height, speed, strength, and depth an already talented nucleus has created high expectations for the Pilots in their upcoming season.
The Pilots are anxiously awaiting the season opener which is scheduled for Thursday, November 4th when they will jump right into the fire as they will travel to Oklahoma City to take on the 5th ranked Oklahoma Baptist University.
Division I Men's Basketball Preseason Rating - October 26, 2004
Rank 2004 Final School 1st Place Votes 2004 Record Total Points
1 1 Mountain State (W.Va.) 11 38-1 297
2 6 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 1 33-4 278
3 2 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 32-5 267
4 24 Mobile (Ala.) 30-10 264
5 10 Oklahoma Baptist 30-6 248
6 4 Concordia (Calif.) 33-5 238
7 5 Cumberland (Tenn.) 28-6 229
8 3 Georgetown (Ky.) 30-8 215
9 7 Robert Morris (Ill.) 30-5 198
10 11 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 27-6 191
11 15 Southern Polytechnic (Ga.) 24-10 172
12 9 Lubbock Christian (Texas) 20-10 162
13 14 Southern-New Orleans (La.) 20-9 154
14 16 Missouri Baptist 26-7 147
15 12 Houston Baptist (Texas) 27-6 134
16 13 Union (Tenn.) 24-10 109
17 21 Westminster (Utah) 26-11 89
18 25 McKendree (Ill.) 24-10 81
19 NR Oklahoma Christian 19-12 72 20 NR St. Xavier (Ill.) 24-10 63
21 NR The Master's (Calif.) 22-11 58
22 18 Pikeville (Ky.) 26-8 48
23 8 Columbia (Mo.) 32-4 31
24 NR Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 18-13 25
25 20 Brescia (Ky.) 24-10 24
Others Receiving Votes: Xavier (La.), 20; Cumberland (Ky.), 17; Rocky Mountain (Mont.), 16; John Brown (Ark.), 14; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), 10; Westmont (Calif.), 8; Langston (Okla.), 6; Martin Methodist (Tenn.), 5; Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), 4; LSU-Shreveport (La.), 3; Montana-Western, 3.
Pilots' Payne and Rogers Named Preseason All-Conference
October 28, 2004
LSUS Pilots junior guard Fredericko Payne and senior guard Derrick Rogers were selected GCAC preseason All- Conference on Thursday, October 28, 2004.
The preseason honors are the first for a Pilot. Payne was the leading scorer in the conference last year, averaging 21.8 per game. He was second in the conference in steals. Rogers averaged 17 points a game, and 5.2 rebounds per game.
The awards were announced two days after the Pilots learned they were ranked 35th in the country. The Pilots open up the season next Friday, November 4, against 5th ranked Oklahoma Baptist Christian.
2004-2005 Men's Pre-Season All Conference Team
Jamal Bouldin 6’1” Senior Tougaloo
Lamar Clark 6’5” Senior SUNO
Roberto Ferrier 6’6” Senior SUNO
Tim Green 6’6” Senior Xavier
Jonathan Harper 6’6” Senior Xavier
Gimel Lewis 6’10” Senior Mobile
Alfredo Ott 6’4” Senior Dillard
Fredericko Payne 5’10” Junior LSUS Tramaine Perry 6’5” Senior Mobile
Derrick Rogers 6’5” Senior LSUS
Catch LSUS Men's Basketball Action Saturday Night Live on cybersportsusa.com
NOVEMBER 04, 2004
The LSUS Pilots will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma Saturday night taking on Rhema College. You can hear the live action on cybersportsusa.com beginning at 7:00pm.
LSUS knocks off #5 ranked OBU in season opener
NOVEMBER 06, 2004
If any one thought that the LSUS Pilots men’s basketball team was happy with setting a school record for wins and a fourth place finish in a highly recognized Gulf Coast Athletic Conference in their 2003-2004 campaign, they may be in for a surprise. The Pilots recently received a 35th place ranking in the NAIA Men’s Division I Basketball preseason polls, and opened their season with an impressive 68-58 road victory against the #5 ranked Oklahoma Baptist University Bison.
Chad McDowell and his team which returned their entire ’03-04 starting lineup started their season with a bang knocking off the 5th ranked OBU Bison (0-1) and handing them their first home opening game loss since 1977. The Pilots (1- 0)jumped out to a 32-22 lead at the half by holding the Bison to a dismal 7-32 shooting performance from the field. “We came out with a lot of guts and pressured the ball in the first half. We knew they were going to try to get the ball down low to their big men, so we wanted to force them into shooting from the outside, and that is what we did.” said McDowell after his teams first half performance. The Bison shot only 2-12 from beyond the 3-point line, and 6-10 from the free throw line. The Pilots were 12-28 from the field in the first half, capitalizing on 3-9 from the 3-point line, and 5-5 from the free throw line.
The second half was more of the same as the Pilots defense held the Bison to 14-40 from the field. The Pilots managed to capitalize on two timely three pointers to stop any hopes of a Bison comeback from the ’03-04 GCAC leading scorer Frederico Payne. Payne led all scorers with 21 points which included a 5-9 performance from the 3-point line. Derrick Rogers finished with 16 points, followed by Derrick Sowell who had 14 points and 5 rebounds. Pilot point guard Justin Collins picked up 7 assists and a steal while teammate Derrick Hill had a game high 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
Justin Benson was the leading scorer for the Bison who managed to go 8-15 from the field collecting 20 points, and gathered 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Leonard Mosley finished with 12 points and 3 assists.
“Freddy Hughes stepped up and played great defense for us all night. While he pressured the ball we would double team with Derrick Sowell, then we would fake the double team, and it just kept them on their heels all night.” commented McDowell. “Rico made some big shots in the second half. He is a big time player and made shots when we needed them. But this was an entire team effort tonight. We got some good minutes off our bench, and our guys did what we talked about the entire off-season. We said if we worked hard enough and each guy did his part every night, we will have a chance to win some big ball games. And that is what we did tonight.” concluded the Pilots head coach who now must prepare for tomorrow nights match up versus Rhema College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm.
Pilots soar to 118-84 victory over Eagles
NOVEMBER 06, 2004
An 80 point outburst in the second half lifted the Pilots (2-0) to a 118-84 victory over the Rhema College Eagles (0-1).
The Pilots came out of the locker room at half time leading 38-34, and were focused on picking up their defensive pressure from the first half. The Pilots solid defense led to an 80 point offensive explosion in the second half behind Derrick Rogers who was 8-11 from beyond the three-point line. Rogers finished with 39 points, 9 steals, and 7 rebounds. Derrick Sowell finished with 24 points followed by Fredericko Payne who had 23. Justin Collins pitched in with 14 points.
The Pilots will be off until Friday, November 12 when they will play host to the Southwestern Assemblies of God University in their home opener. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm at the LSUS Gymnasium.
Pilots improve to 4-0 with 92-86 win over SAGU
NOVEMBER 17, 2004
Waxahachie, TX- After a 105-91 win over the Southwestern Assemblies (1-4) of God Lions Friday night at the Dock, the LSUS Pilots (4-0) traveled to Waxahachie,TX for the back end of a home-and-home series Tuesday night versus the defending 2004 NBCAA Division 1 National Champions, SAGU Lions.
The Pilots dominated the pace early in the first half building a lead as high as 14-points, thanks to a dominate performance by Fredericko Payne. Payne connected on 5 three-pointers and finished with 19 points at the half. While Payne controlled the perimeter, Derrick Sowell, Derrick Hill, and Abraham Saxson were doing the work down low for the Pilots collecting a combined 18 rebounds, 13 points, and 5 blocked shots.
Nikola Lucic found his range late and made good on 6 field goal attempts for 13 points and collected 7 rebounds leading SAGU on a late run which brought the Pilot lead to single digits and the halftime score to 44-35 in favor of the Pilots.
Just when it looked as if the Pilots had pulled away as they went up 12 points after Justin Collins connected on two free- throw attempts with 2:20 remaining in the game, Tigers Jason Blake sparked a late Tigers comeback. Blake connected on 4 field goals in the final two minutes and SAGU found themselves only down 3 points with 0:30 seconds remaining. With the clock winding down, the Tigers were forced to foul Justin Collins to stop the clock which sent Collins to the line for two free throws. The Pilot senior and floor general connected on both free throws to push the Pilot lead to back to 5. The Tigers put up a great fight, but in the end, it was the Pilots who picked up the 92-86 victory and improved to 4-0 on the year.
“That was a tough one. When we were in a timeout with two minutes left, even though we were up 10 points, I told our guys we were still 2 possessions away from winning this game.” stated a very excited Chad McDowell after the Pilots 3rd road win of the year. “We needed that. A close one on the road which makes us battle to the end, make good decisions, and make free throws in the last minute to win will help us down the road when we get into our very tough conference play.”
Pilots Fredericko Payne led all scorers with 35 points. Derrick Sowell 16, followed by Derrick Hill who had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Pilots.
Matt Daniels had 25 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Tigers offense. Jason Johnson followed with 19 points and 8 rebounds, and Nikola Lucic rounded out the SAGU scoring 17 points and a game high 12 rebounds.
The Pilots will be in action again November 22 when they will play host to East Texas Baptist University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm at the Dock. Pilots survive double overtime thriller at the Dock
NOVEMBER 22, 2004
Shreveport, La--- For the first time in their two year existence, Chad McDowell and his LSUS Pilots were taken into overtime; double overtime that is by the East Texas Baptist University Tigers. The Pilots escaped with a 118-115 win to improve to 5-0 on the year.
In the first half, the ETBU Tigers came out with an offensive explosion as they tore up the Pilot defense for 35 points in the first 8 minutes. A late Pilot run in the half cut the Tiger lead to 7 with a halftime score of 57-50. The Tigers spread the scoring with Chris Isom leading the way with 17 and 8 rebounds. Cedric Isom and Allen Colbert combined for 16 points each. Pilots leading scorer Fredericko Payne kept the Pilots alive with arguably his best half of the year. Payne poured in 23 points and created 2 Tiger turnovers in the final two minutes which led to Pilot buckets to keep the Pilots within reach. Frederick Hughes pitched in with 8 points and 3 assists. Derrick Hill pulled down 4 rebounds and had 5 blocked shots by the half. The Tigers shot 48% in half and were 4-9 from the three-point line. They made good on 11 of 15 free-throws. The Pilots shot 40% from the field despite being only 4 of 19 from beyond the arc. They completed 12 of 17 free throw attempts.
The second half proved to be one of the most exciting halves of basketball ever seen on the LSUS hardwood. The Pilots battled their way back into contention and took the lead for the first time with 5:22 remaining in regulation. However, ETBU found themselves in possession of the ball in the dying seconds with the ball in the hands of leading their leading scorer Chris Isom. Isom’s shot with 0:01 remaining left on the clock was blocked by Pilot Derrick Hill to keep the score knotted at 95-95, and the game headed into overtime.
The Pilots looked as if they were in complete control as they built a 6 point lead with only 1:00 remaining in the first overtime period. The Tigers capitalized on two crucial Pilot turnovers and tied the score at 106-106 with 0:04 remaining and had possession of the ball. The Tigers worked the ball down low to Jeremiah Pojah, but did not manage to get a shot off before the buzzer, and the game was sent into a second overtime period.
The second overtime saw the Pilots unable to convert on free throw attempts which allowed the Tigers to keep pace. Derrick Sowell however put the game out of reach with a highlight real slam dunk over Tigers Charles Chevalier to put the Pilots up 6 points in the dying moments. Chevalier later rebounded an LSUS missed free throw with 0:02 remaining and made a three-point shot from behind half court to make the final score 118-115.
The Tigers Offense was led by Chris Isom who finished the game with a very impressive 35 points and 15 rebounds. Cedrick Isom fell one rebound shy of a double-double with 9 to go along with 26 points. Allen Colbert had 17, Rodney Calhoun 13, and Charles Chevalier pitched in with 11 to round out the Tigers scoring. ETBU finished the game shooting 41% from the field, connecting on 7 of 21 three-point attempts, and 20 of 28 free throw attempts.
Fredericko Payne carried the load for the Pilots as he poured in a career high 44 points. Payne connected on 6 three- pointers and was the only Pilot who seemed to have success from the free throw line as he made good on 14 of 15 attempts. Derrick Sowell finished with his first double-double of the year collecting 26 points and 12 rebounds. Derrick Rogers pitched in with 21 points, followed by Pilot point guards Freddy Hughes who each finished with 11. Collins captured his first double-double of the year collecting 10 assists to go along with his 11 points. Derrick Hill failed to tally a single point in the game, but managed to make his presence felt under the rim collecting game highs with 17 rebounds and 9 blocks.
The Pilots have now improved to 5-0 on the year but are about to embark on a very tough 5 game road swing, starting with NCAA Division I opponent Northwestern State University Demons Wednesday night. The Pilots are looking to avenge an 88-80 road loss from last year suffered at the hands of the Demons. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30pm at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La
Dozen Demons score in 107-80 cruise past LSU-Shreveport
NOVEMBER 28, 2004
Story courtesy of Northwestern Sports Information Department 11/24/2004 NATCHITOCHES -- Junior guard Kerwin Forges missed only one free throw while scoring 19 points Wednesday night as preseason Southland Conference favorite Northwestern State cruised past NAIA Division I LSU-Shreveport 107-80 in a non-conference college basketball game as the Demons tipped off a five-game homestand at Prather Coliseum.
The Demons (1-2) got a second-straight team-high scoring outing from Forges, a 6-4 guard who hit all four of his shots, including a 3-pointer, while going 10-of-11 on free throws and snagging nine rebounds in just 16 minutes off the bench.
LSU-Shreveport (5-1) got a game-high 21 points from former NSU player Fredericko Payne, the leading scorer in NAIA Division I with a 31-point average in his second year with the Pilots.
Northwestern picked up 16 points by Jermaine Wallace, 13 from Demetrius Bell and 11 points, a career-best 13 assists, six rebounds and four steals by point guard Tyronn Mitchell. The Demons shot 52.5 percent for the game and outrebounded the Pilots 53-26.
After having to come from behind to beat the Pilots 88-80 last season, the Demons were in control throughout Wednesday night, never trailing and leading 17-5 four minutes into the game. It was 55-41 at halftime and the lead grew as large as 30 points late in the game while Northwestern got scoring from 12 different players, including 62 points off the bench.
"We've grown up a bit and hopefully we've improved and maybe that shows up a bit," said sixth-year Demons coach Mike McConathy. "The pace of the game was wide-open and that led to some pretty sloppy turnovers on our part, but we can run. The key is that we had 53 rebounds, and when you have the ball off the glass, you can get out on the break.
"It's nice to get the homestand started with an entertaining win, the type of game people who were here would come back to watch again," said McConathy. "We're back here on Friday afternoon and hopefully we can have another successful game."
Northwestern plays at home Friday afternoon at 2 against Southwestern Kansas
PATTON, WOODS LEAD LIONS PAST PILOTS, 80-53
DECEMBER 01, 2004
By: Matt Sullivan
HAMMOND – Jonathan Patton scored a career-high 22 points, including five 3-pointers, and Ricky Woods added 17 points as Southeastern Louisiana opened its home schedule with an 80-53 win over LSU-Shreveport Tuesday at the University Center.
After going 1-for-10 in a 65-62 loss at Southern Miss last Wednesday, Patton made 7-of-11 shots, including 5-of-8 from behind the arc as Southeastern (4-1) won its 16th straight regular-season home game dating back to the 2002-03 season and equaled its best five-game start since going 4-1 in 1984-85.
LSU-Shreveport, which came into the contest averaging 96.8 points per game, dropped its second straight against a Southland Conference opponent. "It was important to get him (Patton) into a rhythm from the perimeter with an important stretch on the road coming up," Southeastern head coach Billy Kennedy said about his senior guard. "It was good for our guards to play against a team that played zone the entire game. Overall, I was very pleased with our defensive effort for about 32 minutes. To their (LSU-S) credit, they did a good job of penetrating the lane. After spotting the Pilots a 5-2 lead in the first minute of the game, Patton hit back-to-back three’s to give the Lions an 8-5 lead. Derrick Rogers, who finished with six points after entering the game with a 20.2 average, nailed a 3-pointer to knot the score at 8-8 before Southeastern’s Jonathan Walker hit four straight free throws to give the Lions a 12-8 advantage.
A bucket in the lane by Derrick Sowell cut the Southeastern lead to 12-10 with 13:15 remaining in the first half, but that would be as close as the Pilots would get as Southeastern went on a 15-2 run, capped by Chris Lee’s layup that gave the Lions a 27-12 lead with 7:15 left.
The Lions led by as many as 22 points in the first half and built a 40-21 cushion at the break. Woods scored 10 points in the first half for Southeastern, which held LSU-S to 29 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and 35 percent for the game.
Southeastern took its biggest lead of the night, 75-47, when Lee drove thelane and scored two of his season-high six points with 2:34 remaining in the game. LSU-S, which dressed only eight players and were without leading scorer Fredericko Payne, played a 2-3 zone the entire night against the Lions concentrating on stopping leading scorer Nate Lofton. The 6-foot-10 Lofton, who finished with eight points, dished out a game-high six assists as Southeastern recorded a season-high 24 against the smaller Pilots. Sowell led LSU-S with 18 points while Fredrick Hughes added 11. Pilot center Derrick Hill tied a University Center-record by an opponent with seven blocks in the game, equaling the previous mark set by Northwestern State’s Larry Terry in the 1992-93 season.
The Lions return to action on Friday at 5:35 p.m. when it battles Sun Belt Conference member Arkansas-Little Rock in the opening round of the Price Cutter Classic, hosted by Southwest Missouri State. The Lions will then play either host SMS or Youngstown State on Saturday.
LSU-SHREVEPORT (5-2)Sowell 7-13 1-2 18; Hughes 4-14 1-1 11; Collins 1-9 4-4 7; Rogers 2-6 0-0 6; Simmons 2-5 0-0 5; Walker 1-2 2-2 4; Hill 1-1 0-0 2; Saxon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-51 8-9 53.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (4-1) Patton 7-11 3-4 22; R. Woods 7-14 3-4 17; Walker 3-7 4-4 10; Lofton 3-8 2-4 8; Bryant 2-5 2-2 6; Lee 3-6 0-1 6; Edwards 2-2 0-0 4; T. Woods 1-3 2-4 4; Berry 1-3 0-0 3; Payton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 16-23 80.
Halftime – SLU 41, LSUS 20. 3-point goals – LSUS 9-27 (Sowell 3-4; Hughes 2-8; Rogers 2-4; Simmons 1-2; Collins 1-8; Walker 0-1), SLU 6-15 (Patton 5-8; Berry 1-3; Lee 0-3; Payton 0-1). Fouled out -- None. Rebounds – LSUS 29 (Hill 6), SLU 37 (R. Woods 8). Assists – LSUS 10 (Collins, Hughes 3), SLU 24 (Lofton 6).
Total fouls – LSUS 17, SLU 12. A – 728.
Pilots sail to 62-52 over 25th ranked Bearcats
DECEMBER 03, 2004
McKenzie, TN-The LSUS Pilots (6-2) squared off against the 25th ranked Brescia University Bearcats(4-2) in the first game of the McKenzie Rotary Club Classic at neutral site Bethel College in McKenzie, TN Friday night. The Pilots defeated a top 25 team for the second time this year as they went on to defeat the Bearcats 62-52.
Derrick Rogers scored 15 of the Pilots first 18 points and led the Pilots to a 31-22 halftime lead. Rogers finished as the high scorer in the half with 18 points. The Bearcats started the second half on a 7-0 run to cut the Pilot lead to 2 points, but that was as close as the Bearcats would get. After holding Pilots leading scorer Fredericko Payne to only 4 points in the first half, Payne answered with 16 points in the second half despite shooting only 6 of 23 from the field. Payne currently leads the NAIA in steals per game and added 3 tonight to go along with 20 points and 2 assists. Derrick Rogers led all scorers with 25. Aurimas Truskauskas led all Bearcats scorers with 18 points and collected 10 rebounds for the games only double- double. JT Riddle pitched in with 11 points and 9 rebounds.
"That was a big win for us” commented Pilot coach Chad McDowell. Coming off two losses to NCAA Division I opponents Northwestern State University and Southeastern Louisiana University, the Pilots were in tough to get back in the win column against a very tough Brescia University. “They are ranked 25th for a reason. They played us very tough but we responded with a great effort on defense tonight. The key tonight was limiting their 2003-2004 NAIA All-American Demontae Foots opportunities with ball. Our press limited their offensive opportunities, and the two guys we look to score, Derrick Rogers and Fredericko Payne did.”
LSUS, now 6-2, must look forward to tomorrow nights game against Bethel College. A win tomorrow night would put the Pilots at 5-2 on the road this year and will put them in a position to improve upon their preseason ranking of 35th in the Nation. “We feel like we have taken care of business so far this year. We have come back from 17 points down to win, we have blown leads and won, and we have played 6 of our first 8 games on the road. As long as we worry about ourselves, the rankings will take care of themselves” concluded McDowell.
The NAIA National Rankings will be released for the first time this season Monday, December 6. Tip-off tomorrow night versus Bethel College is scheduled for 6:00pm.
Road-Sweet-Road
DECEMBER 05, 2004
McKenzie, TN- The LSUS Pilots (7-2) improved to 5-2 on the road this season with an impressive 92-80 win over the BethelCollege Wildcats (7-3) in a hostile Dishman Gymnasium Saturday night.
The Pilots were in tough early trading possessions with the Wildcats who built a 6 point lead at the mid point of the first half. Struggling from the field early, Pilots head coach Chad McDowell entered Pilots senior Derrick Rogers looking for a spark. “Rogers told me before the game he thought he might hurt us more than he could help us because of his leg.” stated Pilot head coach Chad McDowell. Rogers has been day to day for the Pilots as he has been suffering from a case of severe shin splints. “We wanted to try and win without him because we need him healthy for December 14 when conference play starts, but we needed a spark and he was it.” Rogers was 4-5 from the field and led all scorers in the first half with 12 points in his limited action.
LSUS built up a 43-30 lead by the half despite shooting only 12-34 from the field and connecting on only 2-10 from beyond the three-point line. However, LSUS found success at the free throw line connecting on 17-21 free throw attempts. Derrick Hill and Derrick Sowell pitched in with a combined 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Pilots.
The Wildcats were held to 12-35 from the field in first half. Scott Ashley finished with 9 points, while 2003-2004 NAIA Division II All-American Drew Woods was scoreless from the field but collected 4 points on 4-4 shooting from the free throw line.
LSUS had trouble scoring from the field again in the second half shooting only 31%, but were 34-52 from the free throw line. “It was obvious their game plan was to try and slow us down and contest every shot. They made us work for every basket and I give a lot of credit to our guys. We stayed calm, played hard, and made some shots from the free throw line.” commented McDowell. “I am very proud of how we responded tonight. That was a very intense game but we kept our composure and played our game of basketball and picked up a very big win for our program.”
Pilots Fredericko Payne led all scorers with 23 points and 6 steals. Derrick Rogers finished with 21 and 6 rebounds, followed by Justin Collins who had 15 points and committed no turnovers in his 32 minutes at the point guard position. Freddy Hughes made good on 13-16 free throw attempts for 13 points. Derrick Hill had a game high 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots and Derrick Sowell rounded out the Pilots scoring with 9 points which were highlighted by 3 spectacular slam dunks. LSUS finished the game shooting 19-56 from the field, 3 -16 from the three-point line, and connected on 51 of 76 free throw attempts.
The Wildcats were 31-80 from the field, 4-21 from the three point line, and 14-21 from the free throw line. Drew Woods finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds to lead all Wildcat scorers. Justin Waddle finished with 14, followed by Scott Ashley and Henry Adkinson who each had 11.
The Pilots now must look ahead to SamHoustonStateUniversity on December 11 in Huntsville, TX. LSUS will then return home on December 14 to take on XavierUniversity in their opening game of the 2004-2005 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference season.
LSUS Pilots ranked 8th in NAIA
DECEMBER 09, 2004
Shreveport, LA---As the LSUS men’s basketball team huddled around head coach Chad McDowell before taking the floor for their first contest of the year they roared, “1-2-3-TOGETHER!” The Pilots went on to win the tip off resulting in a lay-up and their first basket by Rico Payne, and they never looked back. This was November 6, 2003, the beginning of the LSUS Pilots story. Since then, the Pilots have compiled a 28-14 record, which includes a very impressive 13-1 record at the Dock, and have earned an NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Ranking of 8th.
The Pilots returned all five starters from the 03-04 season in Fredericko Payne, Derrick Rogers, Justin Collins, Derrick Sowell, and Abraham Saxson, and also welcome the return of Freddy Hughes, and Carlon Simmons. The additions of Derrick Hill and David Walker have added the much needed depth off the bench every coach is looking for.
In the Pilots ’04-05 season opener, they squared off against the 5th ranked Oklahoma Baptist University on the road. LSUS picked up a convincing 68-58 win, handing OBU their first loss in a home opener since 1977. The Pilots went on to win 4 straight games after their season opener which was capped off by a 118-115 double overtime victory over East Texas Baptist University.
At 5-0 on the season, the Pilots hit their first stumbling block of the year squaring off against two NCAA Division I opponents in Northwestern State University and Southeastern Louisiana University. The Pilots suffered a 107-80 loss to NSU, and then fell 80-53 to SLU, knocking the Pilots record to 5-2.
“We know we cannot overestimate any opponent on our schedule as we tried to create the toughest schedule we could. We knew we were in tough against NSU and SLU, but, you take the good with the bad and keep on trying to move forward,” commented head Coach Chad McDowell.
And move forward they did. After the loss to SLU, the Pilots traveled to McKenzie, TN to the McKenzie Rotary Club Classic where they squared off against 25th ranked Brescia University. The Pilots went on to collect their second win against a top 25 opponent by defeating Brescia 62-52. As excited they were about the win, they could not look past the Bethel College Wildcats who were up next for the Pilots.
LSUS went on to defeat the Wildcats 92-80 in the final game of the MRCC in what may have been the toughest road win for the Pilots since their resurrection in 2003. “This was a huge test for our guy’s. They showed great composure and stuck to our game plan and never lost site of what we are trying to teach here at LSUS. When we play “TOGETHER”, we are going to be a tough team to beat,” concluded McDowell after picking up their 7th win of the season.
At 7-2, the Pilots were hopeful of improving upon their pre-season ranking of 35th in the Country. When the NAIA released its first Top 25 poll on December 7th, the Pilots did not see their name as an honorable mention, nor were they between 20-25 where they had hoped to be. The Pilots jumped to 8th in the Country. “We were very excited to see our name in the Top 10. We knew we deserved to be there, but being the new kid on the block you have to prove yourself to a lot of people and we were not expecting to be so high,” said McDowell. Some coaches believe that the rankings do not mean much. But to the Pilots, it shows that hard work and dedication does not go unrewarded.
Being ranked in the Top 10 this early in the year puts a lot of pressure on the Pilots as they now have something that everyone in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference wants to take away from them. The GCAC has 3 other teams in the Top 30 with the University of Mobile (8-3) at 19th, Southern University-New Orleans (4-1) at 23rd, and Xaxier University coming in at 29th.
LSUS must take on Sam Houston State University on December 11, before returning home for their much anticipated conference home opener versus Xavier University December 14. These two teams split the season series last year 1-1. Xavier was the only team to defeat the Pilots at the Dock the entire season as each team won on their opponents’ home court. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm.
Division I Men's Basketball Rating #1 - December 7, 2004
Rank Last Week School 1st Place Votes Record Total Points
1 6 Concordia (Calif.) 9 8-1 297
2 1 Mountain State (W.Va.) 11-1 279
3 2 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 6-1 270
4 19 Oklahoma Christian 3 10-0 263
5 11 Southern Polytechnic (Ga.) 11-1 237
6 NR Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) 11-1 214
7 NR Cumberland (Ky.) 7-1 207
8 NR LSU-Shreveport (La.) 6-2 205
9 5 Oklahoma Baptist 8-1 203
10 NR Christian Heritage (Calif.) 7-2 191
11 NR Montana-Western 9-3 190
12 8 Georgetown (Ky.) 9-1 167
13 18 McKendree (Ill.) 10-3 131
14 10 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 7-3 128
15 NR Biola (Calif.) 7-1 124
16 12 Lubbock Christian (Texas) 8-2 117
17 20 St. Xavier (Ill.) 7-1 115
18 16 Union (Tenn.) 9-2 114
19 4 Mobile (Ala.) 8-3 108
20 NR Faulkner (Ala.) 8-2 67 21 3 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 5-2 60
22 NR Wayland Baptist (Texas) 7-0 51
23 13 Southern-New Orleans (La.) 4-1 27
24 NR Carroll (Mont.) 10-3 24
25 NR Bacone (Okla.) 8-1 22
Others Receiving Votes: Oklahoma City, 12; Pikeville (Ky.), 12; Missouri Baptist, 10; Xavier (La.), 9; Georgia Southwestern, 9; Westmont (Calif.), 6; Cumberland (Tenn.), 9; Langston (Okla.), 4; Robert Morris (Ill.), 4; Brescia (Ky.), 3; Lambuth (Tenn.), 3; Reinhardt (Ga.), 3; Westminster (Utah), 3; John Brown (Ark.), 2.
Pilots win GCAC opener over Gold Rush, 87-75
DECEMBER 14, 2004
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Pilots (8-3) opened their 2004-2005 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference season Tuesday night at the Dock versus the Xavier University Gold Rush (9-2). Pilots Fredericko Payne poured in 19 points in the first half and finished the games high scorer with 27, leading the Pilots to an 87-75 victory of the Gold Rush.
Fredericko Payne controlled the scoring, tempo, and outcome of the first half as he poured in 19 points on 6-9 shooting, including 4-6 from beyond the three-point line while collecting 4 steals and an assist. Derrick Rogers pitched in with 11 points and 6 rebounds, while Freddy Hughes picked up 7 assists in eight minutes of work. Point guard Justin Collins finished the half with a three-point field goal as time expired to finish with 6 points and 5 assists, and gave the Pilots a 46- 34 halftime lead. The Pilots were 18-29 from the field and connected on 7 of 13 from beyond the three-point line. The Pilots were 3-4 from the free throw line.
Timothy Green was the leading Gold Rush scorer with 10 points and 5 rebounds. The Gold Rush were 12-31 from the field, 5-14 from beyond the three-point line, and connected on 5 of 9 free throws.
An early Gold Rush run cut the Pilots to 6 points, however, the Pilots offense proved to be too much for the Gold Rush as they lead by as many as 17 midway through the second half, and held that lead for an 87-75 victory.
Timothy Green led the Gold Rush offense with 20 points and 14 rebounds while teammate Jason Leonard pitched in with 17, including a three-point basket as time expired. The Gold Rush finished shooting 27-68 (40%) from the field, and were 8-26 (31%) from beyond the three-point line, while connecting on 13-22 (59%) free throw attempts.
The Pilots finished with 4 scorers in double figures which included Fredericko Payne with 27, Derrick Rogers with 21 points and 11 rebounds, Justin Collins had 13 points and 7 assists, followed by Derrick Sowell with 10 points and 5 rebounds. Freddy Hughes contributed with 7 first half assists and 2 points, and Derrick Hill was a huge threat in the post collecting 6 blocked shots and 14 rebounds to go along with 6 points.
“Tonight was an outstanding team performance. Everyone played their role and we played our style of basketball tonight. That is the first step in what is going to be a very tough season. Our conference is one of the toughest in the country as we have 4 teams ranked in the top 30, and we would not want to have it any other way,” commented head coach Chad McDowell after Tuesday night’s win.
LSUS has improved to 8-3 on the year, with their three losses coming at the hands of NCAA Division I opponents, and begin the year on top of the GCAC at 1-0. LSUS travels to Commerce, TX Thursday to take on Texas A & M-Commerce. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm Pilots fall 90-69 to Texas A&M-Commerce
DECEMBER 17, 2004
Commerce, TX---The LSUS Pilots traveled to Commerce, TX Thursday night to take on the Texas A & M-Commerce Lions. The Pilots trailed early and could never fight their way back into contention as the Lions went on to an 90-69 victory over LSUS.
The Pilots struggled out of the box shooting 3-14 from the field and found themselves trailing 20-7 at the 12:16 mark of the first half. Fredericko Payne scored the first 5 Pilot points before having to exit with an injury.
Jonathon Hopkins was controlling the game putting in 13 points and collecting 4 rebounds early. At the mid-point of the first half, the Pilots trailed 25-13.
Derrick Rogers hit a three-point shot at the 4:48 mark to cut the Lions lead to 34-23, however, the Pilots continued to struggle from the field connecting on only 10 of their first 32 shots.
A Lions technical foul at the 0:40 second mark put Derrick Rogers on the free throw line to cut the lead to 40-28. The Pilots then missed another bonus free throw but managed to get a defensive stop and opted to hold the ball for the last possession of the half. Derrick Rogers penetrated the lane and passed off to Derrick Hill who slammed in his 6th point of the half, cutting the lead to 10 heading into the locker room.
Hopkins led the Lions offense finishing the half with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Jermart Miller pitched in with 9 points on 4- 9 shooting. The Lions finished the half shooting 37% from the field connecting on 14-38 shots; 3-9 from beyond the three- point line. The Lions connected on 9-10 free throws in the half.
The Pilots struggled offensively the entire half making only 12-36 from the field, and were only 4-16 from behind the three- point line. The LSUS shooting woes carried over to the free throw line, as the Pilots connected on only 2-9 attempts. Derrick Rogers led the Pilots with 8 points, while Derrick Hill pitched in with 6 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.
“Free throws were the difference. We were 2-9 from the line including missing the front end on three bonus shots. We came out soft, and it hurt us,” commented head coach Chad McDowell at the half about his Pilots.
The Lions started the second half on a 10-1 run to put the Pilots down 50-31 as the Pilots continued to struggle to score. LSUS cut the lead to as little as 11 but could not hold off the Lions offense. Lions Jermart Miller finished with a game high 17 points. Chris Fantroy pitched in with 16 points and 8 rebounds, while Jonathon Hopkins picked up 11 points and 10 rebounds for the games only double-double. The Lions finished shooting 45 % from the field including 10-23 from beyond the three point line, and 20-28 from the free throw line.
Fredericko Payne was held under 20 points for the first time this season as he finished with 14 to lead all Pilot scorers. Justin Collins finished with 13 points and 5 assists and teammate Derrick Sowell pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with 4 assists and 4 points.
LSUS finished shooting 35% from the field on 24-68 shooting. The Pilots connected on 7-29 three-point shots and were 14-25 from the charity stripe.
LSUS (8-4) will have a well deserved break until December 28 when they will take to the road again to square off against TexasWesleyanUniversity in Dallas, TX.
Pilots continue to win despite tough road schedule
DECEMBER 29, 2004
Fort Worth, TX---The LSUS Pilots traveled to Fort Worth, TX Monday to partake in the 2004 Wings “N” More Wesleyan Classic. The Pilots squared off against Missouri Valley College Vikings (9-4) in game one of the tournament and picked up an 84-79 win over the Vikings to improve to 9-4 on the season. The Pilots hit the floor again Tuesday afternoon versus the Morningside College Mustangs (7-8), and despite not scoring from the field in the last seven minutes of play, collected their 10th win of the season by a final score of 83-79.
In game one versus the Vikings, LSUS point guard Justin Collins carried the Pilots offense scoring 19 of his career high 28 points in the second half. The Pilots were trailing by 6 with 2:00 remaining in regulation when Collins connected on a four point play. Collins went on to score 12 points in the final two minutes which was enough to lift the Pilots Vikings.
Collins finished with a game high 28 points and 6 rebounds while Fredericko Payne finished with 27 points, 4 steals and 3 assists. Derrick Rogers pitched in with 15 points and 3 steals. The Pilots finished shooting 42.2% from the field. The Pilots struggled from beyond the arc only connecting on 8-26 attempts, but capitalized on 22-27 free throw attempts.
Mike Atkinson finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for the games only double-double. Vikings. John Boswell finished 15 points to lead the Vikings scoring, followed by Chris Ealim with 13, and Ramone Powell with 11. The Vikings finished shooting 49.2% from the field. The Vikings were 0-7 from the three point line in the second half and finished 6-18 in the game while connecting on just 13-20 free throw attempts.
The Pilots hit the floor again Tuesday afternoon versus the Morningside College Mustangs. The Pilots trailed 44-43 at the half but managed to build a 78-66 lead at the 7:19 mark after a made jumper by Collins. The Pilots however failed to score from the field the rest of the way and allowed the Mustangs to cut the lead to 81-79 with 0:47 remaining. The Pilots forced a Mustangs turnover with 0:04 left who were then force to foul and sent Collins to the free throw line with only 0:02 remaining. Collins connected on both attempts to put the game away for the Pilots.
“I can’t say enough about how our guys stepped up this week,” commented Pilots graduate assistant Jon Unger. Unger is a native of El Dorado, AR and served as an assistant coach under Nolan Richardson at the University of Arkansas from 2001-2003. “We have played a very tough schedule to start this season and to finish 7-4 on the road and head into conference action with a 10-4 record boasts very well for our team,” concluded Unger.
The Pilots have now concluded their non-conference play. Three of the four Pilots losses this season have been at the hands of NCAA Division I opponents, with the fourth being against NCAA Division II Texas A&M- Commerce. The Pilots will be in action at the Dock January 6 when they will play host to the Belhaven College Blazers.
Holiday Hoops at the Dock Monday, January 3rd
DECEMBER 31, 2004
The LSUS Pilots and Lady Pilots will be tipping off the New Year Monday, January 3rd at the Dock. The men's team will be squaring off against Texas Wesleyan University at 3:00pm, and will be followed by the Lady Pilots at 5:30pm versus the University of Texas- Tyler.
Fredericko Payne Earns GCAC Player of the Week Honors
JANUARY 04, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Pilots finished the 2003-2004 campaign with a 21-12 record as a first year program. In 2004- 2005, the Pilots have mustered a 10-5 record to date including a win in their only conference action versus Xavier University to put them on top of the GCAC at 1-0. The Pilots have earned some well deserved attention this year as their continued success has them ranked 9th in the country.
The Pilots success is due in large part to the play of Fredericko Payne. The 5’10 guard from Dubach, LA is the second top scorer in the country averaging 25.7 per game. Defensively, Payne has averaged 3.7 steals per game which is also second best in the country.
“Rico Payne is a great scorer who makes other players around him better. Other teams know where he is on the floor the entire game which creates scoring opportunities for his teammates. We are very pleased to have him as part of our program here at LSUS,” commented Pilots head coach Chad McDowell on Payne.
The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference today announced the first players of the week for the 2004-2005 basketball season. Payne was selected as the men's player of the week. Payne averaged 25.5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4.5 steals in helping lead the Pilots to victories over Missouri Valley College and Morningside College last week. Payne was named to the All-Tournament team at the Texas Wesleyan Classic.
Payne breaks LSUS three point record in 79-67 win over Blazers
JANUARY 06, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Pilots played host to the BelhavenCollege Blazers Thursday night. Fans at the Dock witnessed a record breaking night as Fredericko Payne led the Pilots to a 79-67 victory with 40 points, and a new LSUS record, 12 made three point attempts, breaking the old mark of 10.
Fredericko Payne connected on 7 of his first 9 three point attempts and collected 26 first half points to give the Pilots a 40- 31 half time lead. The Pilots were only 13-34 from field but managed to connect on 10-25 three point attempts. Justin Collins pitched in with 8 points and 6assists.
Cedrick Crawford led the Blazers with 13 points in the half. James Bryant finished with 8. The Blazers were 11-29 from the field and connected on 3-11 from beyond the three point line.
In the second half the Pilots had built a lead as large as 20 points, but the Blazers battled back to cut the lead to as few as 5 points. With 2:00 remaining and three seconds left on the shot clock, Payne connected on his 12th three pointer from 8 feet beyond the top of the three point line to put the Pilots up 8 points and out of the Blazers reach.
Payne finished with a game high 40 points on 12-22 shooting which included an LSUS record 12-20 from beyond the three point line. Derrick Rogers pitched in with 11 second half points after being held scoreless in the first half to go along with 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Justin Collins finished with 10 points and a game high 7 assists. Pilots center and LSUS all- time leading shot blocker Derrick Hill pitched in with another outstanding defensive effort for the Pilots with 5 blocked shots and a game high 10 rebounds.
The Pilots finished the game shooting 36% from the field and connected on 15-40 from beyond the three point line. Belhaven finished shooting 40% from the field and managed to connect on just 5-22 from the three point line.
The Blazers finished with 4 scorers in double-digits with Cedrick Crawford leading the way with 14 points; Justin Pierce with 13; James Bryant had 11; and Chris Smith had 10 and a team high 7 rebounds.
LSUS is now 11-5 on the year and are on top of the GCAC at 2-0. The Pilots will be in action again Saturday night when they take on Southern University-New Orleans in New Orleans. Tip off is scheduled for 7:00pm.
Pilots improve to 4-0 in conference with road wins over SUNO and Xavier
JANUARY 11, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Pilots traveled to New Orleans Thursday afternoon on what could arguably have been their toughest road trip of the season. The Pilots squared off against the 2003-2004 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Champion Southern University of New Orleans Knights (SUNO) Saturday night at the Castle. The Pilots were looking to avenge a conference tournament loss at the hands in of the Knights in 2003-2004, and to stay undefeated in conference play.
SUNO jumped out to an 11 point lead at halftime and found themselves ahead by as many as 17 in the second half. “Let’s go! This game is not over,” yelled Pilots senior point guard Justin Collins to his teammates during an LSUS time-out with 12:00 minutes remaining. Collins then led the Pilots to their biggest comeback win of the year by a final score of 91-82. Collins finished with a game high 23 points, followed by teammate Fredericko Payne with 19.
The Pilots then had to jump back into the fire Monday night when they took on the Xavier University Gold Rush in front of a capacity crowd at the Barn. LSUS entered Monday night’s game already having defeated the Gold Rush 87-75 in their conference opener at the Dock December 14th.
Fredericko Payne dominated the Goldrush defenders collecting 38 points on 14-24 shooting and led the Pilots to an 89-65 victory. Derrick Rogers and Justin Collins each pitched in with 15 points a piece.
The Pilots are now 13-5 overall and stand alone on top of the GCAC at 4-0. LSUS will be back on the road this Thursday when they will travel to Jackson, MS to take on Tougaloo College (5-6, 1-2), before returning home to the Dock to take on the University of Mobile Rams (14-3, 3-0) Saturday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm.
Pilots ranked 11th in NAIA Poll
JANUARY 12, 2005
Shreveport, LA---After suffering a 109-100 loss to Texas Wesleyan University (#23) at the Dock last Monday, the Pilots responded with a 79-67 win over Belhaven College Thursday night. The Pilots then traveled to New Orleans to take on Southern University-New Orleans Saturday night. The Pilots trailed by as many as 17 points before coming back to defeat SUNO, 91-82.
With a 2-1 record on the week, the Pilots dropped two spots and are currently ranked 11th in the country. The Pilots defeated Xavier University Monday night 89-64 to improve to 13-5 on the season and are currently on top of the GCAC at 4-0. The Pilots will travel to Jackson, MS Thursday night to take on Tougaloo College, and will return home to the Dock Saturday night and will square off against the 16th ranked University of Mobile Rams.
Payne earns back-to-back player of the week honors
JANUARY 13, 2005
Basketball Players of the Week - Week Ending January 9, 2005
HATTIESBURG, Miss – The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference today announced the players of the week for the week of January 3-9, 2005.
Fredericko Payne of LSUS was selected as the men's player of the week for the second week in a row. Payne averaged 31 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 3.3 steals in helping lead the Pilots to GCAC victories over Belhaven and SUNO as well as a 109-100 loss to Texas Wesleyan. Payne broke the LSUS 3 point record with 12 three point field goals made in one game. Fredericko is a 5-10 junior guard from Dubach, Louisiana.
The Pilots (13-5, 4-0) will travel to Jackson, MS Thursday night to take on Tougaloo College (5-6, 1-2) in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference action. The will return home to the Dock Saturday night when they will play host to the 16th ranked University of Mobile Rams (14-3, 3-0). Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm.
Rams escape with 108-101 victory over Pilots
JANUARY 15, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The 11th ranked LSUS Pilots played host to the 16th ranked University of Mobile Rams Saturday night in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Action. Despite trailing by as many as 20 points in the second half, LSUS trailed by four with 1:30 remaining. The Pilots struggled from the free throw line down the stretch and fell to the Rams 108-101. In the first half, the Rams shot 49% from the field and found most of their success from beyond the three point line connecting on 8-16 attempts. Rams Tremaine Perry led all scorers in the half with 19 points on 7-12 shooting. Chris Bolden had 11 points and Gimel Lewis pitched in with 8 points and 4 rebounds.
Derrick Rogers led the Pilots with 17 points on 6-11 shooting and pulled down a team high 6 rebounds. Fredericko Payne connected on 3-5 three point attempts and finished with 11 points. The Pilots shot 46% from the field and connected on 6- 13 three point attempts. The Pilots struggled from the free throw line making only 8-13 attempts.
The Rams looked as though they had things wrapped up as they led by 20 points with 8:00 remaining, however the pilots cut the lead to 5 with 1:40 left and were at the free throw line for two shots. The Pilots could not capitalize from the free throw line down the stretch as they missed on 4 attempts in the last 1:30 of the game. The Rams went on to defeat the Pilots 108-101.
Tramaine Perry led the Rams offense with 40 points, followed by Gimel Lewis with 15; Ravi Amunagama with 14; and Chris Bolden finished with 13. The Rams shot 66% from the field in the second half and finished shooting 57% for the game. From beyond the three point line the Rams were 14-25, and were 16-29 from the free throw line.
Fredericko Payne led the Pilots with 32 points and 5 steals on 10-22 shooting. Payne connected on a game high 8-15 three point attempts. Derrick Rogers finished with 25 points and 8 rebounds, while teammate Justin Collins pitched in with 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. LSUS finished shooting 46% from the field and made 12-28 three point attempts. The Pilots finished 29-40 from the free throw line.
The Rams improve to 16-4 with the victory and are now on top of the GCAC at 5-0. The Pilots are now second at 5-1 in conference play, 14-6 overall. The two teams will match-up again February 12th at the University of Mobile. The Pilots next game will be Thursday night at 7:30pm when they play host to Loyola University at the Dock.
LSUS versus Mobile Saturday night at the Dock (Catch the men's action live on Ihigh.com)
JANUARY 15, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Pilots and Lady Pilots will play host to the University of Mobile Rams Saturday night at the Dock. Both the Rams and the Lady Rams enter tonight’s contest undefeated in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference at 4-0. The Lady Rams are riding a 5 game win streak and are currently ranked 17th in the country with an overall record of 13-3. The Lady Pilots won their first conference game of the year over the Belhaven Lady Blazers but have dropped three straight road decisions to fall to 1-3 in conference play and 7-10 on the year.
The Pilots are currently the top team in the GCAC at 5-0, with an overall record of 14-5. Tonight’s match-up versus the Rams will see the two top ranked teams in the GCAC go head-to-head with LSUS currently being ranked at 11th in the country, while Mobile comes in at 16th. The Pilots hope that their hot shooting of late combined with the home court advantage will be enough to snap the Rams 9 game win streak and stay on top of the GCAC.
The Lady Pilots are scheduled to tip-off at 5:00pm, and will be followed by the Pilots tip-off at 7:00pm.
LSUS to play host to Loyola Wolfpack tonight at the Dock
JANUARY 20, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The Lady Pilots will hit the court tonight versus the Loyola Wolfpack with the tip-off scheduled for 5:30pm. The Lady Pilots and Wolfpack are currently tied in the GCAC standings at 1-4. This is a very important game for each team as they look to battle their way back into contention in the GCAC.
Men’s action is scheduled for 7:30pm tonight. The Pilots are currently second overall in the GCAC at 5-1 and will look to improve to 6-1 with a win over a struggling, but very talented Loyola Wolfpack who are currently 1-4 in GCAC play. “They are 1-4 right now but they have been in every game they have played. They have 4 players who could put up twenty points on any given night,” commented Pilots head coach Chad McDowell.
Both the Pilots and Lady Pilots will return home again Saturday night when they play host the Spring Hill College Badgers. Ladies action is scheduled for 5:00pm, followed by men’s action at 7:00pm.
Pilots improve to 6-1 in GCAC with 76-58 win over Wolfpack
JANUARY 20, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Pilots (15-6, 6-1) played host to the Loyola University Wolfpack (8-10, 1-5) in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference action Thursday night at the Dock. The Wolf pack slowed the Pilots up-tempo style of play but could not stop the potent Pilot offense who went on to win by a final score of 76-58.
Fredericko Payne finished with a game high 19 points and 4 steals in the Pilot victory. Derrick Sowell pitched in with 15 points, and teammate Derrick Rogers pitched in with 10 points and 4 assists. Derrick Hill entered tonight’s game as the nations leading shot blocker averaging nearly 5 per game, and added a game high 7 blocks and 8 rebounds.
The Pilots finished shooting just 38% from the field and were 7-22 from beyond the three point line. The key to the Pilots victory was forcing 28 Wolfpack turnovers which lead to 27 points. The Pilots turned the ball over 13 times.
Loyola’s leading scorer Zach Tyson finished with 17 points and a game high 9 rebounds. The Wolfpack finished shooting 46% from the field while connecting on 4-12 from beyond the three point line. With the win the Pilots improve to 15-6 on the year and remain in second place in the GCAC at 6-1. The Pilots will be back in action Saturday night at the Dock versus Spring Hill College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm.
Pilots win double overtime thriller at the Dock
JANUARY 22, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Pilots played host to the Spring Hill College Badgers Saturday night at the Dock. The Badgers entered the game winless in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference play, but took the Pilots to the limit as the Pilots and Badgers needed double overtime to settle Saturday night's contest. The Pilots hung on to win by a final score of 108-105 in a thriller at the Dock.
The Badgers jumped out to a 14-9 lead at the 13:18 mark. After two made three point attempts by 32, the Badgers built their biggest lead of the half at 26-15. A late first half run and 8 consecutive points by Pilots Travis Cash pulled the Pilots within one at the 1:50 mark, with a score of 38-37. A Freddy Hughes field goal with 0:05 remaining tied the score and sent the two teams to the locker room knotted at 40-40.
The Pilots ended the first half on a 22-9 run, which included 10 points off 11 badger turnovers and 12 second chance Pilot points. LSUS shot 38% from the field which included 5-19 three point attempts. The Badger defense held Pilots leading scorer Fredericko Payne to only 9 first half points on 3-11 shooting. Travis Cash led the Pilots offense with 11 points.
The Badgers Barkley Falkner was 4-8 shooting for 12 points and also collected 7 rebounds. The half court offense attack by the Badgers produced 20 points from the paint and resulted in the Badgers shooting 50% from the field, and 3-7 from beyond the three point line. The Badgers connected on 7-8 free throw attempts.
In the second half the score was 59-52 in favor of the Badgers at the 11:52 mark. The Badgers went on to push their lead to 65-55 with 8:44 remaining. The Pilots were able to fight their way back late in the second half when a three point basket by Justin Collins with 1:45 remaining brought the Pilots within 3, making it 82-79 Badgers. After a Badger missed field goal, Collins was fouled while driving to the basket which sent the Pilots to the line for two shots. Collins made one free throw then missed the second, but an offensive rebound by Travis cash followed by a timeout call saw the Pilots with possession of the ball down 85-82 with 0:38 remaining.
After the Pilots time-out, Collins connected on his fourth 3 pointer of the game to make the score 86-85 in favor of the Badgers. On the in bounds play the Badgers threw the ball the length of the court to a wide open Cash Covington who put in a wide open lay-up with 0:18 remaining. On the ensuing possession, Carlon Simmons drained a contested three point shot from to tie the score at 88-88, and send the game to overtime.
In the first overtime period, the pilots found themselves up 96-94 with 0:10 remaining. The Badgers moved the ball around the top of the key, content to hold the ball for last shot. A Barkley Falkner shot attempted floated through the air as time expired and banked off the backboard and in to tie the score at 96-96 with 0:00 remaining, sending the game to a second overtime session.
In the second overtime period, the score was tied 101-101 with 1:18 left. Neither team scored until Fredericko Payne drilled a three point attempt from the corner to give the Pilots a 104-101 lead with 0:20 remaining. The Badgers then turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play to give the Pilots back the ball. The Badgers immediately fouled pilots Abraham Saxson who then went to the line and made one of two free throws to give the Pilots a 105-101 lead.
Pilots Travis Cash committed a foul to send the Badgers to the line who only connected on one of two shots. Down 105- 102, the Badgers immediately fouled Payne to stop the clock and send him to the line for two shots. Payne connected on both to put the pilots up 107-102. Badgers Cash Covington connected on a three point shot from just inside the half court line with 2.9 seconds remaining to tally the score at 107-105. The Badgers were forced to foul and the Pilots connected on one of two free throws to make the score 108-105. Spring Hill was unable to gain control of the ball as time expired and the Pilots hung on to preserve a 108-105 win.
Covington was the Badgers leading scorer with 31 points; 13 of which came from the free throw line. Barkley Falkner poured in 30 points and collected a game high 16 rebounds. The Badgers finished shooting 54% from the field which included 8-21 from beyond the three point line. The Badgers finished 25-35 from the free throw line.
The Pilots finished shooting 36% from the field and were 16-37 from the three point line. Justin Collins poured in a season high 33 points to go along with 5 points and 3 rebounds. Travis Cash finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds, while Derrick Hill collected 15 rebounds and 4 blocks for the Pilots. Carlon Simmons put in 8 points off the bench for the Pilots which included a 3 point shot which kept the Pilots alive at the end of regulation.
The Pilots are now 16-6 on the year and are 7-1 in the GCAC. LSUS will play host to Dillard University next Thursday at the Dock. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm.
Pilots improve to 7-1 in last 8 games with win over Blue Devils
JANUARY 27, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Pilots (17-7, 8-1) played host to the Dillard University Blue Devils (9-7, 4-4) Thursday night at the Dock. The pilots trailed early but a 26-4 run to end the first half gave the Pilots a 42-34 halftime lead. The Pilots remained in control the entire second half and improved to 8-1 in the GCAC with an 81-72 victory over the Blue Devils.
In the first half, the Blue Devils jumped out 13-7 lead courtesy of the hot hand of Kendrick Williams who poured in 9 points in the first 4 minutes of regulation. Midway through the half, Dillard built their biggest lead of 10 points with the score 22- 12.
The Pilots gained their first lead at the 4:30 mark of the first half thanks to a 26-4 run to end the first half, and went to the locker room ahead 42-34. Fredericko Payne led the pilots with a 5-8 shooting performance collecting 15 points. Frederick Hughes was 3-3 from beyond the three point line adding 9 points, and Derrick Rogers pitched in with 8 points and 3 rebounds.
The Blue Devils shot a higher percentage in the first half connecting on 15-30 attempts while the Pilots connected on 13- 31 from the field. The difference in the half was the Pilots 9-16 shooting performance from beyond the three point line compared to a 3-10 effort by Dillard. The Pilots controlled the battle of the boards collecting 21 rebounds while Dillard had 14.
Kendrick Williams was the Blue Devils high scorer with 11, while 2 time All-American Alfredo Ott collected 8 points on 4-7 shooting.
LSUS led 51-43 at the 12:31 mark of the second half. Ott collected two quick fouls to give him 4 which found the Blue Devils leading scorer on the bench for most of the second half. The Blue Devils however cut into the Pilots lead and trailed 51-45 at the 11:48 mark.
The Pilots regained their 8 point lead at the 4:28 mark with the score 66-58 in their favor. The Pilots gained their biggest lead of the half at the 2:17 mark after two made free throws by Justin Collins. On the ensuing possession, Collins drew a charge to give the Pilots the possession. The Pilots ran the clock down to 6 on the shot clock and Collins came off a double screen and drained a three to put the Pilots up 74-62, and out of the Blue Devils reach.
The Pilots went on to win by a final score of 82-71. Fredericko Payne finished with a game high 20 points on 5-11 shooting. Derrick Rogers pitched in with 14 points while Abraham Saxson collected a game high 11 rebounds and 9 points for the Pilots. The Pilots finished the game shooting 36% from the field but were 10-23 from three point range. LSUS out rebounded the Blue Devils 44-38 and created 14 Dillard turnovers.
The Blue Devils shot 42% from the field which included a 5-21 shooting performance from the three point line. Kendrick Williams led Dillard with 18 points and 7 rebounds while teammates Dwayne Bastian, Calvin Spellmon, and Alfredo Ott all finished with 10 points.
With the win the Pilots are now 17-6 on the year and stand alone in second place at 8-1 in the GCAC. LSUS will travel to Hattiesburg, MS Saturday to take on William Carey College in GCAC action. The Pilots return to the Dock February 5th when they will play host to Southern University of New Orleans.
Pilots crush Crusaders, 102-76
JANUARY 30, 2005
Hattiesburg, MS- William Carey College men’s basketball team fell to #16 LSU-Shreveport, 102-76 Saturday night in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference play. LSUS (18-6, 9-1) jumped on the Crusaders (7-16, 3-6) early building a quick 14 point lead at 21-7 with 15:07 to play in the first half.
The Crusaders refused to go away and trimmed the Pilot lead to one, 43-42 with 1:22 to play. A 6-2 Pilot run to close the half gave LSUS a 49-44 lead at the break.
The Pilots picked up where they left off at the close of the first half and stretched their lead to 59-44 with 17:04 play.
The Crusaders would trim the Pilot lead to 11 with 7:55 to play, but could get no closer as the Pilots pulled away, 102-76.
Four Crusaders scored in double figures led by Renaldo Dorsey with 24 points. Anthony Barnes added 16 points. Jeremy Irby chipped in with 13 points, while J.R. Willis added 11 points.
Fredericko Payne poured in 38 points, going 10 for 22 from downtown to lead the Pilots. Derrick Rogers added 24 points.
(Press release courtesy of William Carey College Sports Information)
Pilots improve to 13th in latest NAIA Polls
FEBRUARY 01, 2005
Shreveport, LA—The LSUS Pilots have compiled an 18-6 overall record this season and are currently in second place in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference at 8-1 behind the undefeated University of Mobile Rams (19-3, 8-0). The Pilots picked up wins versus Dillard University and William Carey College this week which elevated their national ranking from 16th to 13th.
The Pilots have 8 games remaining before post season play begins which includes a February 12 rematch between the 5th ranked Rams and the 13th ranked Pilots. The Rams defeated the Pilots at the Dock January 15, 108-101.
LSUS has three remaining home games in the 2005 season which include February 15th versus Southern University of New Orleans; February 17th versus Tougaloo College; and February 26th versus William Carey College.
Division I Men's Basketball Rating #7 - February 1, 2005
Rank Last Week Institution 1st Place Votes Record Total Points
1 1 Mountain State (W.Va.) 11 23-1 299
2 2 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 20-1 286
3 3 Southern Polytechnic (Ga.) 1 20-1 279
4 5 Robert Morris (Ill.) 18-3 252 5 6 Mobile (Ala.) 19-3 251
6 4 Oklahoma Christian 19-2 241
7 10 Cumberland (Ky.) 16-3 212
8 11 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 18-5 204
9 15 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 17-5 202
10 6 Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) 18-5 199
11 9 McKendree (Ill.) 18-5 170
12 8 Biola (Calif.) 20-3 169
13 16 LSU-Shreveport (La.) 18-6 162
14 14 Georgetown (Ky.) 18-3 134
15 13 St. Xavier (Ill.) 19-4 121
16 NR Northwestern Oklahoma 14-7 120
17 12 Oklahoma City 13-5 80
18 17 Concordia (Calif.) 17-5 77
19 25 Westminster (Utah) 16-7 75
20 22 Langston (Okla.) 14-5 74
21 20 North Georgia 15-5 67
22 19 Cumberland (Tenn.) 14-7 55
23 21 Lubbock Christian (Texas) 13-6 38
24 NR Houston Baptist (Texas) 14-6 33
25 NR Carroll (Mont.) 18-5 27
Others Receiving Votes: Union (Tenn.), 21; Brescia (Ky.), 11; California Baptist, 9; Xavier (La.), 7; Missouri Baptist, 6; Texas Wesleyan, 6; Wayland Baptist (Texas), 5; Berry (Ga.), 4; Pikeville (Ky.), 2; Montana-Western, 1; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), 1.
Pilots win 5th straight with 101-80 win over Blazers
FEBRUARY 04, 2005
Jackson, MS---The LSUS Pilots (19-6, 10-1) traveled to Jackson, MS Thursday night to take on the Belhaven College Blazers (11-8, 5-5) in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference action. The two teams went to the locker room tied at 43-43 at the half, but the Pilots dominated the second half and went on to win by a final score of 101-80. Danuel James opened the scoring at 19:50 of the first half, draining his first three point attempt of the game. The Pilots Fredericko Payne answered immediately with a three of his own at the 19:40 mark. The Pilots failed to score again until the 15:08 mark when Payne drilled his second three pointer to cut the Blazers lead to 12-6.
Belhaven pushed their lead to 16-6 with 13:38 remaining in the first half after James Bryant connected on two free throw attempts. On the ensuing possession, Pilots spark plug Justin Collins drove the lane and was fouled on a made field goal attempt. Collins connected on his single free throw attempt to cut the lead to 16-9, and sparked a 20-9 Pilot run. The Pilots earned their first lead of the ball game at the 7:45 mark when Freddy Hughes went coast-to-coast and for an uncontested lay-up and put the Pilots up 26-25.
Hughes capped off the first half with a made three point attempt with :20 remaining, tying the score at 43-43, and giving the Pilots the momentum going to the locker room at halftime.
The Blazers shot 46% (15-33) in the first half which included a 6-14 performance from beyond the three point line and 7-7 from the free throw line. LSUS shot 39% (12-31) which included 7-16 from three point land and 12-15 from the free throw line.
In the second half, Collins drained a three point shot from the top of the arc to put the Pilots ahead 50-47 with 17:30 remaining. The Blazers called a timeout at the 13:53 mark after Pilots Derrick Sowell ripped down 1 of his game high 4 offensive rebounds and laid in 2 of his 9 points to put LSUS ahead 60-51.
Fredericko Payne and Freddy Hughes each drilled three point attempts on back-to-back possessions to give the Pilots their largest lead of the game at 70-57 with 9:58 remaining. Tremechi Evans connected on two free throw attempts after a Belhaven timeout to make the score 70-59 and started an 11-2 Blazers run. Evans capped off the Blazers comeback draining 2-2 bonus free throw attempts and pulling the Blazers to within 4 with the score 72-68, which forced the Pilots to call a timeout and regroup.
A tremendous solo effort to get to the basket for a lay-up by Hughes out of the Pilots timeout which was followed by made three point attempts from Payne and Sowell put the Pilots out of the Blazers reach. The Pilots finished the second half on a 29-12 run which was capped off by a transition alley-oop pass from Hughes to Sowell who slammed the ball home and put an exclamation point on the Pilots 19th win of the season.
The Blazers shot 48% (28-58) from the field in the losing effort and were 9-22 from the three point line. Kirt Arceneaux led the Blazers with 19 points on 7-11 shooting. James Bryant pitched in with 14 points and a game high 9 rebounds.
Pilots leading scorer Fredericko Payne who is currently leading the country in scoring averaging 26.7 per contest collected a game high 29 points on 8-15 shooting. Justin Collins connected on 13-15 free throw attempts and collected 22 points and 5 assist while only committing a single turnover in 29 minutes of action. Freddy Hughes pitched in with 16 points, three assists, and two steals off the bench for the Pilots, while teammates Derrick Sowell and Derrick Rogers had 9 points a piece. Travis Cash continued his tough play off the bench for the Pilots collecting a team high 7 rebounds and was 2-2 from the three point line in his 21 minutes of action. Carlon Simmons and David Walker each finished with 3 points while Derrick Hill and Abraham Saxson each had 2 points in a game which had every Pilot score 2 or more points.
The Pilots finished the game shooting 48% (29-61) from the field which included 12-28 from the three point line, and an impressive 31-38 from the free throw line.
“We are playing very well as team and are very pleased with our progress so far this season. The thing we must realize is that there is not much time to enjoy a win as we must lace’m up and get ready to play a very tough SUNO squad Saturday night at the Dock,” concluded head coach Chad McDowell after a very impressive win over the Blazers Thursday night.
The Pilots will play host to the Southern University of New Orleans Knights Saturday night at the Dock in the first of their three remaining home games of the year. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm
LSUS rallies past conference foe SUNO
FEBRUARY 07, 2005
Southern University of New Orleans had the muscle and the lead, but LSUS made the plays down the stretch Saturday night at The Dock. Thanks to Fredericko Payne's 26 points and plenty of help from his teammates, the Pilots rallied from behind for a crucial 81-78 victory over SUNO in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference basketball action.
The victory allowed LSUS (20-6, 11-1) to stay on the heels of league-leader Mobile College, which was undefeated entering play Saturday. SUNO fell to 11-7 overall and 6-5 in the conference.
LSUS, trailing 74-70 with 3:37 left on the clock, was able to turn the tide following a time out.
"We executed a set play with Rico (Payne) coming off a double screen to hit a three," LSUS Coach Chad McDowell explained. "They (SUNO) are long and quick. We concentrated on putting a body on everybody. I can't believe we outrebounded them in the first half."
The Pilots finally tied the score at 75-75 on a pair of free throws by who else-Payne. That came with 2:41 remaining.
Travis Cash then put LSU ahead 77-75 on a layup 14 seconds later.
But when Jamal Joseph fired up a 3-point attempt for SUNO with time expiring on the shot clock, he was fouled.
The Knights' guard calmly sank all three free throws to put SUNO back on top 78-77 with 1:54 left.
Justin Collins, a product of Airline High School, sank a pair of free throws to give LSUS the lead for good at 79-78 with 1:44 remaining.
Payne helped ice the game with two more free throws with 7.8 seconds on the clock and the Pilots were able to hold off a desperation 30-footer by SUNO's Deylor Amorin.
"We just don't have a true point guard," said SUNO coach Earl "The Pearl" Hill, a 1968 all-stater at Bossier City's Charlotte Mitchell High School. "That hurts us but we did rebound and get after them better in the second half."
SUNO actually scored six more field goals (28-22) than LSUS, but the Pilots were torrid from the free throw stripe. LSUS shot 84.6 percent (21-25) from the charity line while SUNO hit just 11 of 16.
"We couldn't hit some of our shots in the second half," said Payne, who was 7-of-16 from the field but perfect (9-9) with his free throws. "They (SUNO) played good defense but we were able to make our free throws."
LSUS, which held a 43-40 lead at intermission, stormed to an early lead behind the play of Payne. It was Payne's layup that provided the Pilots with their largest lead (27-17) with 7:36 left in the first half.
Derrick Hill, a 6-foot-8 center, snared a game-high 17 rebounds to help LSUS win the battle of the boards 50-43 over the much bigger Knights. Collins (13), Derrick Sowell (13) and Derrick Rogers (12) were Payne's supporting cast offensively.
Pilots drop from 13th to 14th in NAIA Polls
FEBRUARY 09, 2005
Shreveport, LA---Despite going 2-0 on the week with an 81-78 win over the Southern University of New Orleans and a 101-80 win over Belhaven, the LSUS Pilots dropped one spot in the NAIA national rankings this week. The Pilots are currently ranked 14th in the country with a rematch versus the 3rd ranked University of Mobile Rams scheduled for 7:00pm Saturday night in Mobile, AL. The Rams remain undefeated in the GCAC and are responsible for the Pilots only loss in conference play as they defeated the Pilots 108-101, January 15th, at the Dock.
Division I Men's Basketball Rating #8 - February 8, 2005
Rank Last Week Institution 1st Place Votes Record Total Points
1 3 Southern Polytechnic (Ga.) 10 23-1 298
2 1 Mountain State (W.Va.) 2 23-2 279 3 5 Mobile (Ala.) 22-3 264
4 2 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 21-2 261
5 6 Oklahoma Christian 21-2 257
6 4 Robert Morris (Ill.) 20-3 256
7 9 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 19-5 220
8 10 Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) 19-5 215
9 7 Cumberland (Ky.) 18-4 191
10 11 McKendree (Ill.) 20-5 182
11 12 Biola (Calif.) 21-3 168
12 14 Georgetown (Ky.) 20-3 163
13 8 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 19-6 160
14 13 LSU-Shreveport (La.) 20-6 157
15 16 Northwestern Oklahoma 16-7 132
16 15 St. Xavier (Ill.) 21-4 127
17 20 Langston (Okla.) 16-5 86
18 NR Union (Tenn.) 16-7 79
19 17 Oklahoma City 14-6 65
20 24 Houston Baptist (Texas) 16-6 53
21 19 Westminster (Utah) 17-8 52
22 21 North Georgia 18-6 46
23 22 Cumberland (Tenn.) 15-8 40
24 NR California Baptist 17-6 37
25 NR Brescia (Ky.) 18-5 35
Others Receiving Votes:Carroll (Mont.), 34; Lubbock Christian (Texas), 14; Missouri Baptist, 14; Pikeville (Ky.), 5; Xavier (La.), 5; Concordia (Calif.), 2; Montana-Western, 1; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), 1; Reinhardt (Ga.), 1
GCAC Announces Basketball Players of the Week
FEBRUARY 09, 2005
HATTIESBURG, Miss – The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference today announced the players of the week for the week of January 31-February 6, 2005.
Fredericko Payne of LSUS was selected as the men's player of the week. Payne averaged 27.5 points, 3 rebounds and 3.5 steals in leading the Pilots to victories over Belhaven and SUNO. He shot 48.4% from the floor (50% from the three point line) in those two games and 89.5% from the free throw line. He has led the team in scoring the past five games, scoring 20 points or better each game, which has contributed to a six game win streak for LSUS, and is currently the leading scorer in the NAIA. This is the third time this season that he has been selected GCAC men's player of the week. Fredericko is a 5-10 junior guard from Dubach, Louisiana.
Men's Basketball Coach Chad McDowell to Highlight National Radio Show
FEBRUARY 11, 2005
The show will showcase this Saturday's key Gulf Coast Conference match-up agianst #3 University of Mobile. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in Mobile, Alabama.
Also, check out the national NAIA sports page at www.naiabasketball.net (http://www.naiabasketball.net). You can voice your opinion and see what other are saying about the Pilots.
No. 14 Pilots top No. 3 Rams 90 - 78 to gain share of first in GCAC By Tommy Hicks (Sports Reporter)
FEBRUARY 14, 2005
Streaking was canceled at the University of Mobile Saturday night by LSU-Shreveport. The visitors, ranked No. 14 in the NAIA poll, used their high-powered offense to hand the No. 3-ranked Rams a 90-78 loss at Pharr Gymnasium, ending several winning streaks for Mobile.
Not only did the Rams lose their streaks, they also lost their advantage in the Gulf Coast Athleitc Conference.
The loss dropped Mobile to 23-4 overall and 12-1 in the GCAC and ended a 23-game winning streak on its home floor (17 of those collected this season) and a 17-game win streak dating to a late November loss to Treveccan Nazarene.
LSU-Shreveport (21-6, 12-1) is tied with the Rams for first place in the GCAC standings. If the teams remain tied for first at the end of the regular season and all the tie-breakers used to determine the champion fail to determine a winner, the regular-season title could be determined by a coin toss. With that title - and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament March 1-5 in New Orleans - goes one of the GCAC's two automatic berths to the NAIA national tournament.
"They came in and took it to us," Mobile coach Joe Niland said. "They did a great job. They were ready to play and they played well and stuck to their game plan."
"We played very poor on defense. Very, very poor. We tried to do too much and we didn't move with any energy, but (LSU-Shreveport) had a lot to do with that."
The Pilots grabbed control of the game in the final four minutes of the first half. Mobile had taken one of its few leads when Gime Lewis scored in the paint to make it 32-30. The Pilots made back-to-back baskets, and Mobile's Ravi Amunagama hit a pair of free throws to knot things at 34-34 with 3:54 to play.
From there, LSU-Shreveport scored nine unanswered points before Mobile managed a Tramaine Perry free throw with 53 seconds to go. Justin Collins then hit a 3-pointer for LSU-Shreveport 30 seconds later to give the Pilots a 13-1 run and a 47-35 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Rams made a couple of runs at the Pilots' lead - cutting the deficit to 63-57 with 9:30 left and to 77-70 with 2:15 to go - but each time LSU-Shreveport made short runs to end Mobile's momentum.
The Rams were led by Lewis' 21 points and 14 rebounds. He was 7-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-7 at the free-throw line. Gabe Feagin scored 20 points and handed out eight assists. Chris Bolden finished with 13 points and Tramaine Perry had 10 points and 10 rebounds, but was just 4-of-15 from the floor (including an 0-for-5 effort from 3-point range) and 2-for-6 at the free throw line.
Mobile committed 21 turnovers and shot a light 9-of-32 from 3-point range.
Fredericko Payne, the leading scorer in NAIA, bettered his 26.7-points-a-game average with 28 points, hitting just 8-of-20 shots but making 5-of-11 3-point tries. Justin Collins scored 18 points, including a 3-of-3 showing from behind the arc. Derrick Sowell scored 15, with Derrick Rogers getting 11.
The victory avenged a 108-101 loss to Mobile on its home floor for LSU-Shreveport in January and extended the Pilots' win streak to seven games.
Mobile has three games this week, beginning with trips to Tougaloo on Monday and Belhaven on Thursday. It returns home Saturday to face Xavier. LSU-Shreveport stays in town to play at Spring Hill College Monday night.
Pilots defeat Badgers 86-79 for 22nd win of the season; New LSUS record
FEBRUARY 15, 2005
Mobile, AL---After a win Saturday night over the 3rd ranked University of Mobile, the LSUS Pilots went into Spring Hill College looking to build on a 7 game winning streak, and hoped to set a new LSUS record for wins in a season with 22. The Pilots did just that with an 86-79 win over the Badgers.
The Pilots jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first half and never looked back. The Pilots led 46-38 at the half, and managed to hold off and early second half run by the Badgers to improve to 22-6 overall and 13-1 in conference. Fredericko Payne led all scorers with 28 points, while Justin Collins pitched in with 16, and Derrick Rogers finished with 11.
The Pilots will be in action again Thursday night at the Dock versus Tougaloo College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm.
LSUS men grab wild win over Tougaloo
FEBRUARY 18, 2005
February 18, 2005 By Pesky Hill
Special to The Times
It was wild and wooly at The Dock Thursday night -- but the LSUS Pilots stayed the course and steered their way to a 94- 86 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference victory over Tougaloo College.
The game was marred by five technical fouls, one ejection and 37 turnovers.
"We don't mind it being chaotic," LSUS coach Chad McDowell said. "But we don't want it to be sloppy. There just never was a flow to the game."
Despite falling behind 14-3 in the first four minutes of the game, LSUS won its ninth straight game and 13th of its last 14 The Pilots(23-6) are tied for the GCAC lead with the University of Mobile with a 14-1 record. Tougaloo dropped to 8-17 overall and 3-12 in the conference.
Fredricko Payne, held to seven points in the first half, sparked the Pilots in the second half and finished with 26. But Payne had plenty of help.
Derrick Sowell, a 6-foot-1 leaper from the tiny community of Natchez, had back-to-back dunks and three overall in the second half. Sowell had 11 points and six rebounds.
Former Huntington High product Derrick Rogers worked his way for 20 points and 10 rebounds while Fredrick Hughes added 20 points.
The second technical foul and ejection of Tougaloo's Dennis Holder seemed to give the Pilots a spark with 6:09 left in the first half. LSUS parlayed the free throws into a 24-23 lead -- their first of the game-and roared to a 41-32 cushion at intermission.
Payne and Rogers provided most of the scoring.
Sowell's first dunk gave LSUS its biggest lead at 72-56 with 11:17 left in the game.
However, coach Broderick Owens' Bulldogs actually cut the margin to six points on a 3-pointer by Marquis Lowe with 3:35 remaining.
Fortunately for the Pilots, Justin Collins and Rogers helped the Pilots secure the win down the stretch and keep the Pilots on top of the conference race.
Pilots to play for GCAC championship Saturday night at the Dock
FEBRUARY 25, 2005
Shreveport, LA---When you combine the ingredients of the nation’s leading scorer in Fredericko Payne (26.0pg), the nation’s leading shot blocker in Derrick Hill (3.93pg), the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference’s third leading scorer in Derrick Rogers (17.0pg), the senior leadership of point guard Justin Collins, and arguably the most athletic small forward in the nation, Derrick Sowell, along with a supporting cast of Freddy Hughes, Travis Cash, Abraham Saxon, David Walker, and Carlon Simmons, you have the recipe for a 24-7 regular season record, and a chance at an NAIA National Tournament automatic bid with a win Saturday night versus the William Carey College Crusaders (11-20, 7-10).
Despite suffering their toughest loss of the season Saturday, February 19 when the Loyola University Wolfpack defeated LSUS 73-72 (which knocked the Pilots into sole possession of second place, one game behind the University of Mobile Rams), the combination of an 86-82 Pilots victory over the Dillard University Blue Devils Thursday night, and a 79-68 loss by the Rams at the hands of Southern University of New Orleans, have the two teams tied for top spot in the GCAC with conference records of 15-2. The nationally ranked #4 Rams and the #11 Pilots split their regular season series 1-1, with each team defeating the other on their opponent’s home court. Due to the GCAC regular season rules, LSUS currently holds the upper hand on becoming the conference champion if a tie-breaker is needed. The original tie-breaker would be decided by the two team’s head-to-head record, in which they their regular season series. The next step in the tie-breaker is then decided by who has the best record in head-to-head action against the next highest seed in the conference. Xavier University of New Orleans currently stands in third place with a 12-5 GCAC record, with two losses coming at the hands of the Pilots, and two more at the hands of the Rams.
With both the Pilots and the Rams having 2-0 records versus Xavier, the tie-breaker would then move to head-to-head record versus the fourth place Southern University of New Orleans Knights who are 11-6 in the GCAC. The Pilots trailed by as many as 21 points January 8th, but came back to defeat the Knights 91-82 on the road, and the Pilots picked up their second win of the season versus the Knights February 5th in an 81-78 thriller at the Dock.
The Rams defeated the Knights 78-68 in New Orleans January 27th, but dropped a 79-68 decision at home versus the Knights Thursday night to split the season series 1-1, giving the Pilots the better record versus the next highest seeded conference opponent, and the upper hand in the GCAC regular season tie-breaker.
Saturday night will be the conclusion of the 2004-2005 GCAC regular season play with the Pilots matched up against the William Carey College Crusaders, and the Rams will face the Spring Hill College Badgers. The Pilots hold their own destiny as a win Saturday night will clinch the GCAC regular season championship, and guarantee the Pilots a birth in the NAIA National Championship Tournament in Kansas City, MO, March 16-22.
“We are very excited and very proud of the fact that we have created an opportunity to ply for the GCAC regular season championship,” commented head coach Chad McDowell.
On a night when team anticipation and excitement will be at its peak, the Pilots will pay tribute to the accomplishments and participation of their 5 seniors, David Walker, Justin Collins, Derrick Hill, Derrick Rogers, and Abraham Saxon before tip-off at 7:00pm.
When asked about the senior recognition night and the contributions these five players have made to LSUS, coach McDowell concluded, “Our seniors are a very talented bunch of young men, but more importantly they are guys that know the definition of hard work, discipline, character, and leadership, and they have displayed these qualities from day one. They have led the charge in laying the foundation of our LSUS men's basketball program and have accomplished so many things in just two years. We are thankful that we had the opportunity to be a part of their lives and are grateful for the contribution they have made to our basketball family, our university, and this community. These guys will be missed and will never be forgotten. This group of seniors is the type that you wish you could keep around forever and just tell them their only job is to hang around our team and teach them how to be quality young men and teach them what it means to be a good teammate. They will forever be a part of our LSUS basketball family and I am sure each one of them knows how much I love them and how much I appreciate everything they have done for our basketball family. Seniors, thank you and Coach McDowell loves you and will never forget you.”
GCAC Basketball Conference Tournament Welcome Kit
FEBRUARY 27, 2005
GCAC Basketball Conference Tournament Welcome Kit You can click on this link to view the GCAC Basketball Conference Welcome Kit. Be advised this will run an .exe file which will display a fax copy. http://home.comcast.net/~cknight1001/GCAC/GCAC_Tourney Seedings announced for the GCAC Men and Women's Basketball Tournament
FEBRUARY 27, 2005
Seedings announced for the GCAC Men and Women's Basketball Tournament The following is the seeding for the men and women's basketball tournaments. Times for the games will be announced sometime Sunday afternoon.
Women Men
1. Xavier 1. LSUS
2. Mobile 2. Mobile 3. Loyola 3. Xavier
4. Dillard 4. SUNO
5. SUNO 5, Dillard
6. Spring Hill 6. William Carey
7. LSUS 7. Belhaven
8. William Carey 8. Tougaloo
9. Belhaven 9. Loyola
10. Tougaloo 10. Spring Hill
Fredericko Payne named GCAC player of the week for the fourth time this season
MARCH 01, 2005
HATTIESBURG, Miss – The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference today announced the players of the week for the week of February 21 - 27, 2005. Fredericko Payne of LSUS was selected as the men's player of the week for the 4th time this season. Payne averaged 22.5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals in leading the Pilots to victories over Dillard and William Carey. He recorded 29 points in the victory over the Crusaders which gave LSUS a share of the regular season conference title and the number 1 seed in the conference tournament. Fredericko is a 5-10 junior guard from Dubach, LA.
LSUS Conference Tournament games to be broadcast on ibn.ihigh.com
MARCH 02, 2005
New Orleans, LA---The LSUS Pilots run in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament will be broadcast on ibn.ihigh.com. Travis Shurling and Casey Collins will broadcast all the action live from Fogelman Arena on the Tulane University campus. LSUS will begin play Wednesday night at 10 p.m.against Tougaloo College.
Chad McDowell to Highlight NAIA Sports Talk Show Tonight
MARCH 02, 2005
Pilots head coach Chad McDowell will be a guest on the NAIA's national talk show. The show airs tonight at 7:00 p.m. You can find the show on the internet at www.naiasportstalk.com.
Pilots survive 68-67 thriller versus Tougaloo to advance to GCAC semi-final
MARCH 03, 2005
New Orleans, LA-Just when one would think that it wasn’t meant for the LSUS Pilots to win their first round game of the GCAC tournament against Tougaloo College, Justin Collins pushed the basketball up the floor with 7 seconds left and dished off to Travis Cash sprinting down the left side of the floor for the winning lay-up with 1.5 seconds remaining. After a desperation shot from Tougaloo that never reached the goal, LSUS limped off the floor with an old tournament motto: “survive and advance.” The Pilots literally were slow to get off the floor as they experienced something on this night that hasn’t happened to them before. The night could have not started any worse as the Pilots lost one of their players during warm-ups. Abraham Saxon collided with David Walker during warm-ups which resulted in not only a bloody nose, but even worse, a trip to the emergency room to find out that the nose was broken. The Pilots tried to overcome the loss of a key teammate early trying to get out to a good start, but Tougaloo had different plans. The first half belonged to Tougaloo’s Jeffrey Dixon who poured in 17 points. His scoring performance was just a part of the Bulldogs success shooting the ball as they were an astounding 61% from the field during the first 20 minutes of play. LSUS continued to battle despite shooting 20% (2-10) from behind the arc and making only 3 of 6 free throws during the first half. Tougaloo went in at halftime with a 40 – 37 lead.
The Pilots were looking to pick up the intensity and the speed of the game in the second half, but struggled to get anything going. Little did the Pilots know that the last 5 minutes of the game would be played without an injured Derrick Rogers and the last 3 minutes without Derrick Sowell. Rogers suffered an injury to his hand that prevented him from returning and Sowell was banged up all over. The last thing Coach McDowell was looking for was for another one of their players to look at him with a grimace of pain. Derrick Hill did just that saying that his back was hurting and he required several breaks down the stretch. Abraham Saxon came up big for the injured Hill as he took two charges on successive trips. “Those charges were as big as they come. We were so happy for Abe to play well with him already feeling so bad about the unfortunate situation with David Walker,” commented Pilots head coach Chad McDowell.
LSUS knew they must continue to scrap and play as hard as they could. The fans of the Pilots know that they have found so many ways to win close games this year and why would tonight be any different. One would have began to doubt the victory with 7 seconds left after a made basket by Tougaloo’s Derrick Jarvis gave the Bulldogs a one point lead (67- 66). After the made basket, the ball was immediately in bounded to Justin Collins for the Pilots who began to sprint up the floor with the ball. As Justin crossed half court, he realized that Travis Cash was sprinting down the left side of the floor and looked like he would be open. Cash took the pass from Collins and proceeded to make the left-handed lay-up with only 1.5 seconds remaining. Tougaloo called a time-out to draw up one last play, but were unable to get what they wanted and were forced to throw up a desperation shot. The Pilots “survived and advanced” and they are excited about the opportunity to play in the semi-finals of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference tournament. The Pilots will play Dillard University tonight at 8:00 p.m. in Foglemann Arena located on the campus of Tulane University.
Each game during this tournament can be heard via internet. See www.lsus.edu/mensbasketball// for details.
Pilots Begin Preparation for NAIA National Tournament
MARCH 08, 2005
The seeding, game time, and opponent will be announced tomorrow afternoon, March 9th, at 6:00 pm. The Pilots are hard at work preparing for what they hope is a special ending to a special season. The Pilots are hoping for a top 15 seed in the tournament after finishing the season ranked 7th in the national poll. "We feel our team earned the number seven ranking we received at the end of the regular season. Being our first time to be in the national tournament, we really don't know what to expect on the seeding. We know that there is a lot that goes into the seeding process, so we just trust that the committee will do the best job they know how to do. We must realize that there will be no easy match-ups at the national tournament. Therefore, we are not as concerned about our seed as much as focusing on playing our best basketball,” commented head coach Chad McDowell on the upcoming trip to Kansas City.
You can check out all the NAIA National Tournament action at www. naiahoopskc.org.
#10 LSUS to square off against Cumberland (KY) in round one of NAIA National Tournament
MARCH 09, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Pilots (26-8) have drawn the #10 seed at the 2005 NAIA Men’s Division I Basketball National Tournament. The Pilots will square off against Cumberland University (22-8) of Kentucky in round one at 4:00pm Thursday afternoon in Kansas City, MO.
First Round – Wednesday, March 16-Thursday, March17#1 Mountain State (W.Va.) (29-3) vs. Columbia (Mo.) (21-13), Wednesday 8:45 p.m. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (25-8) vs. #16 Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) (24-7), Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. #9 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (25-9) vs. Houston Baptist (Texas) (23-9), Wednesday, 10:30 p.m. Brescia (Ky.) (24-7) vs. #8 Oklahoma Christian (26-6), Wednesday, 6:15 p.m. #5 Georgetown (Ky.) (26-5) vs. Georgia Southwestern (22-8), Thursday, 12:30 p.m. Oklahoma Baptist (23-10) vs. #12 Westminster (Utah) (23-9), Thursday, 10:45 a.m. #13 Lubbock Christian (Texas) (21-9) vs. California Baptist (23-9), Thursday, 2:15 p.m. Xavier (La.) (24-9) vs. #4 Robert Morris (Ill.) (26-4), Thursday, 9 a.m. #3 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (29-3) vs. Faulkner (Ala.) (19-14), Wednesday, 12:30 p.m. Langston (Okla.) (24-7) vs. #14 St. Xavier (Ill.) (28-6), Wednesday, 10:45 a.m. #11 Concordia (Calif.) (26-8) vs. #22 Carroll (Mont) (25-6), Wednesday, 2:15 p.m. Oklahoma City (19-11) vs. #6 Mobile (Ala.) (30-5), Wednesday, 9 a.m. #7 Union (Tenn.) (24-8) vs. John Brown (Ark.) (19-11), Thursday, 8 p.m. Cumberland (Ky.) (22-8) vs. #10 Louisiana State-Shreveport (26-8), Thursday, 4:30 p.m. #15 Missouri Baptist (24-8) vs. Biola (Calif.) (26-7), Thursday, 9:45 p.m. Voorhees (S.C.) (14-16) vs. #2 Southern Polytechnic (Ga.) (31-3), Thursday, 6:15 p.m.
Second Round – Friday, March 18 4:30 p.m. 6:15 p.m. 12:30 p.m. 2:15 p.m. 9 a.m. 10:45 a.m. 8 p.m. 9:45 p.m.
Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 19 6 p.m. 4 p.m. 2 p.m. 8 p.m.
Semifinals - Monday, March 218 p.m. 6 p.m.
Championship – Tuesday, March 22 8 p.m.
Chronological Order First Round Wednesday, March 16Oklahoma City (19-11) vs. #6 Mobile (Ala.) (30-5), 9 a.m. Langston (Okla.) (24-7) vs. #14 St. Xavier (Ill.) (28-6), 10:45 a.m. #3 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (29-3) vs. Faulkner (Ala.) (19-14), 12:30 p.m. #11 Concordia (Calif.) (26-8) vs. #22 Carroll (Mont) (25-6), 2:15 p.m. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (25-8) vs. #16 Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) (24-7), 4:30 p.m. Brescia (Ky.) (24-7) vs. #8 Oklahoma Christian (26-6), 6:15 p.m. #1 Mountain State (W.Va.) (29-3) vs. Columbia (Mo.) (21-13), 8:45 p.m. #9 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (25-9) vs. Houston Baptist (Texas) (23-9), 10:30 p.m. Thursday, March 17Xavier (La.) (24-9) vs. #4 Robert Morris (Ill.) (26-4), Thursday, 9 a.m. Oklahoma Baptist (23-10) vs. #12 Westminster (Utah) (23-9), Thursday, 10:45 a.m. #5 Georgetown (Ky.) (26-5) vs. Georgia Southwestern (22-8), Thursday, 12:30 p.m. #13 Lubbock Christian (Texas) (21-9) vs. California Baptist (23-9), Thursday, 2:15 p.m. Cumberland (Ky.) (22-8) vs. #10 Louisiana State-Shreveport (26-8), Thursday, 4:30 p.m. Voorhees (S.C.) (14-16) vs. #2 Southern Polytechnic (Ga.) (31-3), Thursday, 6:15 p.m.
#7 Union (Tenn.) (24-8) vs. John Brown (Ark.) (19-11), Thursday, 8 p.m. #15 Missouri Baptist (23-8) vs. Biola (Calif.) (26-7), Thursday, 9:45 p.m
Pilots rack up on GCAC honors
MARCH 09, 2005
In just two years of re-instating their men’s basketball program at LSUS, the Pilots have made their presence felt in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. They accumulated seven awards last week when the All-Conference team was released.
For the second year in a row, head coach Chad McDowell, has been named as the GCAC Men’s Coach of the Year. He has led the Pilots to a regular season championship and a # 7 ranking nationally. The Pilots are preparing this week for the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City, Mo. The bracket will be released Wednesday, March 9, 2005, at 6 p.m.
The rest of the nominations for the conference was dominated by LSUS Pilots as well. They placed four members on the All-Conference team and also earned Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year Awards.
Justin Collins, a 5’10 senior point guard from Bossier City’s Airline High School, was named to the all-conference team. Justin was the seventh leading scorer in the conference averaging 14 points. He was 3rd in the conference in both assists and free throw percentage.
Derrick Rogers, a 6’5 senior shooting guard from Shreveport’s Huntington High School, was another Pilot selected to the all-conference team. Derrick was the 3rd leading scorer in the conference averaging over 17 points a game and shooting over 40% from behind the arc. Derrick Hill, a 6’8 transfer from Midwestern State University, earned two honors this season for his outstanding play. Derrick Hill led both the conference and the nation in blocked shots averaging 4.5 a game. He also led the conference in rebounding averaging 11 boards a game. This stat was good enough to rank him 5th in the country. For these numbers, Derrick was named to the All-Conference team and was selected as the GCAC Newcomer of the Year.
Fredericko Payne, a 5’10 junior shooting guard, transferred from Northwestern State University last season and has garnered many awards since arriving on LSUS’ campus. Payne was named the GCAC Player of the Year this season and has the numbers to be considered for NAIA National Player of the Year. Payne is leading the nation in scoring averaging 25.8 points a game and is 4th in steals with an average of 3 per game. Fredericko has been named the GCAC Player of the Week on three different occasions this year alone. Last year, Payne was selected as an NAIA honorable mention All-American.
NAIA National Tournament Webcast
MARCH 16, 2005
Kansas City, MO---Everyone can follow the progress of the LSUS PIlots by going to: http://www.naia.org/basketball/mdi/championship/2005/bracket.html The Pilots are scheduled to be in action tomorrow at 4:30pm versus Cumberland University.
LSUS advances in double overtime March 18, 2005 By David Mitchell
MARCH 18, 2005
LSUS advances in double overtime March 18, 2005 By David Mitchell [email protected]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- It looked as if LSU-Shreveport's first trip to the NAIA men's basketball tournament would be a short one Thursday when the 10th-seeded Pilots trailed Cumberland (Ky.) 31-22 at halftime, but LSUS rallied for a 79-75 victory in double overtime.
"This is our first trip," said LSUS coach Chad McDowell, "and we are having the time of our lives."
Unseeded Cumberland, which was making its fourth postseason appearance in five years, looked like the more seasoned team when Jacob Elder's 3-pointer gave the Patriots (22-9) a 31-20 lead with 39 seconds left in the first half.
LSUS guard Fredericko Payne, the nation's leading scorer at 25.8 points per game, didn't score until there was one minute left in the half. Payne struggled with a cold and Elder's defense, finishing 4 of 22 from the field, but he made all eight of his free-throw attempts and finished with 16 points.
"Derrick Rogers and Justin Collins carried us," Payne said of the seniors, who combined for 37 points. "They're great players."
The Pilots (27-8) opened the second half with a 10-2 run and later tied it at 35 on a three-point play by Rogers.
"I realized Rico was struggling," said Rogers, who scored four points in an 8-0 run that gave the Pilots a 47-43 lead with 6:08 remaining. "Me being a senior, it was my responsibility to step up and shoulder the load until Rico got back on track."
Cumberland sank two 3-pointers in the final minute of regulation, including a buzzer-beater by Elder that tied it at 57. Elder, who matched teammate Brent Vernon with 19 points, tied it again at 66 with 3.2 seconds left in the first OT.
"That was the most fun we had all year," said Cumberland coach Don Butcher, who saw three of his players foul out. "Not only was the competition high, but the play was high too. This is one that you appreciate when it's done, even when you lose. Our guys showed a lot of character."
LSUS backup center Abraham Saxon, who had 11 points, completed a three-point play with 1:51 left in the second overtime and scored again with 57 seconds left for a 75-72 lead.
Cumberland appeared to tie it up on Elder's 3-pointer with 51.3 seconds left, but Butcher called his final timeout as the guard released the shot. Terico Smothers missed a shot after the timeout, and Payne sank four foul shots in the final 24.8 seconds.
"We knew he'd make his free throws," McDowell said. "That was clutch shooting down the stretch."
Derrick Sowell added 11 points and 11 rebounds for LSUS, which will play John Brown (Ark.), an 84-72 winner over Union, Tenn., at 8 tonight at Municipal Auditorium.
Check out all the pictures of the NAIA national tournament in the PHOTO section under the Men's Basketball tab.
LSUS OUTLASTS CUMBERLAND (KY.) IN DOUBLE OVERTIME, 79-75
MARCH 18, 2005
Game #13 - First Round March 17, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LSU-SHREVEPORT OUTLASTS CUMBERLAND (KY.) IN DOUBLE OVERTIME, 79-75
(Kansas City, Mo.)— Louisiana State University-Shreveport needed two overtimes to post a 79-75 victory against Cumberland College (Ky.) in the first round of the 2005 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship Thursday at Municipal Auditorium.
Derrick Rogers collected a team-high 20 points as the Pilots won the first multiple-overtime game at the national tournament in four years, when Lubbock Christian University (Texas) edged Georgetown College (Ky.), 92-91, in the 2001 tournament. LSU-Shreveport, now 27-8 overall, moves into Friday’s second round to face either John Brown University (Ark.) or Union University (Tenn.) at 8 p.m. CST.
Cumberland’s James Elder buried a three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 57-57. The Patriots trailed 66-64 late in the first overtime when Elder scored in the lane with three seconds left to force the second overtime. The Pilots finally pulled away in the final minute of the second extra period, scoring five straight points to grab a 77-72 lead with 25 seconds on the clock.
Elder scored and was fouled with 18 seconds remaining, and his free throw helped Cumberland close the gap to 77-75. Fredericko Payne was fouled on the inbounds play, and his two free throws extended the margin to 79-75. The Patriots missed on two shots in the closing seconds as LSU-Shreveport held on for the win.
Justin Collins added 17 points for the Pilots, while Payne chipped in with 16 points. Derrick Sowell, who scored 11 points, grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Elder and Brent Vernon each scored 19 points to lead Cumberland. Elder also had a team-high nine rebounds and seven assists. Terico Smothers contributed 10 points for the Patriots, who end the season with a 22-9 record. JOHN BROWN (ARK.) REACHES FIRST ELITE EIGHT WITH 61-56 WIN
MARCH 19, 2005
Game #23 - Second Round March 18, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JOHN BROWN (ARK.) REACHES FIRST ELITE EIGHT WITH 61-56 WIN
Kansas City, Mo.—John Brown University (Ark.) advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2005 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship with a 61-56 victory against Louisiana State University-Shreveport Friday at Municipal Auditorium.
With the victory, John Brown moves to 21-11 on the season. The Golden Eagles advance to the third round of the NAIA Division I national tournament for the first time in school history and will face either No. 2 seed Southern Polytechnic State University (Ga.) or Biola University (Calif.) Saturday at 8 p.m. CST.
The Golden Eagles held LSU-Shreveport without a point in the final 2:48 of play to rally for the win. Adam Workman’s three-pointer with 30 seconds to play gave John Brown the lead for good, 59-56. After two missed free throws by the Pilots, Reyjavick DeGracia sealed the win by hitting a pair of foul shots with six seconds on the clock. For the game, John Brown limited LSU-Shreveport to just 29.2 percent shooting from the field.
Brandon Cole led John Brown with 18 points, while Pat Smits contributed 11 points. Workman and DeGracia each posted 10 points as Joel Tesis added a team-high eight rebounds.
Derrick Hughes led a balanced scoring attack for LSU-Shreveport with 12 points, while Derrick Sowell and Frederick Hughes scored 11 points each. Derrick Hill collected a game-high 16 rebounds for the Pilots, who end the season at 27-9. LSU-Shreveport was making its first trip to the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship.
Pilots denied elite 8 showing by John Brown
MARCH 21, 2005
Pilots crash in NAIA Tournament March 19, 2005 By David Mitchell [email protected]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Unseeded John Brown twice rallied from 10-point, first-half deficits and eliminated 10th-seeded LSU-Shreveport, 61-56, late Friday night in the second round of the NAIA men's basketball tournament.
LSUS (27-9) surged to an early 16-6 lead. The Eagles (21-11) pulled within 18-17 when the Pilots went more than eight minutes without a field goal.
Derrick Sowell gave LSUS some breathing room when he scored seven of his 11 points in an 11-2 run that made it 29-19 with 2:11 left in the first half.
The Pilots, who were making their first appearance in the national tournament, led 29-24 at the break.
John Brown overcame the loss of senior center Ryan Woodson, who was ejected for a flagrant foul with his team trailing 34-29 with 16:26 to play. The Eagles took a 44-42 lead on a 3-pointer by Adam Workman with
8:56 to play, and there were eight more lead changes down the stretch.
Freddy Hughes, who scored 11 points, gave LSUS a 56-54 lead when he completed a three-point play with 2:49 remaining, but the Pilots turned the ball over on their next two possessions.
Workman, who finished with 10 points, hit another 3-pointer with 30.5 seconds left to give the Eagles the lead for good at 59-56. Brandon Cole, who led JBU with 18 points, missed two foul shots with 20.6 seconds left, but Fredericko Payne and Hughes both missed 3-pointers LSUS' final possessions.
Payne entered the tournament as the nation's leading scorer with a 25.8-point average, but he struggled for the second straight game and finished with nine points on 3-of-17 shooting.
The Pilots shot just 29.2 percent from the field (19-65), compared to 36.3 percent (16-44) for the Eagles. John Brown also had an advantage at the free-throw line, making 20 of 34, compared to 11 of 16 for LSUS.
"They did a good job defensively,'' LSUS coach Chad McDowell said. "We actually got some good looks that we didn't knock down. It's a credit to them defensively. It was a great defensive effort by both teams.''
Derrick Rogers led LSUS with 12 points. Derrick Hill had a game-high 16 rebounds for LSUS, which was outrebounded 43-40.
"We're the top team in NAIA in field goal percentage defense,'' John Brown coach John Sheehy said. "Obviously we don't have the foot speed or the personnel to keep up with LSU. But we did a good job of getting a hand in their face and obstructing shots.''
The game was delayed for more than 90 minutes by a scoreboard malfunction earlier in the day and a triple-overtime contest. The game scheduled for 8 p.m. ended at 11:15 p.m.
John Brown, the Arkansas school playing in the tournament for the third straight year, will play the winner of the late game between Biola (Calif.) and Southern Polytechnic (Ga.) at 8 tonight. JBU won for the seventh time in eight games.
Pilots misfiring
LSUS was eliminated in the second round of the NAIA Tournament on Friday night after the Pilots suffered a second straight off night shooting.
FG Pct. 3-point Pct.
Regular season .424 .352 vs. Cumberland .377 .200 vs. John Brown .292 .304
Pilots' Fredericko Payne is Named First Team All-American
APRIL 06, 2005
Payne, the leading scorer in the nation, averaged 25 points per game, while leading the Pilots to a 27-9 record and a first ever trip to the NAIA National Tournament, in which they lost in the Sweet Sixteen to the eventual national champions, John Brown. This season he broke the 1,500 point mark for his career at LSUS in only two years with the school. He ended the year third in the country in steals, with 3 a game. "If it wasn't for my teammates and coaches none of this would be possible. I have some of the best teammates, who understand me and understand each other. We play together so well, and we can't wait for next year," commented Payne. Payne, who was Honorable Mention All-American last year, becomes the first Pilot to ever receive All-American honors.
First Team
Name Institution Pos. Yr. Ht. Hometown
Matt Causey North Georgia College & State University G Jr. 6’0 Gainesville, Ga.
Brandon Cole John Brown University (Ark.) G Jr. 6’1 Hector, Ark.
Scott Cook Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) G Jr. 6’1 Brisbane, Australia
Nate Daniels Mountain State University (W.Va.) F Sr. 6’7 San Diego, Calif.
Demonte Foots Brescia University (Ky.) G Sr. 6’1 Racine, Wis.
*Carlos Hurt Robert Morris College (Ill.) G Sr. 6’2 Houston, Texas
Chris Jackson Southern Polytechnic State University (Ga.) G Sr. 6’2 Deland, Fla.
Tanner Luster Concordia University (Calif.) C Sr. 6’6 Glendale, Ariz.
#*Jarred Merrill Oklahoma Christian University F Sr. 6’9 Abilene, Texas
Fredricko Payne Louisiana State University-Shreveport G Jr. 5’10 Dubach, La.
# - Rawlings-NAIA Player of the Year * - Repeat 1st Team All-American
Second Team
Name Institution Pos. Yr. Ht. Hometown
Ricky Bennett Houston Baptist University (Texas) G Sr. 6’2 Picayune, Miss.
Andy Brown Carroll College (Mont.) F Sr. 6’6 Helena, Mont.
Lamar Clark Southern University-New Orleans (La.) F Sr. 6’5 Mobile, Ala.
Mouhammadou Diallo Southern Nazarene University (Okla.) F Sr. 6’5 Dakar, Senegal
Tommy Johnson Texas Wesleyan University F Sr. 6’4 Oklahoma City, Okla.
Tramaine Perry University of Mobile (Ala.) F Sr. 6’6 Hammond, La.
Eric Price Trevecca Nazarene University (Tenn.) C Sr. 6’6 Ocata, Fla. Jabari Saunders St. Xavier University (Ill.) F Jr. 6’6 Jolliet, Ill.
Lance Soderberg Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) F Jr. 6’9 Lake Elsinore, Calif.
DuJuan Tate Mountain State University (W.Va.) F Jr. 6’5 Columbus, Ohio
Third Team
Name Institution Pos. Yr. Ht. Hometown
Jeremy Bell Williams Baptist College (Ark.) G Sr. 6’0 Marked Tree, Ark.
Corey Burkett Union University (Tenn.) G Jr. 6’3 Dothan, Ala.
Chris Cole Lambuth University (Tenn.) F Jr. 6’5 Jackson, Tenn.
Patrick Deveney Cumberland College (Ky.) F Sr. 6’9 Longport, N.J.
Cameron Fitch Berry College (Ga.) G Sr. 6’1 Acworth, Ga.
Terrance Johnson California Baptist University G Sr. 6’5 Cedar Hill, Texas
Jason Kaplan Missouri Baptist University C Sr. 6’8 Deerfield, Ill.
Alfredo Ott Dillard University (La.) G Sr. 6’4 New Orleans, La.
Bo Segeberg University of Montana-Western F Sr. 6’10 Wrightwood, Calif.
Terrell Young Biola University (Calif.) C Sr. 6’6 Los Angeles, Calif.
McDowell, Payne received state coaches' top honors
APRIL 13, 2005
The Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches has selected LSUS Pilots Head Basketball Coach Chad McDowell as Louisiana Small College Coach of the Year and junior guard Fredericko Payne as Louisiana Small College Player of the Year.
It is the second consecutive year the small college coaching award has gone to McDowell, who has coached at the college level for only two years. Payne, who was the NAIA leading scorer in the nation with a 25-points-per-game average, shared the top small college honor with a player from Southern University in New Orleans last year.
McDowell, a standout in his mid-1990s playing days at LSUS, led his 2004-05 squad to a 27-9 record and a first-ever trip to the NAIA National Championship Tournament. The Pilots made it to the Sweet Sixteen, where they were narrowly defeated by the eventual national champion, John Brown University.
Payne, who was recently name an NAIA First Team All-America, was ranked third nationally in steals for the season with 3 per game. He was an NAIA Honorable Mention All-America last year, and is the first Pilot in the history of LSUS basketball to receive All-America honors.
Former Byrd High School basketball standout Kyle Blankenship announced a decision Tuesday to transfer from Tulsa to LSU-Shreveport.
APRIL 20, 2005
LSUS adds ex-Byrd standout to roster Kyle Blankenship to transfer from Tulsa. April 20, 2005 From Staff Reports
Former Byrd High School basketball standout Kyle Blankenship announced a decision Tuesday to transfer from Tulsa to LSU-Shreveport.
Blankenship, a 6-foot guard, has one year of eligibility remaining. He will be eligible immediately and play for his former high school coach, Chad McDowell. The Pilots were 27-9 last season and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament.
"It's been great up here and I have had so much fun. Right now though, I'm just excited about the opportunity to play for my high school coach and to play with a group of guys that I either played with or against in high school,'' Blankenship said.
"I got the chance to see LSUS play on two or three occasions this past year and all the guys were having so much fun playing together and they have had a tremendous amount of success in their first two years. I actually saw them put up 80 points in a half and I immediately thought how much fun that would be.''
Blankenship played in 38 games for the Golden Hurricane in his career, but received limited playing time this past season. He played in just 12 games and averaged 1.2 points per game as a junior.
"Kyle is a very good player who has the ability to lead a team,'' McDowell said. "He handles the ball extremely well and can flat out shoot the basketball.
"Having been a member of the Unviersity of Tulsa basketball team for the past four years, Kyle brings tremendous experience to our team. Kyle is a talented young man that will bring a lot to our program and he will be a big asset to our team as we strive to build on our last two years."
LSUS adds La. Tech transfer Johnston April 28, 2005 Former Airline star to play senior year for Pilots.
APRIL 28, 2005
LSUS adds La. Tech transfer Johnston April 28, 2005 Former Airline star to play senior year for Pilots.
By Scott Ferrell [email protected]
The LSU-Shreveport Pilots' restocking of their men's basketball roster continues with the addition of Louisiana Tech transfer Jeremy Johnston.
Johnston is the Pilots' second high-profile transfer this month. Earlier this month, former Tulsa guard Kyle Blankenship announced a decision to transfer to LSUS for his senior season. Johnston will also play his senior season for the Pilots. Both are former All-City players.
The addition of Johnston helps LSUS inside. Johnston is 6-foot-9 and weighs 257 pounds.
"We feel like Jeremy is going to play a big role for us in the post,'' LSUS coach Chad McDowell said. "He also has the ability to score down there. He's another piece in the puzzle for us.''
Johnston averaged 22.8 points and nine rebounds per game as a senior at Airline High School.
He played three seasons at Tech and averaged 2.1 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in 57 games with the Bulldogs.
"I am excited about playing for LSUS next season and the opportunity to play in front of my family and friends,'' Johnston said. "My high school teammate, Justin Collins, played at LSUS the last two seasons and he said he had the best time of his life. I can hardly wait to put on a uniform and get the season started.''
The Pilots lose three post players from last year's team which advanced to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. LSUS also finished the regular season ranked No. 7 nationally.
LSUS lands transfer in Josh Porter
MAY 25, 2005
Former-Southwood star Porter transferring to LSUS by Scott Ferrell
LSU-Shreveport’s men’s basketball recruiting class picked up its third transfer when former Southwood High School star Josh Porter announced a decision to leave Stephen F. Austin for LSUS.
The Pilots earlier picked up Tulsa transfer Kyle Blankenship and Louisiana Tech transfer Jeremy Johnston.
“We are excited about Josh coming to play for the Pilots,” LSUS coach Chad McDowell said. “We have been fortunate in the past two years to have some high-caliber players in our program and with Josh transferring to LSUS, he will be no exception. He is a super basketball player and even better young man.”
Porter will be reunited with McDowell, his high school coach. Porter played four seasons for McDowell at Southwood and was and All-City Selection. “Coach McDowell is a special coach and I love the style of play that he coaches,” Porter said. “I’m excited about our team next year and think we will have a great season.”
Porter started 21 of 27 games at Stephen F. Austin last season as a sophomore. He averaged 28.6 minutes per game. He was the Lumberjacks second-leading scorer last season at 11.3 points per game. He was sixth in the Southland Conference in 3-point shooting at 39.8 percent.