2004-05 Squad to a 27-9 Record and a First-Ever Trip to the NAIA National Championship Tournament
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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.