Gramblinite 3.3.2016 | Page 4

Sports 4 Tigers teams take on UAPB, MVSU Thursday, March 3, 2016 CONTACT: [email protected] CANDICE DIXSON, BRE’ANNA JOHNSON, TRICEE NELSON GSU Sports Media Shakyla Hill led her team with 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals as the Grambling State University Lady Tigers defeated the Lady Golden Lions of University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, 67-49 on Saturday, Feb. 27. The game was competitive in the first half, but things changed after half time. “Our defensive momentum changed when Chantiara Lewis came into the game,” said head basketball coach Nadine Domond. “We were 22-0 in the second half of the game. Everybody on my team is vital,” added Domond. “We play a certain brand of basketball that people want to see,” added Domond. Bre’nae Andrews of GSU finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists. Niya Head of Pine Bluff put up 10 points and pulled down five rebounds. On the flip side, Deonte Hearns was the lead scorer with 21 points, three rebounds and two steals but it wasn’t enough as the Grambling State University Tigers fell to the Golden Lions of the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, 53-51. At halftime, the Golden Lions were up by 3, 26-23. Hearns put up 10 points and Nigel Ribeiro had six. Charles Jackson of Pine Bluff put up 10 points followed by Trent Whiting with GSU player, Deonte Hearns, #3, goes up for a bucket. GLENN LEWIS/The Yearbook Bre’nae Andrews, #12, on the Grambling Lady Tigers attempts a shot against the Lady Golden Lions of UAPB. Ribeiro ended the game with 13 points, three rebounds and one steal. Charles Jackson of Pine Bluff put up 15 points and pulled down two rebounds along with three assists. This past Monday, Feb. 29 the Lady Tigers defeated the bats well at the end of the game,” said GSU head baseball coach James Cooper. “We didn’t swing the bats well early on and I think that’s the biggest difference in the game. When they made mistakes and we had guys on base we didn’t make them pay for it early in the game.” Cooper let it be known that it was clear why Pitt won. “If you compare what they did to what we did that’s how they beat us today,” he said. “We made errors and they got the hits that they needed, and that’s how they were able to score as many runs as they did.” Pitching was also an issue according to Cooper. “We have to keep the ball off the middle of the plate,” he added. “They got the majority of those runs off of homeruns after we made errors. We cannot make errors and leave balls that are just that good for a hitter to hit so we don’t give up that many runs.” Three up, three down usually is a reference to batters, but this weekend it was in reference to games. The University of Pittsburgh Panthers completed the sweep of the Grambling State University Tigers by winning the third of three weekend games 18-5 on Sunday, Feb. 28. Although not the side of history one would like to be on, GSU’s three losses to Pitt this weekend helped their head baseball coach Joe Jordano claim his 800th career victory. GSU head baseball coach James was looking for a win, and not a spot “We got off to a good start offensively today,” he said after the game. “We didn’t hit as many home runs as they hit, but we were able to put balls out the ball park. ... We didn’t have any errors in this ball game so that’s a good note. The way we swung the ball through all three games is a good note. We just didn’t get all the hits we needed and didn’t make timely pitches we needed.” Pittsburg owned the seventh inning, rallying to take control. Charles Leblanc started the rally, with a line drive double, two runs scored. Nick Yarnell stepped to the plate and hammered the baseball 370 feet outside the ballpark. Yarnell hit two homers in the seventh inning and hit five homers on the series. Tigers third baseman Daniel Barnett made an amazing diving catch to slow the Panthers’ bats down. Creighton Hoover took a crack, and the bases were loaded. Alex Kowalczyk batted in two runs. The Panthers scoring concluded with three consecutive home runs from Leblanc, Yarnell and Aaron Schnurbusch. GSU never got any offense going after the Panthers rally. “We played clean up until the seventh inning,” added Cooper. “Then we just had a stretch where we couldn’t execute pitches. We left balls up. They put good swings on them. They hit them out. “They had a stretch were they had seven or eight hits in a row, there’s no defense for that. Whenever you leave pitches belt-high over the middle of the plate, Division 1 ball players are going to get hits on them.” The GSU Tigers open Southwestern Athletic Conference play against Alcorn State University Wednesday, March 2 at 6 p.m. in Lorman, Mississippi. six. Devilettes of Mississippi Valley State University 79-55. Hill led the Lady Tigers with 19 points and 5 steals. Andrews finished with 18 points and senior guard Chanta Poole added 15. GSU head coach Nadine Domond was pleased with her team’s dominating performance. “If we’re gonna continue to win, we have to take care of things and be disciplined,” she said shortly after the game ended at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center. The Tigers fell short by a single point against the Mississippi Valley State University Delta Devils, losing 58-57. Close is not good enough, according to head coach Shawn Walker. “We didn’t play smart enough throughout the course of the game,” he said minutes after the painful loss. Arnold Richmond ended the game with 13 points and three steals. Mitchell and Lowe each finished with 10 points. Mitchell had five rebounds and Lowe had three. MVSU’s Romain led with 19 points and nine rebounds, and teammate Latrell Love had 10 points an