KINGSPORT, Tenn. – For the first time in the 2024-25 season, the No. 6 Freed-Hardeman University Lions eclipsed the century mark in a 106-68 rout of the Reinhardt (Ga.) University Eagles to close out The Show 2024.

The Lions (11-1) flooded the paint to start the matchup with Jayson Nixon, Makai Vassell, and Geraldo Lane all hitting jumpers to start the game 6-0. In a two-minute span, Peyton Law managed six points of his own to set FHU’s lead at 14-6 with 15:35 remaining in the opening half. Adding even more separation, the Lions went on a nine-point run with Phil Horton’s free throws putting the Lions on top 23-8 with 11:37 before intermission. Late in the half, the Eagles would begin to find their stroke, eventually pulling within two possessions before Ryley McClaran’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer – the only of the half for FHU – giving the Lions a 46-35 halftime lead.

Beginning the second frame the same way the ended the first, the Lions kept momentum going with McClaran scoring five points in the first two minutes. Reinhardt (5-5) strung together a good run by out-scoring Freed-Hardeman 11-2 with a steal and a score at 11:37 making the FHU lead 66-52. Making offensive waves of their own, the Lions would go on three different 7-0 runs down the stretch with Brian Carter’s layup at 1:58 giving the Lions triple digits. Carter knocked down a triple for FHU’s final points in the 106-68 victory.

The Lions dominated nearly every statistical category, shooting 57% to Reinhardt’s 37% while out-rebounding the Eagles 48-25.

Peyton Law continued his white-hot start of the season by dropping 26 points to continue his streak of 20+ point games. Now with four straight 20+ point games, Law has met the mark eight times in 12 games his season.

Joining Law with double-figures were Phil Horton and Makai Vassell – both tallying 15 points. Brian Carter netted 11 points wile Blake Dean and Ryley McClaran each connected for 10. Law had his third double-double of the season with a game-high 11 rebounds while Horton led with four steals.

The Lions now take a well-deserved break before returning to Henderson to face Tougaloo (Miss.) College on December 10 at 6 p.m.

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Chancellor Henry Fernandez and Vice President Brian Hankerson announced Friday that LaJoyce “Joy” Al-Ameen would be the head coach for the University of Fort Lauderdale’s Women’s Basketball program.

“We are excited about bringing Joy on board to start the Women’s Basketball program,” Fernandez said. “She brings a wealth of knowledge from her playing career and coaching experience to the table. Coach Al-Ameen brings a lot of passion as a coach and a recruiter that will help take UFTL to the next level.”

Al-Ameen comes to UFTL after being the assistant coach at Florida Memorial University. She recently finished her fourth season as one of FMU Women’s Basketball assistant coaches. She primarily serves as the Recruiting Coordinator and Post/Forward Development Coach, though she has a hand in developing all players in each position.

She has helped the Florida Memorial University Women’s Basketball program reach the postseason in each of the four years, making it to the Conference Tournament semi-finals (or final four) three of four seasons.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to build a women’s basketball program that the University of Fort Lauderdale and the Lauderhill community can be proud of on and off the court,” Al-Ameen said. “Using my experiences as a coach, mentor, and former NCCAA DI player. This team will be built on a solid foundation of a strong work ethic and will exude high character while deepening these young women’s Christian values.”

Al-Ameen started her coaching career as an assistant at Windward School in Los Angeles, California, where she helped the girls’ basketball team win CIF and Regional Championships and its first State Championship.

She helped develop players who went on to play Division I and some professionally, such as Imani McGee-Stafford (University of Texas/Chicago Storm/Atlanta Dream/overseas), Jordan Canada (UCLA/Seattle Storm/overseas), Kristen Simon (USC/overseas) and Courtney Jaco (USC).

Al-Ameen’s basketball journey started for her as a player in Lynwood, California. She helped lead her high school team to 4 league championships, 3 CIF championships, 2 State Championships and 1 National Championship.

From there, she went on to play Division I basketball at Cal State University Northridge. As a member of the CSUN team, she earned 1st Team All-Conference,1st Team All-Tournament and Best Hustle player.

Al-Ameen played four years at CSUN (2003-2007), where she was a three-year starter. She broke the school rebounding record for most rebounds in a game (21) her senior year while averaging a double-double as the team’s starting power forward.

Over her career, she averaged 11.1 points and 7.5 rebounds. She currently holds several records in the University’s history. She is #1 for free throws made (382) as well as attempted (544), #3 in single-season rebounding average (10.9/game), #5 in rebounds (815), #9 in steals (162), #10 in points made (1208) and rebounds (7.5/game).

For two years, she served as the team’s captain and liaison between her team and the administration as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Al-Ameen graduated from CSUN holding two Bachelors of Science degrees in Apparel Design and Production and the second in Apparel Merchandising, along with a minor in Marketing. She received her Master’s in Business Administration from Florida Memorial University, the only Historically Black College/University (HBCU) in South Florida, in 2021, during a global pandemic, while also having her first and only child in December of 2020.

She is a Wife to Ansar Al-Ameen, the Men’s Basketball Head Coach at FMU, a mother to Adara Al-Ameen, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend, and a mentor to many young ladies whom she has crossed paths with.

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ROCK HILL, S.C.  – The South Atlantic Conference had three schools ranked in the NCAA Southeast Region Women’s Basketball poll released by the NCAA on Wednesday (Feb. 17). Wingate, Carson-Newman and Catawba are all under consideration for this year’s NCAA Southeast Region Championship.

In addition to the three SAC schools ranked in this week’s poll, there are three Conference Carolinas schools and four Peach Belt schools under consideration.

Wingate’s overall record is 21-3, Carson-Newman has a 20-5 overall record and Catawba is 19-4 overall.

The rankings are the official poll utilized by the NCAA in the championship selection process and will continue to be released each week by the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Committee up to the NCAA Championship selections.

NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Regional Rankings can be found at https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-women/d2/regional-ranking.

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – University of Fort Lauderdale falls in a midweek matchup to Edward Waters, 78-73, on Tuesday evening inside the James Weldon Johnson Auxiliary Gym.

Kemari Brown paced the Eagles with 20 points, while Benez Woodard scored 16, Jongkor Unguec had 10 and Andre Anderson, Keysean Smith and Trandon Smith scored six points.

Smith grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, Riley grabbed six and Brown, T. Smith, Unguec pulled down five rebounds.

Andre Anderson would have a team-high six assists, with Carl Bigord, Riley and Unguec had one.

Smith blocked three Tiger shots. Delgado collected three steals and Anderson, Brown and Unguec stole one.

The game would start off back-and-forth as both teams were scoring at will early and often. Edward Waters would get ahead by as much as five over the first 10 minutes of play. UFTL would climb back and tie the game at 19-19 with 10:08 to play.

The teams would lockdown each other for the next five minutes, at the 5:31 mark, the teams were tied again at 26-26.

The Eagles would close the half on an 11-2 run, to take a 37-28 lead into the intermission.

EWU came out of the break on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 39-37 at the 16:24 mark.

Over the next 6:24, both teams scored 11 points, with the Maroon-and-Gold held a 52-48 lead as the game turn to the final 10 minutes.

The Tigers would take over with a 19-3 run to take a 67-58 lead with five minutes left to play.

UFTL would close out the game with an 12-11 scoring advantage, but fell short as the final buzzer sounded in favor of EWU, 78-83

The Eagles will travel to Temple Terrace, Fla. on Saturday, Feb. 19 to face Florida College at 4 p.m. inside the Conn Gymnasium.

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KANSAS CITY — The Southeastern University women’s basketball team moved up one spot in today’s edition of the NAIA Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.
 
That’s all it was able to move up because the Fire were ranked second in the previous poll.
 
Southeastern is ranked at the top of the poll for the third time in the last five seasons, checking in with an overall record of 24-1 and have been victorious in their last 20 games.
 
Offensively, SEU averages 84.9 points per game which is fourth nationally, and is second nationally in field goal percentage at 48.5%. On defense, Southeastern is sixth nationally in steals per game at 14.4.
 
Grad transfer Angela Perry is averaging just shy of 20 points per game. Leilah Vigil has added 13 points per game and Marta Aranda another 10.7.
 
The Fire return to the floor on Thursday at St. Thomas.

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BELMONT, N.C. – King won the inaugural Conference Carolinas men’s basketball developmental championship, 99-89, over Barton at Belmont Abbey on Monday night.

The event, which is a unique championship opportunity for developmental teams within Conference Carolinas, consisted of a preliminary round at King and Barton on Jan. 31 with the winners of each preliminary round playing in the championship at Belmont Abbey.

King defeated Erskine 71-59 and Emmanuel 82-78 to reach the title game while Barton defeated Belmont Abbey (84-59), Francis Marion (85-65) and Mount Olive (69-57) to reach the championship.

The Bulldogs took an early lead in the first half, 14-7, and led until King took a 24-23 lead. Barton responded by building the lead back to six, 43-37 with 3:46 to play in the half. However, the Tornado closed the half on a 12-6 run to tie the score at 49 at the break. There were 10 ties and 15 lead changes in the opening period as each team shot better than 50 percent from the field and 3-point range while King held a slight 12-11 advantage on the boards.

It was a back-and-forth second half that saw several more lead changes and ties, before a Henry Okoye layup for the Tornado gave the visitors a 72-71 lead that they never relinquished. The layup sparked a 12-2 run for King as they pushed the lead to a game-high nine points, 82-73. An Isaiah Williams three-pointer broke the run and sparked an 8-0 rally for the Bulldogs to cut the margin to one, 82-81, but back-to-back layups by Zach Grodziki pushed the lead back to five for King and they never trailed again in the win.

Grodziki led all scorers with 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Tornado while Amarius Beasley added 18 points and grabbed five rounds with four assists. Dami Farinloye finished with 13 points with four rebounds and four assists.

Barton had three players finish with 20-plus points led by Williams with 23.

Farinloye was named tournament Most Valuable Player.

More information can be found on the tournament webpage here.

Earlier this fall Conference Carolinas announced that a developmental championship will be held in men’s and women’s soccer, men’s basketball and baseball. The developmental teams will be composed of student-athletes that have either not competed at the varsity level in 2021-22 or have competed sparingly at the varsity level by the time of the championship.

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AVE MARIA, Fla. –  In a back and forth contest, the No. 2 ranked Southeastern University women’s basketball team grabbed their 20^th win of the season with a 55-51 victory over Sun Conference opponent, Ave Maria University to advance to 20-1 and 9-0 in SUN play.
 
the Fire got on the board first with Angela Perry’s first points of the contest but seven consecutive points by the Gyrenes gave them a 7-2 advantage four minutes into the first quarter. After four more lead changes through the remainder of the quarter, the Gyrenes had the 17-16 advantage going into the second quarter after the Fire struggled from distance going 1-6 from beyond the arc.
 
Four consecutive points by Marta Aranda tilted the scales back in favor of the Fire as they took the 20-17 edge early in the second quarter. The Gyrenes continued their strong showing from three point range with back-to-back baskets to tie things up at 25 with just under five minutes to play before the half. The teams continued to battle with neither being able to grab the advantage heading into the locker room as they concluded the first 20 minutes with a 29-29 tie.
 
The Fire began to pull away from the Gyrenes in the third quarter after putting together an 8-0 run with Leilah Vigil contributing to five of those eight points. The late quarter run allowed the Fire a 45-38 lead heading into the final quarter after shooting 50% from the field and from beyond the arc. The fourth quarter saw the Fire lead by as much as nine but multiple missed opportunities by the Gyrenes with the clock winding down lent the Fire the 55-51 victory.
 
Leilah Vigil led the Fire in points and rebounds and recorded her first double-double of the season after recording 14 points and 11 rebounds. Angela Perry ended the night with 12 points while Rebecca Cook ended a strong defensive showing with eight rebounds, three steals, and four blocks.

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ATLANTA, Ga. – The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) has announced its men’s and women’s basketball Players of the Week.

Women’s Basketball

PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Bria Gibbs, Savannah State
Center  |  Junior  |  Greensboro, N.C.

Bria Gibbs had another fantastic week, scoring double figures in two wins for Savannah State. Against Spring Hill, Gibbs recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds and 17 points. Against Fort Valley State on Saturday, Gibbs scored 13 points. The Lady Tigers lead the SIAC at 13-0, 7-0 and are one of three undefeated teams in the nation.

NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK– Ta’Quashia Lumpkin, Savannah State
Forward  |  Freshman  |  Beaufort, S.C.

In her first season playing for Savannah State Ta’Quasia Lampkin is quickly becoming key to their victories. In a win against Fort Valley State, Lampkin recorded her first double-double with a season-high 22 points and 16 rebounds. She also led in steals with 7. She leads the team in steals this season with 36 and is second on the team in blocks with 12. The Lady Tigers lead the SIAC at 13-0, 7-0 and are one of three undefeated teams in the nation.

Men’s Basketball

PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Deshawn Millington, Tuskegee
Guard |  Senior   |  Brooklyn, N.Y.

In two games last week, Tuskegee’s Deshawn Millington led the Golden Tigers to two wins over Edward Waters and Lane. Millington, a senior from Brooklyn, N.Y., had a season-high 23 points against Edward Waters while adding four assists, four steals, and two rebounds. Against Lane, Millington led with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and one steal.

NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK– Devin Booker, Tuskegee
Guard   |  Junior  |  Chicago, Ill.

Booker is the leading scorer for the Golden Tigers in two contests this week.

Against Edward Waters, Booker posted five points and three rebounds. Against Lane, the junior guard collected 16 points and six rebounds. He is averaging 12.9 points per game and 1.7 rebounds per game in an average of 30.8 minutes per contest with 11 starts in 12 games played.

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The Peach Belt Conference named Wesley Simpson from Georgia College the Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Jan. 17, 2022.

Simpson turned in a pair of double-doubles as the 24th-ranked Bobcats split a pair of games. The junior guard from DeLand, Fla., scored 21 with 10 rebounds in a win over USC Aiken and had 21 with 12 rebounds in a loss at North Georgia. He also added 4.0 assists per game and a steal.

Simpson is currently ninth in the PBC in scoring, 11th rebounding and field goal percentage and fifth in assists per game.

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The Peach Belt Conference named Lander’s Makaila Cangé the Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Jan. 17, 2022.

Cangé was absolutely incredible in two wins last week for the 10th-ranked Bearcats, averaging 32.5 points and 16 rebounds per game. The junior forward from Douglasville, Ga., scored 43 with 18 rebounds in a win over Augusta, then had 22 with 14 boards in a win over Clayton State. She shot an eye-popping 86% (24-28) from the field with a block, a steal and two assists.

Her 43 against Augusta is tied for the fifth-highest single-game point total in PBC history and is the second-highest scored in a game in NCAA Division II so far this season as well as a Lander school record.

She set another Lander record with 16 made field goals in that contest. She is ranked sixth in the nation in scoring at 21.5 ppg and is second nationally in field goal percentage. Cangé is also second in the PBC in rebounding and free throw percentage.

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