12/08/08 News & Notes

Dynasty Basketball

Two Dynasty basketball clients, Royce Parran and V’Angelo Smith, have signed with CBA teams. Royce signed with the Minot Skyrockets and V’Angelo signed with the Lawton Fort Sill Cavalry.

Parran played ball at Chicago State, where he finished as the Cougars’ all-time Division I leading scorer with 1,510 points. The 5’9 guard finished 3rd overall at the 2007 NCAA Slam Dunk Contest. Parran was honorable mention All-Independent Team as a senior, 2nd Team All-Mid-Continent as a junior, and Mid-Continent 6th Man of the Year as a freshman. Royce will be going to Minot, North Dakota to join the Skyrockets. They will embrace his scoring ability as well as his infectious personality.

Smith played at Arkansas Pine-Bluff, where he was an integral part of the team’s success. He was named to SWAC All-Defensive team and finished fourth on the team in scoring. Smith is also very aggressive on the backboards and is a good mid-range shooter. V’Angelo will be staying a bit warmer than Royce. He’ll be heading to Lawton, Oklahoma to play for the Cavalry, also of the CBA. Smith is an amazing slasher; he can get to the hole at will. He’ll give the Cavalry a constant threat in the lane, not to mention a solid defensive stopper.

12/6/08

Marquette (Scott Monarch) (7-1) vs. Wisconsin

Wisconsin (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, unranked AP) likes a slow-tempo game, and Marquette (unranked, No. 25) loves to run. So it stood to reason that a game played in the 50s and 60s would go the Badgers’ way. But Wisconsin couldn’t stop Jerel McNeal, who scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half to power Marquette to a 61-58 comeback victory over its in-state rival Saturday night.

NCCU (Henry Dickerson) (0-8) vs. Drake

Drake soared to an 89-46 men’s basketball win over winless North Carolina Central on Saturday. The Eagles were led by Vincent Davis’ 24 points. He was the only N.C. Central player in double figures. The Eagles led 14-13 after Davis’ 3-pointer with 11:00 to play in the first half. But Drake 34-11 run to take a 47-25 halftime lead.

UIC (Tracy Dildy) (5-2) vs. Loyola

Josh Mayo had 22 points, including five 3-pointers and a perfect 3-3 from the foul line, to lead Illinois-Chicago to a 83-69 victory over Loyola of Chicago on Saturday. Scott VanderMeer added 18 points for Illinois-Chicago (5-2, 1-0 Horizon) and Robo Kreps had 11 points. The Flames led by as many as 14 points with 17 seconds left in the game.

Tennessee Tech (Scott Payne) (5-2) vs. Jacksonville State

Jacksonville State beat Tennessee Tech 82-66 in both team’s conference opener on Saturday night. Tennessee Tech (5-2, 0-1 Ohio Valley Conference) committed 25 fouls to send the Gamecocks (6-1, 1-1) to the free-throw line 31 times, making 18 of their attempts.

SE Missouri State (Rodney Hamilton) (2-6) vs. Tennessee State

Tennessee State got a 83-72 win over Southeast Missouri on Saturday. Johnny Hill led Southeast Missouri (2-6, 0-2) with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Calvin Williams scored 17, Jaycen Herring had 15 and Jajuan Maxwell added 12 for the Redhawks. The Redhawks went on a 12-2 run in the first half and led 29-27 at halftime. But Tennessee State exploded to a 62-50 lead with 8 minutes left after Smith scored 10 straight points, including a four-point play.

Arkansas State (Elwyn McRoy) (6-2) vs. Missouri State

Missouri State got a 52-47 win over Arkansas State on Saturday night. Donald Boone led Arkansas State with 20 points and McKinney added 11.

Savannah State (Horace Broadnax) (5-3) vs. St. Louis

St. Louis beat Savannah State 55-37 on Saturday night.

Savannah State (5-2) scored two quick baskets to open the second half and cut the deficit to 10, but Lisch answered with seven consecutive points to push the Billikens’ lead back to 17. Saint Louis led by as many as 31 in the second half on the strength of a 13-0 run that included five points from Lisch. Raye Bailey led Savannah State with 17 points, including 14 in the second half.