ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Harris-Stowe State University women’s basketball team was back in action this afternoon when they played host to the Philander Smith College Panthers in a nonconference matchup. The Hornets were defeated by the Panthers by a final score of 78-69 to fall to 0-2 on the season. With the win, the Panthers improve to 1-2 on the year.

Harris-Stowe came out in the first half and had trouble scoring the ball early. The Hornets picked it up as the first quarter progressed but found themselves trailing 17-16 heading into the second. Harris-Stowe was able to tie the game at 23 midway through the second quarter, and then used a 10-6 run to end the half to take a 33-29 lead into the locker room.

The Hornets came out of the locker room and played great basketball to start the half as they built their lead to as many 17 midway through the quarter. The Panthers picked it up down the final stretch of the frame and were able to go on a 15-3 run to cut the Hornets lead to five heading into the fourth. The Panthers continued to cut into the Hornets lead and were able to tie the score at 63 late in the game. Harris-Stowe had a tough time taking care of the ball down the final stretch and Panthers took advantage to solidify the win.

The Hornets went 24-for-61 (39.3%) from the floor and 5-for-20 (25%) from behind the arc. They were outrebounded 50-46 and turned the ball over 30 times while forcing the Panthers to turn the ball over 21 times.

Harris-Stowe was led by Taia Smith (JR/Grand Rapids, Mich.) who finished with a team high 16 points and added four rebounds. In addition to Smith, Ronne’zje Elliot (JR/Louisville, Ky.) finished with 15 points and seven rebounds while Tarsheia Page (SR/Chicago, Ill.) added nine points and seven rebounds to round out the top performers for the Hornets.

The Hornets will return to the court on Tuesday, Dec. 8 when they play host to Saint Xavier (Ill.) University in a nonconference matchup. The game is set to tip-off at 4:30 p.m. in the Emerson Performance Center. No spectators will be allowed but live stats and video will be provided.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – (Box Score) Blue Mountain men would only score 22 points in the second half against Philander Smith Thursday night, leading to a 64-55 non-conference loss.

The first half saw Philander Smith shoot 6-of-13 from three-point land, while the Toppers shot 46 percent from the field.

Brandon Williams (JR/Dyersburg, Tenn.) led Blue Mountain in the first half with 11 points, as the Toppers cut down a large 13-point lead the Panthers had at 7:40.

With 2:30 left in the first, BMC’s Jaron Masis (JR/Guapiles, Costa Rica) scored in the paint off a turnover and Williams drained a three with 1:10 left.  Luka Tejic (JR/Uzice, Serbia) dropped a bucket in the paint with 15 seconds left to make it 36-22 Philander Smith at the break.

The Toppers couldn’t put a scoring run together in the second half and would eventually shoot only 38 percent from the field.

Williams would lead Blue Mountain with 14 points, while Exavian Young (SR/Memphis, Tenn.) chipped in 12.  Luka Tejic, who posted a double-double Tuesday night in Blue Mountain, finished with eight points and eight rebounds.

Dejalin Austin led the Panthers with 19 points, followed by Evan Council and Eric Kendrick with 10 points each.

“We seemed to be hitting our stride right before the half, but we just ran out of gas in the second half,” Topper head coach Jermael Bingham said.  “The goal had a lid on it in the second half, and we just couldn’t get anything to fall.  We didn’t help ourselves either, as we missed some shots that should have been made.”

BMC (3-4) returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. as they host Rust College in Tyler Gymnasium.

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NEW ORLEANS, La. – Philander Smith senior Dontrell Johnson nabs his first GCAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week accolade of the 2020-21 season and the team’s third consecutive award, announced by the conference office Monday morning.

Johnson was one of three Panthers to score double-digit points (10), had a game-high seven rebounds, led the team with four free throws made and contributed an assist plus a steal.

The forward from Earl, Arkansas was on the court for 33 minutes and 52 seconds of PSC’s lone game of the week at Texas A&M-Texarkana, going 3-for-7 (.428) from the floor and 4-of-5 (.800) at the charity stripe.

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NEW ORLEANS, La. – Philander Smith senior Vivan Imarenezor won GCAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week as voted on by the conference’s sports information directors and made public by the league office on Monday afternoon.

Imarenezor notched 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists and a steal in the Lady Panthers lone game of the week versus LSU-Shreveport.

The Nigerian-born guard who grew up in Chicago drilled all ten of her free throw attempts and converted on two three-pointers as well against the Pilots.

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NEW ORLEANS, La. – Philander Smith senior Dejalin Austin is back on the board with his second GCAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week award of the non-conference season, released by the conference office on Monday afternoon.

Austin dropped averages of 21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals on the week as the Panthers split matchups with LSU-Shreveport (loss) and Blue Mountain (win).

The guard from Memphis was having a spectacular week, connecting on half of his shot attempts from the floor (14-for-28) and saw 13 of his 15 free throw attempts make its way through the cylinder for a .867 free-throw percentage.

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BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – (Box Score) Despite a comfortable 35-28 halftime lead for Blue Mountain, Philander Smith outlasted the Toppers here Saturday to take a 66-56 non-conference win.

The Toppers pulled ahead late in the first half on back-to-back threes by Micah Powers (SR/Holly Springs, Miss.), giving Blue Mountain a 30-25 lead at the 3:11 mark.

Powers would hit one more at the buzzer for Blue Mountain heading into the locker room for the break.

Blue Mountain stalled out in the second half, leading at one point 51-41 before going on a scoring drought that lasted almost seven-and-a-half minutes.

“We have to do a better job scoring the ball and not giving these other teams chances to get back in the game,” BMC head coach Jermael Bingham said.  “We hurt ourselves everywhere in that scoring drought.  It’s hard to execute anywhere on the floor when that happens.”

Powers would lead Blue Mountain with 14 points, including 4-of-6 from three, while Brandon Williams (JR/Dyersburg, Tenn.) added 12 points and Aleksa Vujadinovic (JR/Niksic, Montenegro) chipped in 10.

Eric Kendrick led Philander Smith with a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Dejalin Austin led in scoring for the Panthers with 16.

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CLINTON, Miss. – The Philander Smith men’s cross country program wrote its names in the record books as the Panthers narrowly edged out 12-time champion Xavier by three points.

Philander and Xavier alternated between the top-six runners of the meet with the Panthers placing first, third and fifth while the Gold Rush came in second, fourth and sixth. PSC landed one more player on the All-GCAC at ninth which ultimately was the winning placement. Dillard got two runners on the board in the eighth and tenth slots while Edward Waters got represented at number seven.

EWC came in third place with 73 points, Tougaloo was fourth at 101 points and Dillard did not have enough runners to provide a team score.

Philander Smith freshman Desmond Merritt became the second straight freshman to become the GCAC men’s cross country individual champion and only the fourth freshman in the past two decades to cross the finish line first. The Panthers had Isaiah Millet (31:05.00) place third, Miles Flood (31:47.00) come in fifth and Noel Lyons (32:47.90) earn ninth.

XULA placed three student-athletes on the All-GCAC team as Ahmad Wilson (30:21.9) got second, Zacchaeus Mosley (31:09.20) earned fourth and Adrian Thornton II (32:15.30) pulled in at sixth.

Edward Waters saw its lone top-ten finisher in senior Jourdan Bell, running a 32:22.70 in the 8k.

Tougaloo’s best placement came from Jaylen Lester at 38:46.50, good enough for 19th.

Dillard, despite not getting credited with a team score, had two of its three runners claim All-GCAC honors with eighth place finisher Tevrin Jackson (32:36.90) and tenth place Isaiah Rankins carried the Bleu Devils.

PSC Head Coach Chris McConnell received his second career GCAC Coach of the Year Award, second in the past three seasons.

GCAC Coach of the Year: Chris McConnell (Philander Smith)

                                                                                           All-GCAC

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BATESVILLE – The Lyon College volleyball team played a home non-conference match tonight against Philander Smith College. The Scots dominated from start to finish with consistent play out of everyone who entered the match en route to a 3-0 victory for the home team.

Lyon improves to 13-8 overall and 2-3 in conference play, while increasing their current win streak to five matches.

GAME FLOW
Lyon roared out to a 6-0 lead behind strong serving from Alexis Garner. The Scots had control of the set all the way as Lyon would win the first set on a kill from Courtney Erby, assisted by Ellie Embry.

In the next set, the Scots used 13 kills and 4 aces to cruise to a second set victory.

The third set was the most competitive of the night as the Scots led by only one, 18-17, as PSC’s Alexia McGruder stepped up to the service line. However, a Katherine Jeane kill off an assist from Elizabeth Bairett and an ace from Maria Eleni Bampiri put the Scots up 20-17. The home team would never look back as Lyon won the third set 25-18, and match 3-0 to complete the sweep.

KEY STATISTICS
– Maria Eleni Bampiri was deadly from the service line as she recorded 6 aces.

– Ellie Embry dished out 15 assists tonight, while also adding 4 digs and 3 aces.

– Michayla Shanks recorded another double-digit kill game as she finished with 10, while Courtney Erby added 6.

– The Scots bested the Lady Panthers in aces 15-0.

COACH’S CORNER
“The team played great as a complete unit.  Our goal was to be disciplined in all aspects of the match, from the big things to the little things.  We served great, sided out efficiently, and passed on point.  It was a good, clean win.” – Coach Ray Green

WHAT’S AHEAD FOR THE SCOTS
The Scots will travel to Conway to battle Central Baptist College in a conference tilt Friday at 7:00 p.m.

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John Brown junior Baily Cameron was placed on the Second Team of the All-America women’s basketball roster. She led the Golden Eagles in scoring (18.8 ppg), rebounding (7.2 rpg), blocks (34) and shooting percentage (57.1).

Others from Arkansas schools to be recognized were:

Women’s Basketball All-American Honorable Mention
Terralyn Dominick, Philander Smith, junior
Liz Henderson, Lyon, sophomore
Madison Riley, Lyon, sophomore

Men’s Basketball All-American Honorable Mention
Shackeel Butters, Williams Baptist, sophomore
Jake Caudle, John Brown, junior
Tyler Robinson, Lyon, sophomore
Da’Jon Streeter, Central Baptist, junior

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Little Rock –  Philander Smith College has named Nathan Cochran to the post of Athletic Director.  Cochran, who started work on Jan. 3, will oversee the institution’s sports programs which currently include, Men’s and Women’s basketball, Women’s volleyball, and Men’s and Women’s track and field.

A native of Boulder, Colo., Cochran comes to Philander Smith from Paine College in Augusta, Ga., where he was the Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Sports Information Director. Prior to entering athletics administration, he spent  fourteen years in collegiate coaching, including stints as the Head Men’s and Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country Coach at Paine; Assistant Football Coach/Offensive Coordinator in Paine’s inaugural NCAA Division II football season; and two years as the Head Football Coach at Lincoln University in Missouri. Additionally, he is a USA Track and Field (USATF) Level 1 certified coach specializing in sprints and jumps.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to serve Philander Smith College, bringing my passion for sports and commitment to educating student-athletes,” says Cochran. “As I work to enhance and expand our athletic programs, my foremost concern is to ensure that Philander Smith athletes are successful not only in competition, but also as scholars and well-rounded individuals.”

Cochran holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics education from South Carolina State University – where he played football and ran track – and a master’s degree in management from Webster University.

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