Sports Stories from CBS 42 News

UAB Upsets Southern Miss 71-61 at Bartow

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:57:55 -0600

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WIAT) - Cameron Moore poured in a season high 27 points as UAB upset Southern Miss 71-61 Wednesday night at Bartow Arena.

Moore also grabbed 12 rebounds as the Blazers shot 60 percent from the field in the win. Jordan Swing added 15 points, the biggest three coming late in the game to put UAB up 65-57 with under 30 seconds to go in the game.

The Blazers used hot shooting to maintain the lead throughout the game. They finished with a 34-25 edge on the glass.

UAB returns to action Saturday on the road against Memphis.

Saban Wins "Breaking the Silence Award"

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:52:07 -0600

(Hendersonville, Tenn. – February 6th, 2012) Every year, the Grant Teaff “Breaking the Silence” Award is presented by The Jason Foundation (JFI) at the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Convention to honor the coach that exceeded expectations as a National Awareness Ambassador. On January 10th, JFI was honored to present the University of Alabama’s Head Football Coach, Nick Saban, with the award. Not only is he seen as a winner on the championship field, but his efforts in youth suicide prevention and awareness are remarkable and highly valued by The Jason Foundation. Saban also won the BCS Championship this very same week.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for our nation’s youth, ages 10-24, representing the age group that AFCA Coaches have the opportunity to impact, and that’s why Saban first got involved in 2004.

“I am proud to accept this award for all the AFCA Coaches who have given of their time to help with The Jason Foundation’s efforts. Together we make a difference, one person at a time,” said Saban in regards to his receiving the award.

Clark Flatt, JFI President/CEO said, “Coach Saban continuously offers a helping hand in any way that he can to help educate people about youth suicide prevention & awareness, and he always makes time to listen.”

Coach Saban has spoken at numerous affiliate office opening receptions for JFI, as well as participated in public service announcements.

Gamecocks Get Road OVC Win

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:33:56 -0600

MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team grabbed an early lead on Morehead State and never let up, handing the Eagles a rare 69-55 loss in Ohio Valley Conference play at Ellis T. Johnson Arena.

The Gamecocks (11-16, 6-7 OVC) grabbed its final lead of the night on a Nick Cook layup with just under 14 minutes to play and used a stingy defense and productive offense to hand the defending OVC champion Eagles (13-13, 6-6 OVC) just their fifth home loss in the last five years in conference play. It was JSU's third-straight OVC road win, the first time it has achieved that feat since a three-game streak that started at the end of 2005-06 and ended in early 2006-07.

Five JSU players combined to score 67 of the Gamecocks' 69 points, including a foursome that each put in double figures. Freshman Darion Rackley scored a career-high 20 points to lead that group. The St. Louis, Mo., native went 4-for-9 from the floor and converted on 11 of his 13 free throw attempts to score 16 in the second half and lead all scorers.

Junior Tarvin Gaines scored eight of his 15 points in the first half and grabbed nine boards to fall one rebound shy of his second career double-double. The native of West Memphis, Ark., native got six of his boards on the defensive end and went 5-for-8 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.

Sophomores Brian Williams and Nick Cook each added 12 points, while junior Ronnie Boggs pitched in eight. Junior Rinaldo Mafra scored JSU's other two points.

The Eagles got 14 points from Drew Kelly and 11 from Ty Proffitt, while four players scored at least six points in the losing effort. Kelly got eight of his output in 10 tries from the charity stripe. They turned it over 17 times, which led to 17 Gamecock points.

After the two exchanged blows out of the gates, JSU put together points on back-to-back possessions to grab a lead it would take into the locker room at the half. Gaines scored eight of the Gamecocks' first 14 points to lead all scorers, while Cook and Boggs added six, apiece.

The Eagles managed to shoot just 35 percent from the floor and missed all four of their attempts from 3-point range in the first half. The Gamecocks shot 48 percent on their end of the floor to take a 28-21 lead into the half, JSU's largest lead of the first 20 minutes.

The Gamecocks held that lead for the first several minutes of the second half before stretching it to 41-31 with just under 12 minutes remaining. The Eagles answered immediately, using a 3-point play by Kelly, a pair of JSU turnovers by the Gamecocks and a triple from Marsell Holden that cut JSU's lead to four just 50 seconds later.

The Gamecocks stretched it right back to a nine-point lead by forcing Morehead State to turn it over on four-straight possessions.

The Gamecocks continued to suffocate the Eagles with defense and turned it into back-to-back 3-pointers from Williams and Rackley to grab their largest lead of the night, a 55-43 advantage with just under five minutes to play.

MSU cut it back to six but JSU answered again. Back-to-back baskets by the Gamecocks put the Eagles away.

JSU will now take six days off before playing its final road game of the season on Tuesday at Tennessee State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT in Nashville, Tenn.

Blazers Lose Gilbert to the NFL

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:21:19 -0600

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WIAT) - Garrick McGee is already looking for a new offensive coordinator/offensive line coach after Joe Gilbert accepted a position with the Colts.

Gilbert had been on staff with Illinois and Ron Zook until Zook was fired after the season. Gilbert was not retained.

Gilbert's previous stops include Houston, UCF & Toledo (where he served with McGee).

McGee released this statement earlier tonight through the UAB athletic department:

“All of us at UAB want to congratulate Joe on the opportunity to move to the NFL and to coach the game at the highest level. He is a fantastic ball coach and a better person.

“I am appreciative of Joe keeping me well-informed throughout the process which gave us the opportunity to stay in front of the situation. That has allowed us to move forward with filling the position as soon as possible.”

Samford Rides a Hot Streak into Thursday

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:28:56 -0600

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WIAT) - The Bulldogs have won six of eight games and find themselves within a game and a half of first place in the SoCon North Division.

As they prepare for a home game Thursday night at 7 pm against UNC-Greensboro head coach Jimmy Tillette talked about keeping focus, "Have they reached the point of thinking we've got this all figured out, we don't have to work as hard cause sometimes you get just as derailed by success as you can by failure so it's the ability to be able to handle both effectively"

SEC Releases Baseball TV Schedule

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:40:43 -0600

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Southeastern Conference has announced its official 2012 SEC Baseball television schedule, the third under the league’s 15-year agreement with ESPN. The entire package will include 66 broadcasts in 2012. In addition, all games from the 2012 SEC Tournament will continue to be televised, with the championship game airing again nationally on ESPN2.

“The success and popularity of baseball in our conference is at an all-time high,” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. “We are proud to be able to offer this amount of television coverage to both our teams and our fans.”

The television package is derived from broadcasts on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FSN, SportSouth and CSS. In addition, ESPN3 will also stream most broadcasts live online.

“This package continues to move our baseball exposure to new levels,” SEC Consultant for Television Larry Templeton stated. “Fans of SEC Baseball will be able to follow the season like never before.”

SEC schools maintain the rights to air additional games not included in the official SEC package with various television outlets, including official SEC television partners. More than 50-60 additional games are set to be broadcast, bringing the total number of SEC baseball games broadcast in 2012 to 120 games or more.

ESPNU’s previously announced Thursday Night SEC Baseball Game of the Week will begin Thursday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. ET and run eight weeks through May 17. The first Thursday night game will feature No. 1 Florida vs. No. 2 South Carolina in a rematch of last season’s College World Series Finals. The weekly game will feature a live 30-minute pregame show from ESPNU studios at 7 p.m. ET each week, focusing on baseball news and updates from around the league. ESPN networks will air 18 SEC baseball broadcasts this season.

All games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will be broadcast in high definition.

The 2012 SEC regular season begins Friday, February 17, with conference play set to begin Friday, March 16. The SEC Tournament will be played at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala., May 22-27.

Samford Baseball Picked 3rd in SoCon

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:38:46 -0600

SPARTANBURG, S.C.—The Samford baseball team has been picked to finish third in the Southern Conference by the league’s coaches, and fourth by the Southern Conference Sports Media Association, when the preseason polls were released on Wednesday.

Last season, Samford finished in a tie for third place in the league after finishing with an 18-12 league mark. Overall, the Bulldogs set a school record for wins with a 37-23 record.

In the coaches’ poll, College of Charleston was picked as the preseason favorite to win the league with 93 points and six of the 11 first-place votes. Georgia Southern was picked second with 92 points and four first-place votes, followed by Samford at third with 83 points and one first-place vote.

Elon finished fourth in the coaches’ poll, followed by Appalachian State, Western Carolina, UNC Greensboro, The Citadel, Furman, Wofford and Davidson.

Georgia Southern finished first in the media poll with 269 points and 20 of the 25 first-place votes. College of Charleston was picked second by the media with 246 points and three first-place votes, followed by Elon with 220 points and the two remaining first-place votes. Samford had 198 points in the poll, placing the Bulldogs fourth.

UNC Greensboro was voted fifth in the poll, followed by Appalachian State, Western Carolina, The Citadel, Furman, Wofford and Davidson.

The SoCon also released its Coaches Preseason All-Conference teams. Samford placed three players on the first team. Relief pitcher Lex Rutledge, first baseman Saxon Butler and outfielder Phillip Ervin were Samford’s representatives on the Preseason All-Conference teams.

Georgia Southern outfielder Victor Roache was named the Preseason Player of the Year, while GSU’s Chris Beck was tabbed as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

Rutledge, who is expected to move back to the closer role he excelled in as a freshman, led the team in strikeouts as a sophomore last season with 79. He also posted a 3.71 ERA in 2011.

Butler set Samford records for doubles (26) and RBI (61) in 2011. He finished the season second on the team in batting with a .355 average.

Ervin led the team in batting as a freshman in 2011, with a .371 average. He tallied 15 doubles, four home runs and 41 RBI last season.

Samford opens the 2012 season with a three-game home series against Radford, Feb. 17-19. The season-opener on Feb. 17 is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.

2012 SoCon Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll

Place School (First) Points

1. College of Charleston (6) 93

2. Georgia Southern (4) 92

3. Samford (1) 83

4. Elon 76

5. Appalachian State 62

6. Western Carolina 51

7. UNCG 50

8. The Citadel 33

9. Furman 32

10. Wofford 18

11. Davidson 15

2012 SoCon Baseball Preseason Media Poll

Place School (First) Points

1. Georgia Southern (20) 269

2. College of Charleston (3) 246

3. Elon (2) 220

4. Samford 198

5. UNCG 150

6. Appalachian State 149

7. Western Carolina 130

8. The Citadel 112

9. Furman 86

10. Wofford 55

11. Davidson 35

2012 SoCon Baseball Preseason All-Conference Team

Player of the Year – VictorRoache, Jr., OF, Georgia Southern

Pitcher of the Year – ChrisBeck, Jr., RHP, Georgia Southern

First Team

SP Chris Beck, Georgia Southern

SP Christian Powell, College of Charleston

RP Lex Rutledge, Samford

C Trevor Edwards, UNCG

1B Saxon Butler, Samford

2B Ross Heffley, Western Carolina

SS Eric Phillips, Georgia Southern

3B Drew DeKerlegand, The Citadel

OF Victor Roache, Georgia Southern

OF Daniel Aldrich, College of Charleston

OF Phillip Ervin, Samford

DH Daniel Kassouf, Appalachian State

Second Team

SP Ryan Arrowood, Appalachian State

SP Josh Renfro, College of Charleston

RP David Port, Appalachian State

C Alex Swim, Elon

1B Konstantine Diamaduros, Wofford

2B Sebastian Gomez, Elon

SS Aaron Attaway, Western Carolina

3B Zack Briggs, Appalachian State

3B (tie) Alex Abrams, Furman

OF Marty Gantt, College of Charleston

OF Nick Orvin, The Citadel

OF Tyler Zupcic, Appalachian State

DH Taylor Johnson, Furman

Nick Saban Pebble Beach Pro-Am Times

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:55:53 -0600

MONTEREY, CA (WIAT) - Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban will team up with former Alabama golfer Bud Cauley for Pro-Am rounds going through Saturday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am beginning Thursday. For a full list of pairings & tee times click the link below.

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Tee Times

UAB Has Been Having A Great Year Thanks To Some Great Defense

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:01:13 -0600

Birmingham,Ala(WIAT) UAB women's basketball team has already surpassed last year's win total with 16. They're also being a tough team to beat at home with a 7-1 record. Through the success this year the Blazers have thanked to their great defense which is averaging only 48 points a game and ranked number three in the nation behind UConn and South Carolina.

Alabama Crushes Auburn To Go 2-0 At Auburn Arena

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:35:57 -0600

Auburn,Ala.(WIAT) Alabama keeps on winning beating Auburn 68-50 tonight. The Crimson Tide go 2-0 in Auburn Arena. The Tide beat Auburn without big playmaker Tony Mitchell who's suspended indefinitely. Jamychal Green led the way with 19 points. As for Auburn Frankie Sullivan had a game high 21 points. The rivalry will continue in two weeks in Tuscaloosa as Auburn hopes to beat Alabama on their own court.