Newspaper Page Text
12 The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, February 1,2023
Lady Tigers Win
At Home
Bria Gibbs
The Savannah State
women’s basketball team had
a pair of home wins last week
with victories over Allen and
Benedict. The Lady Tigers de
feated Allen 74-55 on January
23 and topped Benedict 70-51
on Jan. 25.
In the win over Allen,
SSU broke open a close game
by outscoring the Yellow Jack
ets 20-9 in the third quarter.
Bria Gibbs led four SSU play
ers in double figures with 19
Nyla Allen
points and 14 rebounds. Nyla
Allen had 14 points, six assists
and four steals while Amari
Heard and Mia Goolsby scored
12 points each. Former Beach
High standout Tatanyi Morris
scored seven points for Allen.
The contest with
Benedict was also close un
til Savannah State outscored
Benedict 21-8 in the second
quarter and coasted to the 19
point win. Five SSU players
scored in double figures with
Goolsby getting 18 points and
four steals. Allen had 13 points
and six assists, Jashiyah Jones
scored 12, Gibbs had 11 and
Heard chipped in 10. Ta’Qua-
sia Lampkin grabbed a game-
high nine rebounds. Former
Woodville-Tompkins standout
Jazmin Grayson played 26
minutes for Benedict and had
three rebounds and one assist.
On Jan. 28, Benedict
got some revenge on Savan
nah State, beating SSU 74-53
in Columbia, South Carolina.
The contest was tied at half
time at 38 but the third quarter
was the difference with Ben
edict outscoring SSU 15-2.
Allen had 15 points for SSU
while Gibbs and Heard scored
ten points apiece. Lampkin
had a game-high 10 rebounds.
Grayson contributed eight
points, four rebounds and three
assists for Benedict.
SSU (14-5, 10-4
SIAC) played at Allen on Jan,
30 and will return home on
February 4 to host Clark Atlan
ta for their final home game.
Savannah State
Undefeated at
Home
The Savannah State
men’s basketball team re
mained unbeaten at home fol
lowing recent wins over Allen
and Benedict. SSU downed
Allen 75-54 on January 23
and edged Benedict 58-54 on
Jan. 25. The Tigers traveled to
Benedict on Jan. 28 where they
suffered a 69-64 loss.
Ayjay Plain scored 19
points while Eleik Bowles add
ed 15 in SSU’s win over Allen.
Andrew Okorodudu had seven
rebounds. SSU jumped out to a
21-9 lead in the opening period
Ayjay Plain
and led by as many as 31 in the
second half.
In the win over Ben
edict, SSU led 53-52 with
2:34 remaining but held on
for the win. The Tigers led by
Eleik Bowles
as many as ten in the first half
but only led by four at inter
mission. Bowles led the way
with 15 points while Plain
chipped in 12 points, six re
bounds, five steals and three
assists. Za’Khari Cobb added
11 points.
In the rematch with
Benedict, SSU trailed by ten
with just over a minute remain
ing but could only get as close
as 67-64 following a 3-point-
er by Plain at the 24 second
mark. Plain ended the game
with 18 points and six assists
while Bowles had 14 points,
six rebounds and three steals.
Okorodudu had 11 points.
The Tigers (13-6,
11-4 SIAC) traveled to Allen
on Jan. 30 but will return home
to face Clark Atlanta on Febru
ary 4 and Morehouse on Feb.
6. SSU is 10-0 at home this
season but has struggled on the
road with a 3-6 mark.
Smith Joins Staff at
Michigan State
Tino Smith II
Former Savannah
State football player Tino
Smith II has joined the coach
ing staff at Michigan State and
will be a Spartans graduate as
sistant coach working with the
wide receivers.
Smith spent the past
five season at Albion College,
a Division III school located
90 miles west of Detriot, Mich
igan. At Albion, Smith worked
with the wide receivers as well
as serving as the assistant head
coach and recruiting coordina
tor. During his tenure at Albi
on, Smith helped the team to
a 36-8 record including a 9-1
mark in 2022 and a 9-2 record
in 2021 which included a trip
to the Division III playoffs.
A native of Carmel,
Indiana, Smith came to SSU
in 2014 following a year at
Fork Union Military Academy.
While at Savanna State, Smith
played quarterback before
switching to wide receiver. He
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had his best year as a freshman
where he passed for 849 yards
and five touchdowns while run
ning for 193 yards and a score.
His best game came against
Florida A&M when he com
pleted 27 of 44 passes for 290
yards and a touchdown. That
same season Smith threw two
touchdowns in games against
Bethune-Cookman and south
Carolina State.
Smith earned his un
dergraduate degree from SSU
in mass communications in
2018.
Smith joins a coach
ing staff that includes former
SSU assistant Saeed Khalif,
who served as the Tigers de
fensive coordinator and de
fensive line coach during the
2011-12 seasons. Khalif is the
Michigan State General Man
ager/Executive Director of
Player Personnel and Recruit
ing.
SSU Alumnus To Umpire 2023 Super
Bowl
Roy Ellison
Savannah State grad
uate Roy Ellison has been se
lected as the umpire on the of
ficiating crew for Super Bowl
LVII which will be played
February 12 at State Farm Sta
dium in Glendale, Arizona.
It will be Ellison’s
third Super Bowl assignment,
having also worked the 2018
and 2009 Super Bowls. He also
worked the 2005 Pro Bowl.
A former offensive
lineman with the SSU foot
ball team, the Lakeland, Flor
ida native has been a National
Football league official since
2003. The 1987 SSU grad who
is also a IT engineer has also
officiated games in NFL Eu
rope, Arena Football League,
XFL and aF2 in addition to
working on the college level
in several conferences (SIAC,
ME AC, MAC and Conference
USA).
Savannah State Baseball Tops SIAC
Preseason Awards
Joseph Smith Rahmir Vaughn
Photos: Courtesy Savannah State Athletics
Coming off one of the
best seasons in program histo
ry, Savannah State baseball has
earned a number of preseason
accolades.
On Monday, Sa
vannah State paced the 2023
Southern Intercollegiate Ath
letic Conference (SIAC) Pre
season Teams with nine se
lections, according to a press
release from the conference
office.
In the NCBWA Pre-
season South Region Poll, re
leased a few days ago, the Ti
gers were ranked No. 10, their
first showing in the poll since
rejoining the SIAC and NCAA
Division II in 2019. Reigning
SIAC Champions Spring Hill
were ranked No. 6 in the same
poll.
The Collegiate Base
ball Division II Poll put Sa
vannah State at No. 24 in their
preseason rankings as well.
The two polls, which are re
leased weekly, help the NCAA
determine the final held for the
championship tournament.
The Tigers top three
starting pitchers from last year,
Jose Santiago, Jared Showalter,
and Enrico Peele, were named
to the All-SIAC First Team.
Last week, Showal
ter was named to the National
Collegiate Baseball Writers
Association (NCBWA)’s Di
vision II Preseason All-South
Region First-Team as well.
Showalter, the No. 1
pitcher in the SIAC, finished
the 2022 season with a 2.49
ERA and a 9-1 record. After
65.1 innings pitched, Showal
ter had 67 strikeouts, 21 walks,
18 earned runs and a 1.11
WHIP.
The 2022 SIAC Play
er of the Year Joseph Smith
was named to the All-SIAC
First Team. Smith was also
named to the NCBWA Presea
son All-South Region Honor
able Mention list.
Smith led the Tigers
with a .441 batting average last
year. He racked up 9 doubles,
9 triples and 9 home runs, as
well as 41 RBI and was slug
ging .776. Smith led the SIAC
in triples and was ranked No.
3 in NCAA Division II. He led
the SIAC in hits per game. In
June of last year, he was named
to the ABCA All-Region First
Team.
First baseman Andrai
Wright and second baseman
Champion Robbins each made
the All-SIAC First Team this
year. Savannah State relief
pitcher Rahmir Vaughn was
named to the All-SIAC First
Team as well. Making the
All-SIAC Second Team was
shortshop Gabriel Patxot and
utility player Jaden Oden.
The 2022 Tigers fin
ished an incredible run with
a 34-12 record. They won the
regular season SIAC Champi
onship with a 28-2 conference
record. Head Coach Carlton
Hardy was named the SIAC
Coach of the Year.
The 2003 team was
the last to record a 34-win sea
son (34-15), under Head Coach
Jamie Rigdon. The last team to
finish with a 30-plus win sea
son was the 2013 Tigers, under
Hardy, who eventually finished
with a Mid-Eastern Athletic
Conference (MEAC) Champi
onship Title.
Savannah State base
ball opens their 2023 campaign
on Feb. 4. They host Virginia
State in a single game, set for
11 a.m. They finish the three-
game series on Sunday, Feb. 5,
with a doubleheader starting at
12 p.m.
cavannah
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