JACKSON, Tennessee – The Union University men’s basketball team posted a 79-62 win over the University of Montevallo Tuesday night in the Gulf South Conference Tournament Quarterfinals presented by TicketSmarter.
Second-seeded Union improved to 22-7 on the season, while 7-seed Montevallo ended its season with a 13-16 record.
“That was the best half of defense we’ve played all season,” said David Niven, Union’s head basketball coach, “I thought there was a great determination from our players that they were not going to lose this basketball game.”
Montevallo still was able to keep a small lead for the first nine minutes of the second half. Union tied the game three times, but finally regained its first lead since early in the first half at 58-56 following two free throws from Boe Nguidjol.
That was all it took as Union posted a 21-4 run, including 14 straight points at one point to blow the game open. Union kept pushing took its largest lead of the night with the 17-point final.
Union was led by Parks with 21 points. Tyree Boykin and Nguidjol each added 18 points.
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Union women tops Montevallo in GSC Quarterfinals
JACKSON, Tenn. – The Union University women’s basketball team posted a 69-53 win over the University of Montevallo Tuesday night in the Gulf South Conference Tournament Quarterfinals presented by TicketSmarter.
Union improved to 24-2 on the season, while Montevallo ended its season at 13-16. Union, the top seed in the GSC Tournament, is also ranked No. 3 nationally in both the WBCA Coaches’ Poll and the D2SIDA Media Poll.
More importantly, Union is the top seed in the NCAA Regional Rankings, entering the weekend as the favorite to host the South Region bracket of the national tournament in two weeks.
Tuesday’s win also pushed Union’s overall winning streak to 21 games and its home court winning streak to 19 straight. Union led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter, 69-47 with 1:27 left to play.
Union coasted to the 16-point victory. Union was led by Jaelencia Williams with 21 points, 15 rebounds, and career high seven blocks. She recorded her 10th double-double of the season.
“Jalencia played great tonight; anytime we can get the ball in her hands, we are a much better team,” said Mark Campbell, Union’s head coach, “I think the good thing is, come tournament time is just to advance … having short memory helps … you get to play another day (but) you want to be able to learn from each game.”
Emily Beard Dunnagan added 12 points on four 3-pointers. Shanique Lucas and Bethany Dillard each added nine points.
Union advances to the GSC Semifinals for the seventh time in the eight years in the league. Union will face a familiar tournament foe, 5th-seeded Delta State, at noon, Saturday, March 5.
Boykin, Nguidjol honored with GSC postseason awards
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Union University men’s basketball team has two players named to the 2022 Gulf South Conference Postseason Awards. Tyree Boykin was named the GSC Player of the Year and first team All-GSC. Boe Nguidjol earned second team All-GSC honors.
Boykin, a 6-foot-1 senior guard form Clarksville, Tennessee, finished the season as the GSC’s leading scorer with 19.2 points per game
Nguidjol, a 6-foot-8 junior forward from Los Angeles, California, was second on Union’s team with 13.4 points per game and led Union with 7.0 rebounds per game. He added 37 assists, 24 blocks, and 23 steals.
Williams, Baker, Campbell honored with GSC women’s basketball postseason awards
BIRMINGHAM, Tenn. – The Union University women’s basketball program was well represented in the 2022 Gulf South Conference Postseason Awards. Jaelencia Williams was named the GSC Player of the Year for the second straight season, while Mark Campbell earned GSC Coach of the Year.
Williams also earned first team All-GSC honors, while Ashtyn Baker was named second team All-GSC.
The long list of awards for Union followed a perfect regular season record, going 18-0. It was just the seventh perfect GSC record in the conference’s history and first since 2011-12.
Union also set the high mark for wins in a perfect regular season with 18, surpassing Delta States 16-0 back in 1989-90.
Williams, a 6-foot-2 senior center from Indianapolis, Indiana, posted another outstanding season. She finished the year leading the GSC in field goal percentage at .602 (162-269) while averaging 16.2 points per game. She posted 8.8 rebounds per game and added 63 assists and 60 blocks.
Baker, a 5-foot-6 graduate guard from Nesbit, Mississippi, averaged 11.2 points per game with 29 3-pointers at a 36-percent clip. She also led Union with 79 assists at 3.2 per game, good for ninth in the GSC. Baker averaged 4.7 rebounds per game.
Campbell was named GSC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in eight years of Union being eligible for GSC awards.
Campbell has 247 career wins as a member of the GSC, which places him already fifth on the all-time wins list in the conference. And is just seven wins away from move into fourth all-time. Overall, Campbell is currently 681-107 (.864) in his 23 years of coaching.
