Men's basketball

LU-Belleville seeded 4th in tourney

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The fields for the 2013 USCAA Basketball National Championships have been finalized, and the Lindenwood-Belleville University Lynx men's basketball team has received a seconnd consecutive bid for the second-consecutive season.

The championships, hosted by Penn State-Uniontown, will take place Feb. 26 through March 7 in Uniontown, Pa.

The LU-Belleville men earned the No. 4 seed. The Lynx will take to the court to play No. 5 Southern Virginia University at 3 p.m. CT.

All tournament games will be broadcast live through the national championships page on www.theUSCAA.com.

The Lynx finished the season with the best record in the program's history at 26-4. LU-Belleville wrapped up the regular season with a 10-game win streak.

The Lynx finished the season Saturday on a strong note, defeating the Mortland College Patriots 115-79. It was LU-Belleville's sixth 100-plus performance of the season. It was senior night in Lynx Arena, and the men's basketball program honored its four seniors -- Jaron Lusch, Larry Nussbaum, Todd Starks and Matt Sturdivant.

In the win over the 5-20 Patriots, six Lynx reached double figures, including all four seniors. Starks put up a team-high 37 points, which included a single-game record 11 three-pointers. Nussbaum recorded 16 points on the night, Sturdivant added 12 and Lusch chipped in 10 on the night. Deon Miner and Tyler Boring contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively.

This season, Starks became the first player in men's basketball history to reach the 1,000 point milestone, and broke the all-time scoring record in his 41-point performance against Logan College on Jan. 31.

The men's squad will make an appearance at the USCAA National Championships for the third-consecutive season, earning a spot each year of the program's existence.

SIUE's Johnson honored by OVC

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville junior guard Tim Johnson has been named the Ohio Valley Conference Co-Newcomer of the Week.

Johnson continued his run of outstanding play and was a bright spot in a pair of close losses this past week for the Cougars. Last Wednesday, Johnson established a new career high with 18 points against Tennessee State. He was 6 of 11 from the field and 2 for 4 from three-point range while adding three rebounds and two assists.

On Saturday, in the BracketBuster game against Central Arkansas, he again set a new career high with 22 points--the first 20-point game of his career. He was 8 for 12 from the field and 3 for 5 from three-point range. He grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and added three assists.

Johnson has now set career highs in points in each of the last three games. Since moving into the starting lineup Feb. 14 (4 games) he is averaging 16.5 points a game for the Cougars.

This award is the second weekly award for Johnson who also won Newcomer of the Week honors December 23.

Women's basketball

Lynx to play Southern Virginia University

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The fields for the 2013 USCAA Basketball National Championships have been finalized, and the Lindenwood-Belleville University Lynx women's basketball team has received the No. 3 seed.

LU-Belleville will make their second-straight trip to the National Championships, following the Lady Lynx first appearance last season. The Lady Lynx boasted a program-best 17-12 record this season, wrapping up the regular season on a five-game winning streak. Bernie Brown became the first player in Lady Lynx history to surpass the 200 assist mark, currently at 329 for her career.

The No. 3 Lady Lynx will take on No. 6 Southern Virginia University Wednesday at 9 a.m. CT.

All games will be broadcast live through the national championships page on www.theUSCAA.com.

Softball

Bearcats split pair in tourney

FLORENCE, Ala. -- The McKendree University softball team earned a split on the final day of competition at the University of North Alabama Invitational on Sunday. The Bearcats defeated Southwest Baptist University, 12-8, before dropping a 10-1 decision to the host University of North Alabama.

The Bearcats are now 1-3 overall and will host University of Illinois-Springfield for a nonconference doubleheader Wednesday for their home opener at 2 p.m.

In game one, McKendree scored single runs in the first two innings, but trailed 8-2 headed into the fourth inning when the offense found its groove. The Bearcats scored 10 runs over the final four innings to earn the comeback win over Southwest Baptist.

Freshman catcher Marla Schulte (O'Fallon) hit a bases-loaded double that scored two and tied the game, 8-8, in the fifth inning, and Ashley Scheffler cleared with a two-out grand slam to put the Bearcats in front 12-8, where it stayed.

Sophomore pitcher Susan Goetze improved to 1-1 overall with the win in relief, giving up eight hits, but striking out five with no walks.

McKendree sprayed seven hits in game two, but only scored one run late to fall to North Alabama 10-1 in five innings.

McKendree's lone run came in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Scheffler that scored freshman relief pitcher Taylor Barnouski (O'Fallon) from third.

In the two games, Marla Schulte (O'Fallon) led the Bearcats at the plate with four hits, including three doubles, two RBI and two runs scored.

Mississippi State nips Cougars

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. -- Mississippi State scored the game's only run in the first inning in a 1-0 victory over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville softball at the finale of the Blues City Classic.

"It was a seeing-eye ball up the middle, and that was the game," said SIUE Head Coach Sandy Montgomery.

Sam Lenahan singled to center field to score Ashley Phillips for Mississippi State which improved to 9-4. SIUE finished the weekend 2-2 despite yielding just two hits Sunday. The Cougars are 6-5 overall.

Montgomery said SIUE starter Haley Chambers' pitch to Lenahan was a good one. It was fisted into center field for the eventual game winner.

Chambers allowed three base runners after the first inning. She struck out four in six innings and is now 3-2 this season.

"We can always get better," said Montgomery. "We are throwing well right now."

The Cougars allowed less than 10 hits from their opponents during the four games this weekend. Montgomery said matching up the right pitchers against the right opponents gives the team the best chance to excel.

"We've done a good job of doing that so far," Montgomery said.

Alex McDavid had SIUE's only hit of the game, a fourth-inning double off Mississippi State's Alison Owen. McDavid also led off the seventh inning, was hit by a pitch, and stole second base but was stranded on second.

Next up for SIUE is a six-day road trip to Florida. The trip begins in Orlando with games March 5 against Boston College and Central Florida.

Baseball

LU-Belleville wins two in home opener

SAUGET -- The Lindenwood-Belleville University Lynx picked up their first wins of the season in their home-opener doubleheader against Cardinal Stritch on Sunday afternoon at GCS Ballpark.

The Lynx (2-3) defeated the 0-2 Wolves 2-1 in extra innings in game one and followed it with a 4-3 win in game two. This marked the third and fourth one-run games of the season for LU-Belleville.

Sean Keeney stepped up big for the Lynx on Sunday, scoring both game-winning runs in the team's first two wins of the season. The sophomore shortstop went 2-7 from the plate with three runs, three RBI and a homerun. Keeney produced both game-tying hits in game two, including a home run in the first inning.

Cougars swept by UALR

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Arkansas-Little Rock scored 13 times on 12 hits Sunday afternoon to defeat Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 13-1 and sweep the three-game baseball series from the Cougars.

"They're may be a little better than us," SIUE interim coach Tony Stoecklin said of UALR. "Our offense wasn't good. You're not going to win many games in a weekend when you score two runs in four games."

The Cougars, now 1-6, managed just five hits Sunday afternoon. James Vazquez was 1 for 2 and had the lone RBI for SIUE. It came on a sacrifice fly in the third innings. Travis Becherer scored on the play after he walked to start the inning.

Brooks McDowell started for the Cougars and allowed 10 runs, nine earned, on eight hits through 4 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two. McDowell, who tossed an inning of relief Friday, fell to 0-1 with the los.

The Cougars return to Simmons Baseball Complex to open the home season with a four-game weekend series with IPFW beginning Friday.

"I think we need some home cooking," Stoecklin said.

Mascots

Vote for SIUE's Eddie the Cougar

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Delta Dental of Tennessee has teamed up with the Ohio Valley Conference for the mascot challenge.

Cast your vote for SIUE's Eddie the Cougar by visiting http://deltadentaltn.com/OVCmascots.aspx.

The winning mascot will be recognized on court at the OVC Basketball Championships. Delta Dental will award $1,000 to the winning school's general scholarship fund.

All voting is done by fans and ends at noon March 7.