JOURNAL SPORTS
With its toughest test of the season at home tonight, the LSU Shreveport men’s basketball team checks in at No. 15 in the first in-season Gared-NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, released Wednesday.
Head coach Kyle Blankenship and the Pilots return several key pieces from a 2025-26 team that won the RRAC regular-season title, earned an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament and rose as high as No. 13 in the national rankings.
LSUS plays four games before the next coaches’ poll is released Nov. 25, starting tonight at 6 when second-ranked Freed-Hardeman, the defending NAIA champion, visits The Dock.
The Pilots opened the 2026-27 campaign at No. 9 in the preseason poll and have since played one of the toughest early schedules in the country, facing five ranked opponents in their first six games.
LSUS has already knocked off two of them. The Pilots edged then-No. 7 Georgetown 63-61 on Oct. 30 in Parkville, Mo., a game the NAIA Hoops Report tabbed its Week 2 Game of the Week. Trey Clarke led the way with 18 points.
Back at The Dock on Nov. 4, Clarke poured in 28 as the Pilots took down No. 23 William Carey 84-77.
The Pilots also battled No. 3 Arizona Christian, No. 11 Oklahoma Wesleyan and No. 6 Nelson during the opening stretch. Brentay Noel scored 15 points and Trae Clayton grabbed 10 rebounds in a 92-85 setback against Nelson on Tuesday night at The Dock.
Clarke leads LSUS at 16.0 points per game while shooting 49.1 percent from the floor and 84 percent at the line. Doreante Tucker adds 11.2 points per game and is knocking down 41.9 percent of his 3-point attempts.
LSUS WOMEN: Carrying a 4-2 record into tonight’s visit to Nelson in Waxahachie, Texas, the Pilots are coming off an 83-61 road win Saturday over McPherson in Bethany, Okla., on the heels of a 57-50 loss the night before at the same site to Southwestern Christian.
BOSSIER PARISH CC MEN: After an impressive road win Monday night, the Cavaliers put their 3-0 record on the line at home Friday night at 7 against Southern Arkansas Tech.
BPCC ripped Southwest Mississippi CC 92-72 as Tony Montgomery scored 27 and Jakobe Shepeard contributed 17 off the bench in just 22 minutes. Shepeard sank 7 of 11 from the floor and grabbed six rebounds.
Montgomery, rated one of the top 50 sophomores in junior college basketball this season, sank 10 of 16 overall, including 3-for-6 on 3-pointers.
Javon Barbee added 14 points and Yoav Botzer scored 10 and issued seven assists for the Cavaliers, who led 43-38 at halftime and dominated afterward with a 54-29 margin.
“We played some great basketball in the second half — turning defense into offense,” said BPCC second-year head coach Jeff Moore. “It was a great team win on the road over a really good team that will win a lot of games this season. We had guys get in early foul trouble and our bench really stepped up.”
CENTENARY MEN: The Gents were blown out Wednesday at Southland Conference member Lamar, 122-57, in an exhibition contest.
Lamar sank 18 shots from behind the 3-point arc and outrebounded Centenary 67-33. After the Gents opened the game with a 3-pointer, the Cardinals went on a 30-5 run to establish control.
Centenary (0-1 officially) returns to regular-season play on Friday at 6 as the Gents visit Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. The team’s first home game is next Tuesday night against East Texas Baptist at 7 in the Gold Dome.