Seniors Lead Indians to 88-77 Victory over Greyhounds
Jennifer Tavlian | Sports Editor

Thursday night brought the Indians to their knees with a buzzer-beating shot that handed them a 74-72 loss to West Texas A&M in overtime.
But the Indians haven’t lost two games in a row since mid-December, and they didn’t disappoint Saturday.
Four seniors led the Tribe to an 88-77 rebounding victory over Eastern New Mexico.
Senior Jay January opened the show by hitting three straight 3-pointers, bringing the crowd to their feet and forcing the Greyhounds to an early timeout.
Leonard Pralour muscled his way in for two layups, bringing the score to 13-8.
January rested on the bench for just a few minutes before checking back in and announcing his presence with yet another bomb from downtown.
He ended the game with 22 points and shot six-of-eight from beyond the arc.
Toward the end of the first half, the Greyhounds led by three points before January hit a 3-pointer and Chad Rickett drove the lane for a layup. Senior Shelton Hawkins earned a three-point play with a basket and free throw on a foul.
“This meant a lot,” January said. “It’s Senior Night, and we had to leave with a bang.”
The Indians pulled away in the second half by going on a 15-8 run in the first six minutes.
“Was this game fun or what?” Hawkins said with his trademark smile.
Hawkins dished out a team-high five assists. Pralour finished the game with ten points.
Senior Justin James earned his ninth double-double of the season with 22 points and 12 boards.
He also earned honors in ESPN The Magazine as one of the college division academic all-district VI men’s basketball team.
For this honor, the student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative 3.20 GPA on a 4.00 scale, be at least a sophomore on and off the court and be nominated by the school’s sports information director.
Not only is James averaging 11.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, he excels in the classroom with a 3.72 GPA, majoring in Radiologic Science.
Both James and Pralour have been on the team for their four years at MSU, including two years under head coach Jeff Ray.
“If you could look across the world and find two young men better than them, I’d be surprised,” Ray said. “They’re fine young men and I love both of them to death. Throw basketball out of the picture, they’re great human beings.”
After spending four years together and playing in every single game during that time, each forward describes the other as the best teammate he’s had.
“It seems like a short four years, now,” James said. “I’ve enjoyed LP all four years. He’s one of the most unselfish teammates I’ve had.”
Pralour has also enjoyed his time with his teammate, but says this isn‘t the last time for the dynamic duo.
“One more time,” Pralour said with a smile. “Number 34 (Pralour) and number 33 (James). We’re not done yet on this court.”
Big performances by the seniors not only boosted team confidence after Thursday’s heart-breaking loss, but also gave the seniors a win to ride out their careers at home on.
“This game was big,” James said. “It completes a good career for me. Thursday was one of the most disappointing games of the season, and we did what we had to do to get the job done.”
West Texas A&M hit the Indians with a loss on Thursday that dropped them to a three-team tie for second place.
James had another big game, tearing down a season-high 20 rebounds and pouring in 17 points. Rickett had 13 points and Eddie Rowe dished out five assists.
The Indians were down by one point with 1:33 left in overtime when James turned the ball over. Buffaloes’ guard Jarvis Brown missed a jumper and Pralour came down with his sixth rebound of the game. Rickett drained a jumper of his own with 24 tics left on the clock.
With one second left, West Texas inbounded the ball on the baseline to Ronnie Holmes, whose only prayer was a catch-and-shoot. Unfortunately for the Indians, Holmes hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Indians will take to the road on Thursday for another bout with San Angelo at 8 p.m.
MSU manhandled the Rams at D.L. Ligon Coliseum in January with a 95-75 win. Five Indians scored in double figures, including Tate Lombard who had 18 points off the bench.
They will also face Abilene Christian on the road on Saturday with a 6 p.m. tipoff. The Tribe beat ACU 104-71 in late January.
“We beat these two teams pretty easily here at home,” January said. “When you lose now, it’s over. We have to keep going.”


Lady Indians lose Final two home Games
Iggy Cruz | Staff Reporter

The Eastern New Mexico Zias quietly walked onto Stockton Court Saturday night in front of 1,100 fans with the intention of ruining senior night for the Lady Indians.
Mission accomplished.
A sharp-shooting second half from ENMU (11-14, 5-7 in LSC play) put the Lady Indians away 80-73, extending MSU’s losing streak to four games and eliminating all playoff aspirations along the way. The loss drops MSU to 9-16 overall and 4-8 in conference play.
“We hit that five-minute spot where we couldn’t seem to hit our shots,” MSU assistant coach Jennifer Griffin said. “Then we made a couple of mistakes on defense.”
Griffin was forced to handle coaching duties most of the night after head coach Shannon Burks collapsed during the first half. MSU training staff, and Burks himself, said everything is fine.
ENMU blocked three shots and out rebounded MSU 24-11 in the first half to take a 40-36 lead at intermission.
“Rebounds killed us,” Griffin said. “We were giving them so many offensive rebounds, it killed us.”
MSU held a brief 50-47 lead with 12:53 in the second half before ENMU got loose for an 11-4 run. MSU cut the score 58-56 with 6:30 left in the game, but could not overcome another big run from the ENMU.  53 percent shooting in the half from the Zias would prevent any possible comeback from the Lady Indians.
Katherine Maples led the team with 16 points and seven boards, while Kelly Cleavinger finished with 13 points.
Heather Brown had a game-high 25-points and Tiana Bryant added 19 points, ten rebounds, and three swats for ENMU. Mika Robertson also chipped in 13 for the Zias.
  Adrian Fincher and Nicole Brantley finished their final home game as Lady Indians with 9 points a piece. Fincher also had five assists.
“Her (Fincher) teammates really wanted to send her out with a win. They were very disappointed by that,” Griffin said. “Nicole had a great shooting spree in the first half (three 3-point FGs). She’s done a great job the last two games.” 
For the game, ENMU shot 50 percent from the field, while MSU shot 39 percent. Both teams fired 36 percent from downtown and turned the ball over 20 times.
The Lady Indians dropped another home game Thursday against West Texas A&M 71-57.
From the start of the whistle, MSU had trouble containing the second scoring offense in the LSC as three Lady Buff’s finished in double figures. Katherine Maples led MSU with 12 points and 6 rebounds. 
The Lady Indians forced WTAMU into 12 first half turnovers, but could not capitalize on the opportunities as the Lady Buff’s built a 43-29 lead at the half behind Suni Jo Petty’s 12 points. 
WTAMU would see the lead diminish as the Lady Indians second half surge closed the gap at 51-50 with 9:50 remaining. The Lady Indians matched WTAMU with 28 second half points, but a 14-0 run from Lady Buff’s made it a difficult task for MSU to overcome.
Brantley had 11 points for the Lady Indians, while Angie Faurot registered 10 points and eight rebounds.
Keisha Monroe totaled 15 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks for WTAMU. Petty and Celeste Stevenson had 12 and 11 points respectively.
The Lady Indians will conclude their season this week, visiting Angelo State on Thursday and Abilene Christian on Saturday. Tip off for Thursday’s game is at 6 p.m., and 4 p.m. on Sat.





MSU guard energizes bench, but off the court, he’s First String
Jennifer Tavlian | Sports Editor

Shelton Hawkins waits anxiously in the wings as the game clock ticks down midway through the first half.
Suddenly freed from his cage on the bench, he peels off his warm-up jersey and bounds to the scorer’s table.
“I’m in the game!” the bundle of energy with the infectious smile shouts.
The senior guard puts heart and spirit into everything he does. Basketball comes as second nature.
Hawkins started playing when he was just a young kid in Baltimore. His older brother played basketball, and Hawkins started playing when he went to practice with his sibling.
He looks up to Laker legend Magic Johnson for his unselfish play.
“I don’t like people to be mad at me,” Hawkins said. “That’s why I pass off in the game. I want to give others the opportunity to score.”
Hawkins demonstrated his selflessness in the second grade when he accidentally shot at the wrong basket, giving his opponents the points.
“I was really happy and giving people on the other team high-fives,” Hawkins said.
But his first love is music.
“My basketball days are almost over,” Hawkins said. “I had to figure out something else to do.”
In the summer of 2002, he and a couple of childhood friends collected their financial aid checks and started up an independent label, First String Records. The label, which has already signed six artists, has its own Web site, firststringrecords.com.
“We wanted to be our own bosses and control our own destiny,” he said. “We named the label First String because we all play sports.”
Jay Z and Young Blake are two of Hawkins’ musical influences. Blake, who lives in Maryland, has been Hawkins’ best friend since the first grade and is a signee to the label.
“He really works hard, and I hope he’s going to make me rich,” Hawkins said with a laugh. “Every year he gets better and better.”
He looks up to Jay Z for his musical style and entrepreneurship.
“He started from nothing and now has a successful career in music and fashion,” Hawkins said. “He’s opened up a lot of doors for black people.”
Hawkins, too, has a fashion sense and owns between 70 and 80 pairs of shoes.
“I like them,” he said. “I’m addicted. I see one pair and it keeps building and building. I hate driving past the mall because I have to go in and see what shoes they have.”
The mass communications major wants to be the next big thing in the entertainment industry, and, although he loves the spotlight, his business mind steers him to the likes of P. Diddy.
His minor in art helped him design First String’s first CD cover for “League Leaders Volume 1,” which was released in the summer of 2004.
Hawkins loves the spotlight on the court as well.
“I get to show off,” he said with a grin. “The crowd does play a large part.”
Hawkins has started in two of the 23 games he’s played this season and is averaging just over 15 minutes per game. He is averaging 3.3 points per game and has 18 steals for the season.
“When everyone has that dejected look on their face, I want to be that spark,” he said of his role on the team.
He puts on head coach Jeff Ray’s suit jacket in the locker room before games to lighten the mood.
“I want to make J-Mac (Justin James) laugh so he’s not so focused on the game,” he said.
His teammates agree that he is the source of humor on the squad.
“He’s very entertaining,” forward Leonard Pralour said. “He’s cool to hang out with on and off the court, and he always keeps you laughing.”
New members to the Indians lineup can attest to his wit, but also appreciate his enthusiasm.
“On the court, his intensity makes him do whatever he has to do to get the team to win,” freshman guard Kyle Owens said. “At the first of the year, he took me under his wing and critiqued small things for me that he had to correct last year.”
Hawkins transferred from Weatherford Junior College in August of 2003 when graduate assistant coach Rob McIlhaney mentioned him to Coach Ray. This year brought MSU six transfer students, including Riley Henry, a post from Clarendon College.
“He’s completely funny, on and off the court,” Henry said of Hawkins. “Even on the bench before we go in, he’s energized and tries to get everyone going.
“Last year, he didn’t get to play much, and he tells me not to get down just because you’re not playing.”
When the 6-foot-4 Hawkins stepped onto the MSU campus for the first time, he weighed 210 pounds.
While he admits the conditioning has been tough, he is now down to 200 pounds.
“He was out of shape, and I think he’ll be the first to admit it,” Ray said. “But he hung in there, he listens and he’s a great team-guy. He’s got a great personality and he’s witty. He does a good job in the classroom and he’s not just a student or athlete. He’s a student-athlete in the truest sense of the word.
“I predict future successes in whatever he does.”
Hawkins can describe himself in one word: special. He was born on Christmas Day in 1980 and beams when he describes his birthday as being the same as “the Man upstairs’.”
He also lived with a rich, white family in Virginia for two and one-half years while he attended Notre Dame Academy, a private Catholic school.
“When you go there, you’re placed with the richest people,” he said. “They still send me Christmas presents, and I get box seats at Orioles games when I visit.”
Hawkins lived in a three-story house with a family that included his “second mom,” who packed his lunch and wrote him notes every day, and her son. The family also included two daughters, who were away at college. His space on the first floor included a room with two beds and a piano.
“It doesn’t get better than that,” he said. “Those were the best two and a half years of my life.”
With this basketball season coming to an end, Hawkins claims that when he’s done, he’s done for good.
But basketball will never be far from his mind.
First String Records has started paperwork for ‘Jig For The Kids,’ a foundation to help build the inner city of Baltimore back up.
The foundation is near to Hawkins’ heart. It is being established in honor of his late cousin, James Thomas.
Just before Hawkins came to MSU, Thomas died after dunking the ball during a game and falling, hitting his head on the pavement.
“We were really close,“ Hawkins said. “A white person tried to give him CPR, but a black cop saw and stopped him. That’s when he went into seizures. The cop just saw a white person leaning over a fallen black man and rushed in to stop him.
“Inner city Baltimore isn’t divided, but it’s not as together as it should be.”
Hawkins hopes his personality will bring many together and be what people remember most.
“Anybody who wants to be my friend can,” he said with his trademark ear-to-ear smile. “Everyone is unique in their own way.”