Top Sports Headlines….Southwood Loses

At the Top 28 tournament in Ruston...Pelican won both the Class C boys and girls state basketball championships. Saint Thomas More won the Girls Class Four-A championship, Lafayette defeated Southwood for the Five-A title on the girls side. Scotlandville beat McKinley for the Boys Five-A Title.

In a letter to fans, Saints Quarterback Drew Brees says he was unaware of any bounty program that existed with the team during the past three years. Brees goes on to say there is no place in the National Football League for players to conspire and incentivized to intentionally injure another player. The Saints Q-B also goes on to ask fans to reserve judgment until the investigation is complete. It's expected the NFL will hand down penalties against the Saints later this month.

In other NFL news...New Orleans native Peyton Manning met with the Denver Broncos yesterday. Miami, Kansas City and Arizona are also expected to talk with the future NFL Hall of Famer before he signs with a new team. Manning's former teammate in Indianapolis, former LSU Tigers running back Joseph Addai (Uh-die) was released by the Colts. Napleonville native and running back Brandon Jacobs is also expected to be released by the Giants.

Louisiana Tech and McNeese State can clinch berths in the NCAA Men's basketball tournament with victories today. The Bulldogs beat top-seeded Nevada 78-73 last night to advance to the Western Athletic Conference Championship game. Trevor Gaskins led the Bulldogs with 21 points. Tech will face New Mexico State at 11 PM tonight in Las Vegas. McNeese state will face Lamar this afternoon at 2:00 for a right to play in the NCAA Tournament. The Cowgirls are already going to the "Big Dance." The McNeese State women's basketball team beat Stephen F. Austin 62 to 58 in the Southland Conference Tournament Championship game. Caitlyn Baggett had 21 points and was named the tournament's most valuable player.

The LSU men's basketball team will have to wait until Sunday night to see if they are involved in post-season play. The Tigers were eliminated from the SEC Tournament by losing to top-seeded Kentucky 60 to 51. The Tigers are hoping to get at least an NIT berth.

 The 11th ranked LSU baseball team blanked Michigan 6 to nothing last night. Sophomore right-hander

Kevin Gausman struck out a career high 11 to get the victory. It's LSU's fifth shutout of the season. -