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(STATS) -- After suffering a blowout road loss to an FBS opponent nearly two weeks ago, North Carolina A&T has switched its focus to winning three straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles for the first time. Authentic Marcell Harris Jersey .That quest begins Thursday night when the 22nd-ranked Aggies host a Hampton team that opened its conference slate with a big victory over one of its rivals.North Carolina A&T (2-1) earned a share of the MEAC championship in 2014 for the schools first title in 11 years, and the Aggies again won the MEAC last season to give them back-to-back conference championships for the first time since 1991 and 92.They finished the 2015 season with a 41-34 victory over Alcorn State in the inaugural Celebration Bowl and opened this year by rolling to a 62-0 win over Division II program St. Augustines on Sept. 3. Next up for the Aggies was a visit to Kent State on Sept. 10, and they pulled out a wild 39-36 upset in four overtimes to record the programs first-ever win over an FBS team.North Carolina A&T got another shot at an FBS program in its last game Sept. 17 at Tulsa, but things didnt go as well. A pair of blocked punts and two interceptions -- one that was returned for a touchdown -- in the first 20 minutes did the Aggies in as they went on to lose 58-21.We had four turnovers that led to them scoring points, coach Rod Broadway said. ... Basically, we put ourselves in a hole that you cant put yourselves in against a good football team. You cant do that against any team. You cant overcome those things.It was a mismatch, but hopefully we can learn from it, get better from it and grow from having to play people like this. Thats the positive weve got to take from it.The Aggies figure to take their frustration out on Hampton (1-2, 1-0), though the Pirates used a 24-point third quarter to beat Howard 34-7 in the Nations Football Classic at RFK Stadium on Sept. 17 in their last contest.Ive said it a number of times, theres not a lot of difference between a lot of teams in this league, Broadway said. Usually a lot of games come down to who makes the fewest mistakes and who is able to protect the football.While Hamptons win over Howard came at a neutral site, it has dropped 25 of its last 32 true road games. North Carolina A&T, meanwhile, is 24-5 at home since Broadway took over in 2011.The Aggies have won the last two meetings by a combined score of 76-45, but the Pirates held a 14-7 halftime lead at North Carolina A&T in 2014 and last seasons meeting in Hampton was tied 31-all early in the fourth quarter.We can play with these guys, Pirates coach Connell Maynor said. Its going to be a battle, were going to come and fight, were going to compete for four quarters and weve got to make more plays than them and make less mistakes than them. ... Youve got to play a perfect game when playing those guys. Cheap San Francisco 49ers Jerseys . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. San Francisco 49ers Jerseys China . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. http:///...ullian-taylor-jersey . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Maybe having pros box in the Olympics isnt such a bad idea after all.While theyre at it, they might start getting some professional judges, too.A lot of what is still wrong with Olympic boxing was exposed in the heavyweight gold medal fight Monday night, when Russias Evgeny Tischenko was handed an inexplicable decision win over Vassiliy Levit of Kazakhstan in a fight that was almost as ugly as the scoring.That it came with the head of the International Olympic Committee in attendance couldnt have been good for the future of the sport. Boxing has had a rocky road in the Olympics recently, and Thomas Bach couldnt have been happy with what he saw as boos cascaded down when the unanimous decision was announced.Had Bach stuck around for the medal ceremony he would have heard even more boos, as fans expressed their displeasure once again. Standing on the medal podium, Levit put his finger to his lips in an unsuccessful attempt to stop fans from booing Tischenko as he was given the gold medal.This was supposed to be an Olympic boxing competitcoion like no other, with the men shedding headgear and the judging converted to the same type of 10-point must system used in the pro ranks. Pros were also invited to compete, although they were included so late that only three journeymen fighters signed up and all were drummed out of the competition before the first week was over.Up until the heavyweight final it had all worked fairly well. Without headgear, fans were able to see the faces of fighters, and the new scoring forced fighters to actually get into scraps instead of trying to land pitty-pat punches one at a time from the outside.The only real downside was a big increase in cuts without headgear, some of which caused competitive fights to be stopped early. That happened a few fights earlier Monday when Daniyar Yeleussinov of Kazakhstan was cut in the second round against Souleymane Cissokho of France in their welterweight semifinal.Still, boxing seemed like boxing again, a contrast to previous Olympics when headgear and a computer scoring system that awarded points for touches turned it into something more akin to fencing with gloves.The old system was put into place to get away from scoring controversies in the wake of the horrendous decision that cost Roy Jones Jr. his gold medal against a hometown fighter in Korea in 1988. 49ers Jerseys Authentic China. But judges pushing buttons seemed to get even more decisions wrong, and there was a time where the sports very future in the games was in jeopardy.Just what the three judges scoring the heavyweight final saw to award this fight to Tischenko wasnt exactly clear. Levit forced the fight, getting inside against his taller opponent and smothering his punches. It wasnt pretty by any means and neither fighter looked particularly skilled, but it was clear to almost anyone in the arena that Levit had done enough to win the fight.That included the fighter himself, who was confident right up until the decision was announced that he had won the biggest fight of his life.In my head I was thinking I won, Levit said. The coaches were quite happy.The crowd booed lustily at the decision, and kept booing long after the fighters had left the ring. The boos got louder during the medal ceremony, when Tischenko should have been enjoying his time in the spotlight.Im really upset about it, Tischenko said through an interpreter afterward. I respect my opponent and the crowd. I cannot know why they booed.If there was an Olympic moment to be taken from the night, it was the gesture of sportsmanship by Levit as the boos kept coming. He put his finger to his lips to try and silence the crowd, though with little success.Every fighter that comes to the ring deserves respect, Levit said.Boxing history, of course, is littered with decisions gone bad. Judging fights is more art than science, and what one judge sees another might not even notice.Incompetence can also play a part. So can favoring fighters for reasons other than what they do in the ring.None of that really mattered to Tischenko, who ended the night with a gold medal around his neck in an Olympics he wasnt sure he would even be in as Russia faced a possible ban for doping.They gave victory to me so there were some reasons for it, Tischenko said.Too bad no one was able to explain just what those reasons were.----Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg ' ' '
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