Congratulations to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff for winning the SWAC Championship this past Saturday in Birmingham, AL!

The SWAC is the the Southwest Athletic Conference for some historically black colleges & universities and is the conference that UAPB is conference in. The Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions battled the Jackson State University Tigers in front of 32,000 fans.

The Golden Lions took the win of 24-21 in overtime which made SWAC Championship history. Jackson State got on the scoreboard first at the 9:16 minute mark when Clayton Moore found Rico Richardson on a 40-yard touchdown pass. Jackson State push their lead to 14-0 when Rakeem Sims scored on a 37-yard jaunt at the 4:18 minute mark of the first quarter.

The Golden Lions reply back at the 14:57 mark of the second quarter when Ben Anderson scored on quarterback keeper to make the score 14-7.

But the Tigers wasn't taking that answer serious. The Tigers came back to score once again on a one yard run by Clayton Moore to make the score 21-7. With four seconds left in the first half outside linebacker Xavier Lofton sacked JSU quarterback Clayton Moore causing a fumble, at which point Lofton's counter part senior middle linebacker Bill Ross scooped up the fumble rumbled 73-yards for a touchdown making the score at halftime 21-14.

That score hold up until two minutes left in the ball game, when Anderson would find Willie Young breaking across the middle of the field on a post route a 95-yard touchdown to tie the game at 21. Time expire with the score knotted at 21 a piece. The Golden Lions and Tigers would need overtime to settle this battle for the SWAC crown.

When it came to overtime, Jackson State would have first possession in the overtime period after being stopped on three straight plays. The Tigers opted to attempted a field goal to take the lead but the kick was blocked by senior defense lineman Sean Robinson giving ball back to the Golden Lions with an opportunity to make history.

With their shot at the end zone and potentially the first SWAC Championship looming in the balance, Justin Billings was the ensuing hand-off around the left end for what was thought to be the game winning touchdown. But after an official's review, Billings was ruled out at the five yard line. Two plays later, place kicker Tyler Strickland would get a chance at redemption. Earlier in the ball game Strickland missed a 25-yard attempt but proved to be the hero of the ballgame by down the game winning 26-yard field goal to cement this historic season for Head Coach Monte Colemon and his Golden Lions Football team.

The 2012 Golden Lions went down in history Saturday by being the first team in their school history to have an 10 game winning season and the first team in school history to win the SWAC Championship for football.

"This is what you practice for, all the long hours, all of the hard work, when you're able to reach this level of success it's a blessing. UAPB is now on the map."

UAPB is the first HBCU to be selected into the D.J's Music Site HBCU Campaign and was honored as September's 2012 HBCU of the Month. You can view honoree bio here.

Source:

http://www.uapblionsroar.com/