Atlanta Daily World

Falcons Safety William Moore Arrested on Battery Charge

\Atlanta Falcon William Moore was arrested and charged with simple battery Thursday afternoon after an alleged verbal altercation in Midtown.

Atlanta Police responded to an incident on the 600 block of Ninth Street in Midtown Atlanta, where the alleged victim, who remains unidentified, said Moore threw her phone and grabbed her shoulder, according to WXIA.

The 2009 second round draft pick recently re-signed a five-year, $30 million contract with Falcons in March.

Moore, 27, is set to make his first court appearance at the Fulton County Jail at 11 a.m. on Friday. No bond has been set.

Lady Panthers Host Slugfest in Win Over Claflin to Advance to the Quarterfinals

With 15 hits including three homeruns, the third-seeded Lady Panthers of Clark Atlanta University slammed No. 2 Claflin University 15-1 Thursday to advance to the quarterfinal round of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) softball championship tournament.

Centerfielder Amari Foster, who went 4-4 from the plate, smacked a three-run shot over the left field fence to give the Lady Panthers an early 3-0 advantage in the first inning. The slugfest continued as CAU scored five runs in the second inning behind Nicolette Anderson, who picked up the win on the mound, and Zhandria Usher who both blasted a homerun that increased Clark Atlanta's lead to 8-0. The Lady Panthers held Claflin scoreless until the third inning when it put up its lone run of the game. CAU would add seven more runs to seal the victory.

With the win, the Lady Panthers will take on No. 1 (West) Miles College Friday, April 19th, at 3 p.m., in Lovejoy, Georgia at the Gerald Matthews Softball Complex.

Woodson Earns First Medal for CAU in the SIAC Track and Field Championships

With the start of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Track and field championships, Clark Atlanta University junior Markeisha Woodson medaled in third place of the women's 10,000 meters (49:17.65) while CAU advanced to the finals in three events after the preliminary round Thursday at B.T. Harvey Stadium on the campus of Morehouse College.

CAU's Eris Mackey and Trevarus West who finished third and fifth, respectively in the 400 meter preliminary round will compete in the finals in addition to Jerriyuana Jarboe who placed in the 800 meter finals as well and the men's and women's 4x100 relay teams. The finals of these events will take place Saturday.

The finals of the remaining field events including the high jump, triple jump, discus and pole vault along with the preliminary rounds of the 1500m, 400m, 100m and 4x400 m track events. For all the latest track and field results and the remaining schdule, please CLICK HERE. 

Hawks Get Larry Drew's Wish - 6 Seed in the East - With Unimpressive Loss to Knicks

The Atlanta Hawks did everything they could to give away the number 5 seed in the Eastern Conference and in the end it was just enough. With an ugly, sloppy and starless loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, the Hawks claimed the sixth seed they seemed to have been angling for the last two games of the season.

"I've said it before. We are going to err on the side of caution with just one game remaining,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said before Wednesday’s game. “It makes no difference, five or six (seed). We split with both teams so I would rather play it safe than to be sorry."

The Hawks lost the game 98-92 and will now head to Indiana for their first-round playoff series.

The outcome of the game turned out to not matter much. The Bulls took care of the Washington Wizards 95-92 to grab the fifth seed and a first-round playoff matchup with the Brooklyn Nets. The Bulls finished a game ahead of the Hawks, who had a one-game lead before losing two straight to end the season.

Al Horford, Josh Smith, Kyle Korver, Jeff Teague and Devin Harris all played the role of spectators against the Knicks. The Knicks continued to rest their top players as well. Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith did not play.

Despite the absence of big names, Madison Square Garden was still a packed house (team officials called it a sellout, with 19,033 in attendance, but there were a few empty seats) and while none of the Hawks took the opportunity to shine, Knicks forward Chris Copeland stole the show.

Copeland, the rookie who has averaged just under 15 minutes a game this season, posted a career-high 33 points in 40 minutes of play. He had 30 points through three quarters and looked like he was headed for 40 or 50 before injuring his shoulder early in the fourth.

“[Copeland] is fine, he had a hell of a game,” said Knicks coach Mike Woodson after the game. “He’ll sleep well on that.”

The rookie from the University of Colorado has had an exceptional past two games. Copeland’s 33 points Wednesday and 32 points on Monday against the Charlotte Bobcats made him the first Knicks rookie since Bill Cartwright to score 30 points in back-to-back games.

“He’s been phenomenal and a really pleasant surprise,” Woodson said of Copeland. “Going back to training camp, we didn’t know if he would make our ball club. He’s gotten better and he’s learned. We knew he could score, but not like this.”

The Hawks rookies were not quite phenomenal. After going 0-6 from 3-point range and 2-13 overall against the Toronto Raptors Tuesday night, rookie guard John Jenkins was again frigid from the floor, shooting 0-6 from beyond the arc and 8-19 overall. He finished with 20 points, but his shot was simply not there.

The Hawks were 2-13 as a team from 3-point range.

Fellow rookie Mike Scott had 23 points to lead the Hawks in scoring, but did it on 22 shots. He did get his second straight double-double, finishing with 14 rebounds.

The move to rest the starters in the second half against Toronto and the entire game against New York seemed quizzical, but perhaps Drew had a plan all along. Horford told the Daily World that the team didn’t arrive in New York until 3 a.m. Wednesday morning and returning to the New York metro area for a series starting Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets may not have been what Drew wanted.

“Now we know what we need to focus on and who we need to focus on and move forward,” Anthony Tolliver said. “… As soon as we came in [the locker room, Drew] already started talking about [the Pacers] and what we are going to do to prepare for them. Now we have to start our second season.”

The Hawks play the Indiana Pacers Sunday April 21 at 1 p.m. The game will be televised on TNT. The second game, also in Indiana, will tip off at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday April 24 on NBA TV. Game three, the first game in Atlanta, will be Saturday April 27 on ESPN at 1 p.m. Game four’s tip-off time and television schedule have not yet been announced.

Atlanta and Indiana split the season series 2-2.