Former Alabama and Seattle Seahawks star running back Shaun Alexander will be the special speaker for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes' annual "Road to Victory" banquet on Feb. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Chattanooga Convention Center. The former Mr. Kentucky high school standout -- he scored 54 touchdowns his senior year at Boone County -- ran for 291 yards and four touchdowns in his first game for Alabama as a redshirt freshman and wound up with 3,433 yards and 40 rushing touchdowns for the Crimson Tide, and he was the NFL's most valuable player after running for 1,880 yards and 27 TDs for Seattle in 2005. "We are thrilled to have Alabama's all-time rushing-yardage leader come to Chattanooga to speak of behalf of FCA," area FCA director Jay Fowler said in a release. "Shaun Alexander was a champion in football, and he continues to be in life. He has been very involved in FCA since his first years at Alabama, serving as the FCA president there and serving in a variety of roles at FCA camps through the years." Alexander and his wife have seven children and live in northern Virginia. For more about the banquet, see chattanoogafca.org or call Fowler at 877-3561 or 309-4255.
• Times Free Press sports writer David Paschall will be the guest speaker for the Chattanooga Quarterback Club's noon luncheon meeting Monday at Finley Stadium, and the public is invited. He will be talking about college football, including the bowl games and playoffs. Attendance costs $10 with a meal, $4 without.
Basketball
• The Bryan College basketball teams came to Chattanooga and split with Tennessee Temple on Saturday, the Dayton school winning 62-52 in the women's game but Temple's men prevailing 64-61 behind Bryan Jones's 29 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Weedlens Beauvil added five steals and four assists for the Crusaders (4-6), while Brandon Cole had 25 points and 14 rebounds and Hunter Chastain scored 10 points for Bryan (8-3). Kristin Lane and Ashley Cox scored 19 and 15 points and Megan Billingsby had eight rebound with nine points in the win for the Lady Lions (10-2), countering 19 points and eight rebounds from Amanda Rector, 10 points and 10 rebounds from Angel Foster and five steals by Kirsten Fowler for Temple (3-6).
• The Lee University women's basketball team shot 17-of-68 from the field and lost 58-52 Saturday at West Florida, but Lee's Flames prevented a Gulf South Conference sweep in Pensacola with a 68-64 defeat of the Argonauts. Emileigh Swafford was 5-of-23 from the field but made eight of nine free throws and scored 20 points for the Lady Flames (5-2, 2-2), while Alex Swope had five assists. The Lady Argonauts (7-1, 4-0) were only 15-of-63 from the field but hit 25 of 36 free throws while Lee was taking 18 and making 13. Stedmon Ford had team highs of 16 points, four assists and six rebounds for the Lee men (7-2, 2-2), and Cory Billingsley and Jervon Johnson scored 14 points each.
• The Tennessee Wesleyan women's basketball team, ranked No. 15 in NAIA Division II, won 56-49 in a nonconference game Saturday at No. 25 Georgetown (Ky.) and is 12-1 for the season. Jenna Adams had 19 points and 13 rebounds for Wesleyan, which outglassed its hosts 47-31, while Armeka Booker had 11 rebounds with nine points and Shira Buley scored 10 points.
• Ending the first half on a 35-4 run, NCAA Division II member Carson-Newman beat long-ago NAIA rival Tennessee Wesleyan 98-74 in men's basketball Saturday. Jared Johnson and Josh Rogers scored 16 points each in leading six double-digit scorers for Carson-Newman (4-6). Justin Simmons had 15 points, four assists and three steals for TWC (5-6), and Derek Triplett and Stephen Kite Jr. scored 13 and 11 points.
• Emma Cook was 7-of-8 from the field and had 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Berry College women's basketball team improved to 6-2 with a 68-46 win Saturday afternoon at Covenant. Chanlir Segarra had 12 points and six assists and Imani Smith and Zarriah Pierce made five steals in the victory. For Covenant (0-8), Liz Dougherty scored 16 points, Haley Soles added 12 and Morgan Woodward had 11 rebounds and four assists.
Boxing
• John Meadows, Keith Liles, Jeff O'dell and Charlie Thomason from the Chattanooga Fire Department were among the winners in the annual "Guns & Hoses: Battle of the Badges" boxing benefit Saturday night at Maclellan Gym, along with Gary Stanley from the Dalton Fire Department and Billy Blea from Hamilton County EMS. Law-enforcement winners were Keith Hunter and Joe Silva from the Chattanooga PD, Antuan Brown from the Whitwell police force and Kyle Odum, Amara Johnson and Blake Kilpatrick from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department.