Texas Southern and Jackson State remained tied for first place at the midway point of the SWAC basketball race with wins Monday. Mississippi Valley State and Alabama A&M kept pace with road victories as well.
Texas Southern 73, Alabama State59
HOUSTON — Travele Jones scored 18 points to lead Texas Southern past Alabama State 73-59 Monday night. Kevin Galloway added 15 points and Lawrence Johnson-Danner had 14 to help the Tigers (10-10, 8-1) remain tied for first in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Tramaine Butler led the Hornets (6-16, 3-6) with 17 points. Texas Southern took control of this one early by quickly building double-digit lead and shot 51 percent in winning for the eighth time in nine games. The Tigers led 12-0 2:49 into the game, went into halftime up 41-32 and led by 18 after intermission. Alabama State got as close as four twice in the first half and cut the gap to 43-35 early in the second, but Texas Southern responded with a 12-2 run and led by double digits the rest of the way.
Jackson State 86, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 64
JACKSON, Miss. — Jenirro Bush scored 22 points and Grant Maxey added 18 as Jackson State defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 86-64 on Monday night. The Tigers (12-9, 8-1) remained tied for the Southwestern Athletic Conference lead with Texas Southern. Jackson State shot 65.5 percent (19 of 29) in the second half. After the Golden Lions (4-17, 4-5) got within two, 49-47, with 13:31 remaining, Tyrone Hanson and Christian Williams scored six points each in a 14-2 run over the next 4:13 that made it 63-48. The Tigers’ lead reached 86-55 with 1:42 left. Jackson State had a 16-point first-half lead, 29-13, with 7:29 left, but Ricky Parks scored 10 points for the Golden Lions the rest of the way until intermission to cut it to 37-28. Savalace Townsend scored 19 points to lead Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Parks had 13 and Allen Smith 11. Hanson added 15 points for Jackson State.
Mississippi Valley 94, Grambling 74
GRAMBLING, La. — D’Angelo Jackson scored 22 of his 28 points in the second half and Mississippi Valley State cruised to a 94-74 victory over Grambling State Monday night. Paul Crosby and Falando Jones each added 17 points for Mississippi Valley (8-14, 7-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Grambling kept it close for the first 10 minutes, but fell behind for good on Kevin Burwell’s free throw with 9:25 left. The Delta Devils dominated the rest of the half, outscoring the Tigers 28-11 until halftime, and led 44-26 at the break. Each team committed 19 turnovers, but the Delta Devils did a better job of capitalizing on Grambling’s mistakes. They scored 27 points off Tiger turnovers while Grambling scored only 10 off Mississippi Valley’s. Justin Patton led all scorers with 31 points and also had 11 rebounds for Grambling (3-18, 1-8), which lost its sixth in a row. Donald Qualls added 18 points.
Alabama A&M 62, Prairie View A&M 53
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — Cornelius Hester scored 15 points and Casey Cantey posted 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead Alabama A&M past Prairie View A&M 62-53 on Monday night. The Bulldogs (9-9, 6-3 SWAC) used a 14-2 run early in the second half to open a 41-27 lead, their largest of the game. Prairie View (6-16, 3-6) came no closer than five points and not until the final 1:05. Bo Amusa had 10 points, six during the momentum-changing run, for Alabama A&M. Hester also had four steals. Brandon Webb and Michael Griffin were the top scorers for the Panthers with eight points apiece. Griffin also had eight rebounds and four assists.
