Courtesy: SWAC.org
Texas Southern was the only home team to post a victory Saturday in the SWAC. Valley kept its perfect season alive at Alcorn. Bama State knocked off rival A&M. Jackson and UAPB also scored road wins.
Texas Southern 72, Grambling 54
HOUSTON — Omar Strong scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers, to help Texas Southern deal Grambling State its fourth consecutive loss, 72-54 on Saturday.
Strong was 6 of 12 from the field and 4 of 8 from beyond the arc. Fred Sturdivant added 12 points and nine rebounds, and DeAngelo Scott had 10 points for Texas Southern (8-15, 7-4 Southwestern).
Quincy Roberts matched his season average with 23 points, including four 3-pointers of his own, to lead Grambling State (3-19, 3-9), which entered the game at or near the bottom of Division I in several offensive categories.
Grambling actually improved slightly on its average of 52.3 points per game. Texas Southern led 32-26 at halftime, outrebounded Grambling 43-16 and shot 52 percent from the field.
With the victory, Texas Southern stayed within 4 1/2 games of conference leader Mississippi Valley State, which beat Alcorn State later Saturday.
Mississippi Valley State 71, Alcorn State 63
ALCORN STATE, Miss. — Luka Pajkovic scored 16 points and Mississippi Valley State defeated Alcorn State 71-63 on Saturday night. The Delta Devils (13-11, 12-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) have won 12 in a row and 14 straight SWAC games, dating back to last season.
Cor-J Cox and Terrence Joyner each added 15 points, and Paul Crosby had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Delta Devils, who have beaten Alcorn State four times in a row. Pajkovic had four of the Delta Devils’ six 3-pointers.
MVSU outrebounded Alcorn State 33-23 but was outshot by the Braves 51 percent (26 of 51) to 45.6 percent (26 of 57). The Delta Devils had 12 steals, including five by Joyner, and forced 19 Alcorn State turnovers.
Ken McDonald scored 16 points and Xavian Rimmer added 13 for the Braves (7-17, 4-8), who had their two-game winning streak snapped.
Alabama State 57, Alabama A&M 47
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Stephawn Brown scored 15 points and Phillip Crawford added 14 as Alabama State defeated Alabama A&M 57-47 Saturday night.
Ryan Watts scored seven of his nine points in the final 3:32 as the Hornets (9-15, 6-6 Southwestern Athletic Conference) defeated the Bulldogs (5-16, 3-9) for the second time this season. They also won 53-50 on Jan. 14.
Two free throws by Crawford with 3:41 to play broke the game’s eighth and final tie.
After an Alabama A&M turnover, Watts’ 3-pointer 9 seconds later gave the Hornets a five-point lead, 49-44. A tip-in by Crawford and two jumpers by Watts made it 55-47 with 1:03 left.
The Bulldogs led by seven points, 23-16, with 6:29 left in the first half, but Alabama State cut it to one at halftime, 27-26, on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Tramaine Butler.
Casey Cantey scored 12 points and Jeremy Crutcher 11 to lead Alabama A&M.
Jackson State 62, Prairie View A&M 48
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — Kelsey Howard scored 20 points and Raymond Gregory 10 to lead Jackson State to a 62-48 victory against Prairie View A&M on Saturday.
Sydney Coleman had 10 rebounds for the Tigers (6-18, 4-8 Southwestern Athletic). Ryan Gesiakowski scored 15 points and Demondre Chapman 11 for the Panthers (11-13, 6-5).
Louis Munks was held to five points on 1 of 11 shooting, ending a streak of eight straight games with double-digit scoring. Trailing 30-26 at halftime, Prairie View A&M shot just 25 percent (8 for 32) from the floor in the second half.
The Panthers trailed by six points when a dunk by Gregory started a 7-0 run by Jackson State that gave it a 54-41 lead with 5:33 remaining. Prairie View A&M got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 64, Southern 58
BATON ROUGE, La. — Mitchell Anderson posted a double-double and Lazabian Jackson went 6 for 6 from the foul line in the last 34 seconds to lead Arkansas-Pine Bluff to a 64-58 upset of Southern University on Saturday in Southwestern Athletic Conference action.
For Southern (13-12, 9-3), the loss ended the Jaguars’ five-game winning streak. Anderson scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Savalace Townsend scored 12 points and Daniel Broughton added 11 to lead the Golden Lions (6-19, 5-7).
Arkansas-Pine Bluff trailed 30-24 at halftime, but the Golden Lions led by as many as 15 points, 52-37, with 8:28 left. Derrick Beltran (22 points), Quinton Doggett (18-points, 11 rebounds) and Jameel Grace (11 points) helped Southern within two points twice in the last minute. Jackson, just 1 for 10 from the floor, hit all six foul shots to seal the win.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff made 13 of 16 free throws in the second half.
