Alabama State def Alcorn State 84-60
MONTGOMERY, Ala.- Jamel Waters scored a game-high 18 points in leading Alabama State to an 84-60 win over Alcorn State as the Hornets remained undefeated in Southwestern Athletic Conference action.
Waters led four players in double digits as Luther Page added 14,Maurice Strong 13 and Steve Rogers10 as ASU shot 46 percent from the field.
The second half was much of the same as the starters only played about half of the second half, with the reserves picking up most of the playing time.
ASU led by as many as 27 points on three occasions before settling in for the 24-point cushion.
ASU (10-5, 6-0 SWAC) also had a solid defensive game holding the Braves to 38 percent shooting and that includes nine percent (1-11) from beyond the three point line. Alcorn did show why they are one of the top free throw shooting teams in the SWAC as they knocked down 17 of their 23 attempts.
Alcorn State (4-15,3-4) came into the game with one of the top scorers in the conference in LeAntwan Luckett.
He was averaging 14 points per game and tonight he only managed five points only hitting one of his 11 field goal attempts.
Marcus Vance was averaging a little over 12 points per game, but the Hornets held him to 9, although he did a solid job on the boards with 12.
Michael Davis was Alcorn’s leading scorer with 15 points. He was joined in double digits by Kenyan Pittman who finished the game with 10.
One game after being out rebounded, the Hornets took to the boards out rebounding Alcorn State 51-36.
Strong finished off his double-double with 12 rebounds and Wendell Lewis added a career-high 10 rebounds to go with his seven points.
Waters had another solid all-around game. He only played 25 minutes due to the Hornets building a big lead.
His game-high 18 points came on eight of 12 shooting with two free throws. He also had a game-high five assists and tied his season-high with six rebounds.
The Hornets were up and down in the first half but did manage to take a 43-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Waters had 14 first half points and Strong contributed with 11 as ASU finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 46 percent from the field.
ASU’s full court press forced 11 turnovers as Alcorn could only manage 36 percent shooting. They were able to stay as close as they did by hitting eight of their 11 free throws. Luckett, the Braves leading scorer, only scoring two points, which came from the free throw line.
Prairie View def Mississippi Valley State 72-65
GREENWOOD, Miss. — Montrael Scott scored 18 points with 10 rebounds, leading five players into double-figure scoring as Prairie View A&M held off Mississippi Valley State 72-65 Saturday night in a game that saw six lead changes and three ties.
Scott knocked in 6 of 17 from the field with a 3-pointer.
Karim York sank 7 of 8 shots for 14 points, Tre Hagood added 13, Zachary Hamilton and Reggis Onwukamuche added 10 apiece for the Panthers (5-14, 3-3).
DeAngelo Priar led the Delta Devils (2-17, 1-5) with 14 points; Isaac Williams added 13 and Jabari Alex 10.
Five times in the second half MVSU pulled within a basket, closing to 66-64 with 1:33 left before Prairie View pulled away on a 6-1 clip to finish.
Hagood dished out five assists and five steals for the Panthers, who outscored MVSU 29-19 off turnovers and 46-38 in the paint.
Southern def Alabama A&M 65-58
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Joell Hopkins scored 19 points, hitting 5 of 5 from the field and 9 of 10 free throws, to lead Southern University to a 65-58 win over Alabama A&M on Saturday night.
Adrian Rodgers added 12 points for the Jaguars (9-12, 6-1), who capitalized on 25 A&M fouls to make 24 of 30 free throws.
The Bulldogs led 13-6 after a jumper by Ladarius Tabb, but Hopkins scored eight straight points for a 29-25 lead and the Jaguars led 41-32 at halftime. Hopkins scored 15 points in the half and Southern shot 53.8 percent from the field.
The Bulldogs gained ground on a 9-3 run to pull within 48-44 in the second half after a jumper by Tabb, and then pulled within 56-55 on a layup by Rakiya Battle with 4:20 left. Southern finished with a 9-3 run to seal the win.
Tabb led the Bulldogs (4-12, 3-3) with 23 points and Michael Hutchins had 10.
Jackson State def Grambling State 74-63
GRAMBLING, La. — Dominique Street scored 19 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead Jackson State to a 74-63 win over Grambling State on Saturday.
Derrell Taylor contributed 13 points, Janarius Middleton added 12 and Yettra Specks had 10 for Jackson State (5-15, 3-4).
The Tigers shot 40 percent from the floor on 58 attempts and controlled the boards 40-36 to snap a three-game skid.
Jackson State took control with a 9-2 burst to make it 20-13 midway through the first half and closed out the final 7:29 before the break with a 16-7 run to take a 36-22 advantage at the half.
The Tigers continued to pull away in the second half, finishing with a season-high final score.
A’Torri Shine led Grambling State (2-15, 0-7) with 18 points and Remond Brown added 14. The loss extended Grambling’s skid to 10 straight.
Arkansas Pine Bluff def Texas Southern 66-62
PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Ghiavonni Robinson scored 20 points to lead Arkansas-Pine Bluff over Texas Southern 66-62 on Saturday night to hand the Tigers their first conference loss.
Tevin Hammond made a pair of free throws to give Arkansas Pine-Bluff a 60-59 lead with 2:13 remaining, and Thaddeus Handley added another free throw to make it a 2-point game.
Texas Southern couldn’t answer when Tonnie Collier’s 3-point attempt from the top of the key rimmed in and out with 44 seconds left. The Golden Lions then made 5 of 6 from the line to ice it.
Robinson finished on 7-of-15 shooting, and Handley and Trent Whiting added 12 points each for
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-15, 2-4).
Madarious Gibbs scored 15 points, Chris Thomas had 14 and David Blanks chipped in 11 for Texas Southern (8-11, 5-1), which made just 23 of 39 free throws and dropped to third-place in the SWAC. The loss for TSU was its first conference defeat dating back to last February.
SWAC.org
