HOUSTON — Madarious Gibbs scored 24 points and Texas Southern beat Alabama State 80-65 on Saturday.
The win pulls Texas Southern (10-11) into a tie with Alabama State (11-6) atop the Southwestern Conference at 7-1.
Texas Southern ran off eight-straight points midway through the first half — four on a pair of Malcolm Riley layups and led 41-34 at the break.
The Tigers pushed the lead over 20 on Riley’s trey with 9:29 left and cruised to the win.
Gibbs was 10 of 20 from the field with five assists. Riley finished with 17 points and eight boards and Chris Thomas had 10 points. Texas Southern shot 55 percent and was 10 of 18 beyond the arc.
Alabama State was led by Jamel Waters with 16 points while Bobby Brown and Maurice Strong added 11 points apiece.
Mississippi Valley State def Jackson State 75-62
ITTA BENA, Miss. — Jeffrey Simmons and Jordan Washington scored 19 points apiece, Isaac Williams added 16, and Mississippi Valley State University defeated Jackson State 75-62 on Saturday.
Washington made 5-of-9 from three point range, Williams made 4-of-6, and the Delta Devils (3-8, 2-6) hit 13 of 23 three pointers and shot 53.6 percent from the field.
Derell Taylor led Jackson State (5-16, 3-5) with 23 points and nine rebounds, Kaven Bernardadded 10, and Jaleel Queary had five steals.
Williams scored 14 points in the first half and the Delta Devils led 44-29 at halftime.MVSU continued its hot shooting in the second half, leading 54-33 after a jumper and layup by Jabari Alex.
Washington hit a three to make it 63-37, and then another to make it 68-39 with 7:30 left.
Jackson State, applying half-court pressure and running and gunning on offense, cut the lead to 11, but couldn’t catch up.
Arkansas Pine Bluff def Grambling State 65-53
GRAMBLING, La. — Marcel Mosley scored 17 points and Trent Whiting 15 to lead Arkansas-Pine Bluff to a 65-53 victory over Grambling State on Saturday night.
Grambling State shot 51.7 percent to 41.8 percent for Arkansas-Pine Bluff and had a 32-24 rebounding advantage.
But the Tigers committed 21 turnovers, including 16 steals made by the Golden Lions, five by Tevin Hammond.
As a result, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which had only nine turnovers, took 55 shots, making 23, while Grambling State only had 29 attempts from the field, making 15.
The victory was the fourth straight for the Golden Lions (7-15, 4-4) while the Tigers (2-16, 0-8) dropped their 11th straight game.
Mark Gray led the Tigers with 12 points. A’Torri Shine scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Chase Cormier added 10 points.
Southern def Alcorn State 65-56
LORMAN, Miss. — Adrian Rodgers had 25 points to lead Southern University to a 65-56 win over Alcorn State on Saturday night.
Jarred Sam contributed nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Southern (10-13, 7-2).
The Jaguars held a slim 28-24 halftime lead and had to fight off the Braves in the final minutes as Alcorn State kept pressing. Reginald Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 4:23 remaining to close within 54-53.
Southern pushed the lead to 58-55 but the Braves came back again when Michael Davis, who finished with 15 points, split a pair of free throws to trail 58-56 with 1:36 left. Rodgers made three free throws in the final 28 seconds to seal the win.
Johnson had 15 points and LeAntwan Luckett chipped in 11 for Alcorn State (4-17, 3-6).
Prairie View def Alabama A&M 89-63
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — Montrael Scott scored 22 points to lead Prairie View A&M to an 89-63 victory over Alabama A&M on Saturday night.
Karim York and John Brisco had 13 apiece; Tre Hagood added 11 and Reggis Onwukamuche chipped in 10 for Prairie View (6-15, 4-4).
Prairie View started fast, jumping out to a 26-7 lead midway of the first period and ran to a 47-23 halftime advantage. They were ahead 70-43 with 8:55 left and it never got much closer.
Prairie View has now won four of its last five games.
The Panthers made 36 of 65 from the field while limiting Alabama A&M to 23-of-57 shooting.
Ladarious Tabb scored 30 points which was his second 30-plus performance in consecutive games and his third this season. He also grabbed 14 rebounds for Alabama A&M (5-13, 4-4). Tyler Davis contributed 11 points.
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