Alabama State def Arkansas Pine Bluff 70-55
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — DeMarcus Robinson scored 13 points as Alabama State held onto first place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference with a 70-55 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday.
Alabama State (13-6, 9-1) maintained at last a one game lead over Texas Southern.
The Hornets struggled from the field, connecting on just 17 of 45 field goal attempts (37.8 percent) — 6 of 17 from distance (35.3 percent) — but converted 30 of 41 from the free throw line.
UAPB was 20 of 41 (48.8 percent) from the field, knocking down 5 of 13 from distance, but was just 10 of 15 from the free throw line.
Jamel Waters added 12 points for Alabama State, and Maurice Strong added another 11.
Tevin Hammond led the Golden Lions (7-17, 4-6) with 15 points, but the Marcel Mosley, the leading scorer in the SWAC averaging 17.2 points per game, was held to just seven points.
Alabama A&M def Mississippi Valley State 74-68
NORMAL, Ala. — Nicholas West scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Alabama A&M beat Mississippi Valley State 74-68 on Saturday night.
Ladarius Tabb hit four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, Rakiya Battle added 16 points and Justin Colvin chipped in 12 for Alabama A&M (6-14, 5-5).
MVSU’s Isaac Williams nailed a three pointer to pull within 45-43 with 16:25 to play. Marcus Merriweather made a pair of free throws and hit back-to-back 3s during a 14-0 run to stretch Alabama A&M’s lead to 59-43.
The Delta Devils chipped away, with Williams hitting another three pointer to pull within 62-59 with 4:27 left. Alabama A&M answered with a 7-0 surge, and then hit 5 of 8 from the line to seal it.
Williams scored 18 points, and DeAngelo Priar had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Mississippi Valley State (4-19, 3-7).
Southern def Grambling State 58-50
BATON ROUGE, La. — Keith Davis scored 16 points as Southern bounced back from a first-half deficit to top Grambling State, 58-50 on Saturday night.
Southern (11-13, 8-2) shot just 29 percent in the first half and trailed by two at intermission, 28-26.
Mark Gray scored on a layup to give the Tigers a five-point lead, 33-28 early in the second half. Davis answered by scoring seven straight points to give Southern 35-33 lead.
Lonnie McElwain’s tip-in got Grambling State even again at 35-35, but Adrian Rodgers drilled a 3-pointer that put the Jaguars back in front for good.
Gray finished with 12 points to lead the Tigers. A’Torri Shine added 11 points and Richard Freeman added 10 points and nine boards.
The loss keeps Grambling State (2-18, 0-10) winless in the SWAC.
Prairie View 58 def Texas Southern 55
HOUSTON — Montrael Scott had 16 points, including a pair of free throws with four seconds left, and nine rebounds to help Prairie View beat Texas Southern 58-55 on Saturday night.
Tre Hagood scored 14 points and grabbed seven boards for Prairie View (7-16, 5-5) while Reggis Onwukamuche added 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
David Blanks made a layup with 4:05 to play, giving Texas Southern (11-12, 8-2) 51-49 lead but the Tigers made just 1 of 8 field goals and 2 of 6 free throws from there.
Hagood found Karim York for both a layup and then a three pointer before hitting 1 of 2 free throws himself and Prairie View led by four with 39 seconds left.
Madarious Gibbs missed a layup on the other end, but Chris Thomas’ putback made it 55-53 nine seconds later.
The teams traded a free throw apiece before Scott sealed it at the line.
Blanks and Malcolm Riley led Texas Southern with 12 points apiece. Blanks added 10 rebounds and Nick Shepherd grabbed a career-high 13.
SWAC.org
