HOUSTON — Freshman Reginald Johnson scored 22 points and eight rebounds to help Alcorn State beat Grambling State 66-52 on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament at the Toyota Center.
Alcorn advances to play top-seeded Texas Southern in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Marquis Vance scored 14 points with eight rebounds and Leantwan Luckett added 12 points the eight seeded Braves (6-25, 4-14).
Alcorn had a 36-28 advantage on the glass and forced 16 turnovers.
The Braves built a 29-18 lead at halftime after holding Grambling State to 7-of-23 shooting (30 percent).
The second half opened with Grambling allowing an 11-2 run and the Braves taking a 20-point advantage at the 16:22 mark. GSU didn’t make its first field until the 14:15 mark of the second half.
Mark Gray led GSU (2-27, 0-18), scoring 12 points which lost its final 22 games of the season. Its two wins came against Selma University and Lyon College.
Courtesy: SWAC.org