Jackson State 69, Prairie View A&M 51
HOUSTON — Chace Franklin scored 15 points as third-seeded Jackson State topped No. 6 seed Prairie View 69-51 in a Southwestern Athletic Conference quarterfinal game Thursday afternoon inside the Toyota Center.
The Tigers (18-14) will face seventh-seeded Mississippi Valley State (8-26), which upset No.2 seed Alcorn State on Wednesday, in the semifinals Friday. [easyazon_infoblock align=”right” cloak=”y” identifier=”B011DRQ5SO” locale=”US” tag=”hbcusports-20″]
Yettra Specks scored 13 points for the Tigers, while Raeford Worsham and Janarius Middleton added 11 points apiece. Worsham had 10 rebounds and Middleton grabbed 11.
Admassu Williams and Jayrn Johnson had 10 points apiece to lead Prairie View (7-24).
JSU took the lead early and maintained it throughout the game. The Tigers led by 10 at the half, 35-25, and both teams slumped in the early part of the second, with PVAMU scoring once in a nearly eight-minute span. JSU took its largest lead of 21 points with 3:54 to go after a pair of Kaven Bernard free throws made it 63-42.
Southern 83, Alabama State 63
Southern downed Alabama State 83-63 during the quarterfinals of the SWAC Men’s Basketball Tournament Thursday Night at the Toyota Center.
With the victory, Southern advances to the semifinals to play defending champion Texas Southern on Friday at 8:30 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s tournament final. [easyazon_infoblock align=”right” cloak=”y” identifier=”B001PR0DM2″ locale=”US” tag=”hbcusports-20″]
Southern opened up a double-digit lead near the midpoint of the first half, using a 15-3 run to go up 23-8 over the Hornets. During the run, the Hornets were off-target on 15 of its first 18 shots while falling behind.
Behind the efforts of Adrian Rodgers – who put up 12 points and eight boards in the half – the Jaguars ultimately grew their lead to as many as 19 during the opening stanza. The Jaguars took a 40-26 lead into the locker room, as Alabama State missed the same amount of shots (29) that Southern took over the duration of the half.
Southern opened the second half on a 8-0 run to push its lead to 22, and the Hornets were unable to overcome the deficit, getting no closer than 14.
Rodgers ended the night with a game-high 22 points. Jared Sam and Trelun Banks each added 13 points. For Alabama State, Jamel Waters was the high man with 20 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Tony Armstrong chipped in 13 points and six rebounds.
Courtesy: SWAC
