LORMAN, Miss. – After falling to Oklahoma Pan Handle State last Saturday, Arkansas-Pine Bluff pulled off a 45-43 triple overtime victory over defending back-to-back Southwestern Athletic Champion Alcorn State Thursday night. The road win at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium gave UAPB its third win in its last 14 tries.
Golden Lions quarterback Brandon Duncan finished the contest with 505 yards passing by completing 29 passes in 52 attempts with four TDs, breaking his own career high of 457 yards against Grambling State on October 18, 2015. He has now surpassed former UAPB QB Ben Anderson, who passed for 467 yards against Grambling State in 2014, setting the new school record for most passing yards in a game. [easyazon_infoblock align=”right” cart=”y” identifier=”B01A4SWN4I” locale=”US” tag=”hbcusports-20″]
Trailing by 16 points in the fourth quarter, UAPB (1-2, 1-0) had the second possession in the third overtime and trailed by six when Duncan hit Willie Young for a 25-yard score on Pine Bluff’s first play. Duncan then found John Hawkins on an underneath route for the winning two-point conversion.
Young finished with 13 catches for 232 yards and two touchdowns.
Filling in at quarterback Lenorris Footman Alcorn State who sat out due to injury was Noah Johnson. The true freshman passed for 353 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 62 yards and another three scores. He ran for two of his touchdowns in overtime, the second making it 43-37. But the Braves failed (1-1, 1-1) on the ensuing two-point conversion which created the opening for Pine Bluff.
Both teams fumbled their possessions away in the first overtime and traded touchdowns in the second.
The Braves scored four straight touchdowns to lead 30-14 with 12:50 left in the fourth quarter. The Golden Lions scored twice in the final 5:55 of regulation, converting both 2-point conversions to force overtime.
Willie Duncan also finished with a career high 17 tackles for UAPB. Je”Kevin Carter at 10 stops. LeShaun Ealy and Michael Hurns both came up with eight tackles each for Alcorn.
Both teams combined for a total of 10 fumbles, but only three of them were lost.
Courtesy: SWAC
Alcorn should be ashamed. Congrats to UAPB though. They played above their heads and beat a team that has a lot more talent.