Box Score Lorman, MS-Second-year head coach
Luther Riley and his team came in tonight's game with one thing on their mind and that was getting off to a good start in conference play. The Braves succeeded with a win over Prairie View, 68-54 in their SWAC home opener.
It's been a long time coming for the Braves who were 0-6 in their previous conference openers. The Braves haven't won a conference opener since the 2007 season when they defeated Prairie View.
The Braves jumped out to an early 15-7 lead led by senior
Anthony Nieves who knocked down back-to-back three-pointers with 11:11 into the first half of play.
Alcorn would extend their lead when senior guard
Marquiz Baker nailed a three-pointer at the 4:25 mark and went into the locker room with a 33-19 lead.
In the second half, the Braves continued to press on the Panthers throats. The Braves opened up their lead to 41-27 with 14:54 left in the game when
Marius Myles connected on a jumper from the baseline.
The Panthers close the lead to 54-46 with just under three minutes to play when Panther's senior guard Carl Blair hit a jumper with 2:12 left to play but a couple of free throws by
Anthony Nieves put the game away.
The Braves forced a season-high 10 steals tonight against the Panthers.
Nieves led all scorers with a game and season-high 22 points and shot 66% from behind the arc making four out of six attempts. Baker added 16 points and
LeAntwan Luckett chipped in 14 points.
Carl Blair led Prairie View with 14 points and Jourdan DeMuncyk added 11 points.
The Braves are back in action Friday night when they host Texas Southern in their second SWAC contest. Tip-off is at 7:30 pm.
