Vance Reaches 1,000 Career Points as Alcorn Breezes to 83-57 Win over Blue Mountain

LORMAN, Miss. –  Senior Marquis Vance scored a game and season-high 23 points to surpass the 1,000-point career mark and guide the Alcorn State University men's basketball program to an 83-57 victory over Blue Mountain College on Tuesday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Alcorn (2-2) never trailed to a BMC (2-1) team that defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff last night 77-74 in triple overtime. The Braves have not trailed in a home game yet this season after defeating Selma University 93-48 Friday.
 
Vance was a blazing eight-for-nine from the field and two-for-two from beyond-the-arc. He neared a double-double with eight rebounds. Vance entered the game needing just five points to reach 1,000.
 
Senior Denzel Dulin matched a career-high with 16 points. His previous career-high was set as a member of Bethune-Cookman. Junior Avery Patterson scored 14 points for the second straight game, and junior Reginal Johnson finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Toppers were led by Jay Howard's 22 points off the bench, including 20 in the second half. Conner Helvig ended with 13 points after nailing a trio of three-pointers.
 
The Braves came out of the locker room hot and scored the first 10 points of the game which included three-pointers by freshman Maurice Howard and junior A.J. Mosby. The Toppers slowly chipped into the lead and cut it down to 16-13 with 12:20 left after a 7-2 run.
 
Alcorn responded with back-to-back buckets by Vance which put him over the 1,000-point plateau and increased the lead back up to 20-13 at the 11:22 mark. BMC crept back in and scored the next for points to make it 20-17 with 9:20 to go.
 
The Braves led 23-21 when it used a big 12-0 spurt which included a lay-up, three-pointer and a pair of free throws by Vance to push the advantage up to 35-21 with 2:45 left in the half. Patterson scored Alcorn's final five points of the intermission after a three-pointer and two free throws to extend the lead to 40-23.
 
The Braves opened up a 52-30 advantage with 14:58 to go in the second half after a three-pointer at the top of the key by Vance. Alcorn took its biggest lead of the game 83-55 after a long-range shot by freshman Tyler Carter in the final minute.
 
Up next, the Braves will begin a six-game, 30-day road swing when they travel to Colorado State for a 1 p.m. (CT) contest Sunday. Alcorn's next home game is Thursday, Dec. 22 when it hosts Rust College at 7 p.m.
 
NOTES
- The Braves beat Blue Mountain for the second straight year after coming out on top 68-60 last season.
 
- Alcorn now has a .500 overall record after four games for the first time since 2013-14.
 
- The Braves outrebounded the Toppers 37-24. Alcorn has not been outrebounded in a game this season. They entered the game leading the conference in rebounding margin with a +9.3 mark.
 
- Alcorn entered the game leading the SWAC in assists (13.7 apg) and will increase its average after dishing out 22 in the contest.
 
- Vance's previous season-high was 19 set at Evansville. He's reached double-figures in scoring in every game this year and five times in a row dating back to last year. Vance notched his 54th career double-digit scoring game and seventh career 20-plus scoring game.
 
- Johnson registered his third consecutive double-figure scoring game and 22nd of his career. It marked his second straight outing with eight rebounds as he flirted with double-doubles.
 
- Dulin reached double-figures for the second time this year after scoring 11 in the season-opener against Loyola-Chicago.
 
- The Braves forced 18 turnovers in the game and outscored the Toppers 25-2 in points off turnovers.
 
- Alcorn shot a season-high .558 (29-52) from the field as a team.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
On getting off to a fast start
"That was one of the goals for us coming into the game. We wanted to get some early offense and only give Blue Mountain one attempt at the basket on our defensive end. We did a good job of grabbing rebounds and pushing the ball up in transition for some easy buckets. We need to continue doing that and I'm excited about the young group on our team."
 
On Alcorn's big run in the first half to create separation
"We stopped giving up straight line drives to the basket. That's what led to some of those open three-pointers that they had. We didn't have to help as much underneath because our guards were out in front and guarding. We stayed between our man and the basket."
 
On playing a lot of guys
"That's one of the things we want to do. We want to wear teams down and put a lot of pressure on them. We want to be able to sustain our defensive intensity and not break down in any situations. We did that for most of the game today. The more games we get under our belt with this young team, the more good habits we will develop."
 
On Marquis Vance surpassing 1,000 points
"That's a big accomplishment for any player. He's playing his four years here at Alcorn with success, and not many people get a chance to score 1,000. He's in an elite group. He's also in the 500 rebound club and has around 200 assists. That just goes to show that he's a complete player, and he just has to continue keeping his energy level up throughout the game."
 
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