LORMAN, Miss. – Down by 12 with just over two minutes left, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program came charging back to make it a four-point game late, but Mississippi Valley State held on for a 84-77 result on Saturday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
Alcorn (5-11, 2-3 SWAC) was down 75-63 when junior
A.J. Mosby hit a pair of long-range shots and junior
Reginal Johnson made a three-pointer to make it a 77-73 game with 54 seconds left. Though MVSU (2-15, 2-2 SWAC) made seven of its final eight free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
Johnson had a monster night of 28 points and 16 rebounds, both were career-highs. He went 10-of-12 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.
Also in double-figures, Mosby registered 15 points and eight rebounds, while senior
Denzel Dulin tallied 13 points. Senior
DeAndre Davis neared a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.
The Delta Devils saw six student-athletes score in double-figures. Isaac Williams led the way with 17 points, while Ronald Strother had 12, Darrell Riley 12, TaJay Henry 10, Marcus Romain 10 and Rashaan Surles 10.
For the game MVSU shot .571 (8-14) from three-point range and forced 21 turnovers.
The game was tied 9-9 early when Dulin hit a three-pointer and a pair of free throws to put the Braves ahead 14-9 with 14:35 remaining. A three-pointer by senior
Marquis Vance extended the advantage to 20-13 at the 11:04 mark.
MVSU came back to score the next five points to make it a 20-18 game, and tied it 23-23 with 6:35 left. The Delta Devils continued to cash-in on turnovers to take a 27-25 lead with 4:58 to go. A steal and fast-break lay-up by Henderson in the final minute helped Alcorn take a 34-33 edge into the intermission.
The seesaw battle continued early in the second half with MVSU going up 38-35, but the Braves regained a 40-39 edge after a jumper from the corner by Johnson with about 16 minutes left.
Alcorn was still ahead 42-41 when the Delta Devils hit four three-pointers to go out in front 53-44 with 13:22 remaining. MVSU continued to streak after forcing turnovers and took its biggest lead of the game 61-47 at the 9:11 mark.
The Delta Devils carried a double-figure lead into the final minute and a half when the Braves made one last surge after Mosby and Johnson both hit three-pointers to cut the deficit to 77-73 with 54 seconds left.
The Braves couldn't get any closer as they were forced to foul. MVSU made seven of its final eight free throws down the stretch.
Alcorn will remain at home Monday when it hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 7:30 p.m. at the Davey L. Whitney Complex. The Braves swept the Golden Lions in the season-series last year 79-60 at home and 73-65 on the road.
NOTES
- Alcorn moved to 4-2 at home this season.
- It marked the first time this year the Braves fell after leading at half as they were up a slight 34-33 margin.
- Johnson surpassed his previous career-highs of 25 points and 15 rebounds, both set earlier this season. He etched his sixth career double-double and fourth this year. Johnson scored in double-figures for the 14th time in 15 games this season, and for the 33rd time in his career. Johnson entered the game shooting .508 from the field and will significantly improve his average after going 10-for-12.
- Mosby notched his third consecutive double-figure scoring game and sixth this season. He continued his streak of starting every game. Mosby made six field goals which matched a career-high.
- Dulin posted his second consecutive double-digit scoring game and seventh of the year.
- Junior
Juwan Henderson grabbed a career-high five steals. He became the first Brave to have five steals in a single game this season.
- Alcorn outrebounded MVSU 46-34 and held a 17-7 edge in second-chance points.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"We just lost focus tonight. We did a great job of executing the game plan early on, but we've had droughts all year where we don't guard well and we don't make shots. We dug ourselves a hole and it was too much to fight out of. MVSU did a great job and they were really scrappy. They got us out of sorts, but we're a better basketball team than what we showed today."
On whether tonight's game was due to only having three days off to prepare
"No, the game plan was definitely there we just didn't execute. We had enough time to prepare but we didn't do what we had to do."
Closing Statement
"We'll hit the drawing board again tomorrow and will be ready to go again for Monday's game. That's one of the beauties of basketball, you don't have to wait a whole week to get back out there."
#FearTheBrave
