Alcorn Drops Last-Second Nail-Biter to Texas Southern

LORMAN, Miss. – A last-second put-back by Jalan McCloud gave Texas Southern a 67-65 result over the Alcorn State University men's basketball program Monday in the SWAC Conference opener at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Alcorn (3-9, 0-1 SWAC) trailed 65-63 when senior Marquis Vance drove strong to the basket and converted a lay-up to even it with 22 seconds left. On the final possession of the game, Demontrae Jefferson drove to the hoop when his off-balanced shot was off the mark but fell into the hands of McCloud who scored his only points of the game on a two-footer with 0.8 seconds remaining.
 
The Braves attempted a desperation full-court pass but it was knocked away by the Tigers (5-9, 1-0 SWAC).
 
Junior Reginal Johnson, the reigning SWAC Player of the Week winner, finished with a team-high 19 points and was one rebound away from a double-double. Senior DeAndre Davis ended with 12 points, and Vance and freshman Maurice Howard tallied 11 apiece. Vance also pulled down nine rebounds.
 
The Tigers were led by Zach Lofton's 23 points. Kevin Scott came off the bench to tally 15 points and eight rebounds, and Jefferson recorded 13 points.
 
In total, the closely contested affair featured 10 lead changes and six ties.
 
Alcorn trailed 8-6 early when it used a 9-0 spurt to jump ahead 15-8 after a lay-up by freshman Devon Brewer at the 13:03 mark. The Braves were still on top 23-18 when Texas Southern answered with a 6-0 run to take a 24-23 edge with 6:22 left. 
 
The Tigers led by as many as 36-30 in the first half, but a three-pointer by senior Denzel Dulin made it a 39-35 game at the break.
 
Texas Southern took its biggest lead of the game early in the second half, 43-37 with 18 minutes left. The Braves punched back with an 8-1 run to take a 45-44 advantage at the 15-minute mark. The seesaw battle continued for the next four minutes when the Tigers got slight separation, 57-51 with just over nine minutes left.
 
The Braves chipped away at the deficit and a jumper by Johnson got it down to 57-55 with 6:44 remaining. Alcorn was down 63-61 when Dulin was fouled and converted a pair of free throws to tie it, 63-63 with just 1:35 left.
 
The Braves got a stop defensively on the next possession, but an unusual 10-second violation was called to give the ball back to the Tigers. Lofton took advantage by getting fouled and made both free throws with 42 seconds to go.
 
After a timeout, Alcorn drew up a play for Vance down the right side to even it at 65 with 22 seconds left which led to the final possession.
 
The Braves will stay at home Wednesday at 7 p.m. when they host Prairie View A&M. Alcorn swept the season series last year winning 81-64 at home and 73-70 on the road.
 
NOTES
- Alcorn is now 3-1 at home this season where it has outscored the opposition 324-238.
 
- Johnson notched his 11th consecutive double-figure scoring game and 30th of his career. He kept his streak going of grabbing at least five rebounds in every game this year. He made nine field goals to match a career-high.
 
- Davis returned to the lineup after missing the last nine games. He etched his 11th career double-digit scoring affair and also pulled down five rebounds. Davis was a sharp four-for-six from the field.
 
- Vance posted his 59th career double-figure scoring game and ninth this season. He entered the game leading the SWAC in defensive rebounds (5.8 drpg) and will increase his averaging after grabbing eight.
 
- Howard netted his third double-figure scoring game of the year. He entered the game ranked top-five in the league in three-point percentage (.394) and was on par after drilling two-of-five attempts.
 
- Junior A.J. Mosby, the reigning SWAC College Sports Madness Player of the Week winner, entered the game ranked top-five in the conference in steals (1.5 spg) and got his hands on a pair. He dished out a team-high five assists in the contest. Mosby remained the only Brave to start every game this season.
 
- As a team, the Braves lead the SWAC in blocks (4.4 bpg) and swatted away four.
 
- Alcorn outscored Texas Southern 34-17 off the bench and 13-11 in second chance points. The Braves outrebounded the Tigers 42-37.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"We should have finished this game out with a box-out. It's one of the things we talk about at practice day-in and day-out, finish every play with a rebound. We didn't do it, and it cost us a chance to go into overtime and win the game."
 
On some of the things he liked from tonight's game
"We noticed more mismatches than we did before. We had a good week of practice to prepare for this and we really wanted to exploit those mismatches. We were able to locate them and our guys were in position to get their feet set and knock down shots. Also, if you're looking at the stat sheet, we beat them at every category except the free throw line. We had more rebounds, more assists, more blocks, but we have to get to the line more."
 
On turnovers
"We wanted to be in single-digit turnovers. Though, 13 turnovers isn't bad for a college basketball game, but when you're playing Texas Southern you have to take care of the ball because they're not going to hurt themselves. They make you earn it. However, in a close game like this there's a lot of different plays that you can go back and pinpoint which put us in the situation that we were in."
 
Closing Statement
"I feel bad for my guys because we played so hard and deserved to win a ball game, but it just didn't end our way. If you're looking at the stat sheet blind, not knowing which team is which then you probably would have thought we won. Though, we'll live to fight another day and that's what conference play is all about. This game is now behind us and we have to be ready to play a good Prairie View A&M team on Wednesday."

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