GRAMBLING, La. – The Alcorn State University men's basketball program cut a 13-point second half deficit down to just two points with under a minute left, but Grambling State was able to hang on 67-62 on Monday at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
Alcorn (4-10, 1-2 SWAC) was down 62-57 when junior
A.J. Mosby drilled a three-pointer to make it a 62-60 game with 51 seconds left. Though, GSU (7-10, 2-2 SWAC) was able to get a bucket from Ervin Mitchell after a drive from the left to push the lead up to four with 19 seconds remaining. Alcorn's ensuing three-point attempt was off the mark and it forced the Braves to foul.
Mosby scored a team-high 16 points for the Braves. Junior
Reginal Johnson finished with a double-double of 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Senior
Marquis Vance also notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Tigers were led by Mitchell's game-high 18 points. Avery Ugba neared a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Braves scored the first five points of the game after a three-pointer by junior
Avery Patterson and a runner by senior
Denzel Dulin. Alcorn was still ahead 11-4 when the Tigers answered with a big 12-0 run which included a four-point play to take a 16-11 edge with 9:00 remaining.
After GSU extended its lead to 22-14, Mosby knocked down a three-pointer and a pair of free throws, followed by a tip-in by Johnson to cut the deficit to 22-21 at the 2:54 mark. The Tigers responded with a 5-0 run to go up six, but a free throw by Mosby and a tip-in by freshman
Yalen Reed had the Braves down just 30-27 at the break.
GSU came out on fire in the second half and scored the first 10 points to quickly extend its advantage to 40-27. The Braves got it going with a three-pointer by Mosby and an old-fashion three-point play by Vance to make it a 42-35 game with 14:33 to go. However, the Tigers took advantage of turnovers and scored the next four points to go back up by double-figures, 46-35 as Alcorn called timeout at the 12:49 mark.
The Braves still trailed 61-51 with 2:56 left when they made their final push. Vance nailed a jumper and hit a pair of free throws on the following possession to get it down to 61-55 with 1:51 to go. After another defensive stop, Dulin netted a put-back to make it 61-57 with 1:32 remaining. The Tigers made one of two free throws on the other end which led to Mosby's three-pointer with 51 seconds left.
Up next, the Braves will make up their game against Jackson State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Lee E. Williams Athletic Assembly Center. The game was originally scheduled for last Saturday but was postponed due to inclement weather and unsafe driving conditions. Alcorn is looking to win at Jackson State for the second year in a row after finishing on top 72-64 on Feb. 6, 2016.
NOTES
- It was Grambling's first victory over Alcorn in the last five tries.
- Alcorn held the Tigers to just 5-of-18 (.278) from three-point range. It came after the Braves allowed just a 3-of-15 (.200) mark against Prairie View A&M in their last outing.
- The Braves outscored Grambling 22-18 in the paint.
- Alcorn had two student-athletes record double-doubles in the same game for the second time this year. Both Mosby and Johnson did it against Rust College.
- Johnson posted his 13th consecutive double-figure scoring game and 32nd of his career. He kept his streak alive of pulling down at least five rebounds in every contest this season as he surpassed his previous career-high of 12 set against Rust College. Johnson registered his fifth career double-double and third this year. He entered the game leading the league in offensive rebounds and top-five in total rebounds and improved upon his tallies.
- Vance recorded his ninth career double-double and third this year. It was his 60th career double-figure scoring game and 10th this season.
- Mosby etched his fourth double-digit scoring affair of the year. He remained as the only Brave to start in every game this season. Mosby sunk seven free throws which was a career-high.
- Freshman
Maurice Howard grabbed three steals which was a career-high.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"This was a tough one mentally and emotionally. We didn't come out to play like I expected. I'm putting this one on myself, I'll take responsibility because I didn't get them out to play like I thought they would."
On the slow start to begin the second half
"I don't know what it was. We were in the right positions but we gave up offensive rebounds and fast break buckets. We missed some wide-open threes and we just didn't execute. We played well for the first five minutes and last four minutes of this game, but we have to do a better job of staying focused for 40 minutes. I have to give credit to Grambling because their guys played hard for 40 minutes."
Closing Statement
"We just had a hard time getting into a flow tonight. We had a lot of fast-break opportunities that we let slip away – either it would hit our hands and go out of bounds or we'd miss the shot. There were a few 50/50 balls that didn't go our way, and it was just one of those nights."
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