Career-Highs Across the Board Propel Alcorn over Rust 89-50

LORMAN, Miss. – Four different Alcorn State University men's basketball student-athletes registered career-highs in scoring as the Braves breezed to an 89-50 victory over Rust College on Friday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Career-bests for the Braves (2-7) were netted by sophomore Maurice Howard with 23 points, sophomore Yalen Reed with 20 points, junior Dante Sterling with 17 points and freshman Kobe Wilson with seven points. Howard's 23 points were the most by a Brave in a single-game this season as he drained a career-high seven three-pointers on 10 attempts.
 
Reed also pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds for his first-career double-double. Sterling neared a double-double with a career-high seven assists. Senior A.J. Mosby dished out seven assists to go along with his nine points and three steals.
 
Reed was a scorching hot 9-of-10 from the field.
 
The Bearcats (2-10), a member of the NAIA athletic association, were guided by Rickey McCollum who tallied 12 points off the bench. Cameron Sembly helped out with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.
 
The game was competitive in the first half with the score tied 22-22 with 5:25 to go. The Braves used a 12-2 run late in the period which included threes by Howard and Wilson to leap ahead 34-24 at the 1:57 mark. Mosby drilled a jumper with two seconds left to keep Alcorn ahead 38-28 at the intermission.
 
The Braves scored the first six points of the second half including a big dunk by Reed to push their advantage up to 44-28. A pair of lay-ups by Reed and a jumper by Howard extended the edge to 58-36 with 11:15 remaining.
 
Still up 58-41, Alcorn put the game out of reach with a huge 19-0 spurt to make it 77-41 with 5:40 left. The stretch included 10 points by Sterling. The largest lead of the game, 85-45, came after a lay-up by senior Avery Patterson at the 3:35 mark.
 
The Braves shot a season-high 34-63 (.540) from the field and limited the Bearcats to a 17-53 (.321) mark. Alcorn was 13-28 (.464) from long-range, while Rust was 8-28 (.286).
 
Alcorn outscored Rust 51-22 in the second half.
 
Friday completed a busy stretch for Alcorn to open the season. The Braves will have nine days before their next game when they hit the road at Iowa State on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 5 p.m.
 
NOTES
- Alcorn improved to 4-0 all-time against Rust College. The 39-point win was the largest in the history between the two schools. The Braves won 83-68 last season.
 
 - The Braves improved to 2-1 at home this year where they've outscored the opposition 265-193. The program is 13-3 at home over the last two seasons.
 
- Alcorn entered the game leading the SWAC in assists per game with 13.5 and were way above its average with 23 in the contest.
 
- Howard topped his previous career-high of 18 points set last year at Alabama State. His eight made field goals and seven three-pointers were also career-bests. Howard notched his 10th career double-digit scoring game and second this season.
 
- Reed's previous career-highs were 11 points and nine rebounds set last year. He posted his third career double-figure scoring game and first this season. Reed blocked a shot and has now rejected 10 in nine games. He was voted the SWAC Preseason Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
 
- Sterling upped his career-high from 15 points set against Yale this season. He etched his fourth double-figure scoring game of the year. Sterling has made at least one three-pointer in every game this season.
 
- Alcorn outscored Rust 36-16 in points in the paint, 23-11 in points off turnovers and 34-15 in bench points.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"Our guys really played within themselves today. They took good shots and were making the plays that we wanted them to make the whole year. Our guys just looked comfortable tonight on our home floor and we were able to make some shots."
 
On Maurice Howard
"He had the hot hand and the guys were calling his number. They were definitely looking for him and guys were setting really good screens for him. Both Dante and A.J. had seven assists apiece and were able to get him some good shots. The rim got big for him."
 
On Yalen Reed's double-double
"He started out slow and I had to pull him out early because he was trying to do a little too much. Then once he let the game come to him he started going to the glass hard. He was really running the floor and probably played his best game of the season. It showed in the stats tonight."
 
On nine days between Alcorn's next game
"We've got final exams coming up so the guys will have some days off to study. We want our guys to concentrate on their academics first-and-foremost. When we get back to basketball, we just have to stay with the things that have been working. We played well at the end of the Tulane game and that carried into this game. We just have to keep executing and doing the little things to get better. We're just trying to clean-up a lot of minor things as we get ready for SWAC play."
 
#FearTheBrave