Alcorn Rolls to 83-56 Victory over Blue Mountain, Mosby Matches Career-High

LORMAN, Miss. – Senior A.J. Mosby tied his career-high with 22 points and was one of four student-athletes in double-figures for the Alcorn State University men's basketball program as it posted an 83-56 win over Blue Mountain on Monday evening at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Alcorn (4-8), which won its second straight game, was led by the guard trio of Mosby, senior Avery Patterson and sophomore Maurice Howard. Patterson netted 10 points and matched his career-high with six assists, while Howard poured in 18 points.
 
Junior Dante Sterling also reached double-figures with 11 points on four-of-six shooting. All 10 student-athletes that played for the Braves scored.
 
Mosby was 9-of-13 from the field and hit a pair of three-pointers. Both he and Patterson dished out six assists each.
 
On the glass, freshman Kobe Wilson pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds. Sophomore Devon Brewer secured seven boards and also swatted a pair of blocks.
 
BMC was guided by Viktor Lorenzon whos scored 13 points. Quan Cothron ended with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Jaylon Bardley had 11 points.
 
The Braves got off to a slow start and trailed 11-6 early. They used a 12-2 run to jump ahead 16-13 at the 12:08 mark after four consecutive jumpers by Howard including a pair of three-pointers.
 
Alcorn was up 29-23 when it broke it open with a 12-0 spurt which included four points from Brewer to take control 41-23 with 2:31 left. A pair of free throws with seven seconds to go by Mosby kept the Braves in front 43-28 at the intermission.
 
Still in front 46-32, the Braves went on a 14-0 run after Patterson and Mosby both hit long-range shots to increase the advantage to 60-32 with 15:39 remaining. Alcorn's largest lead of the game, 81-47, came after a lay-up by junior TyQuaylon Smith at the 4:07 mark.
 
The Braves shot .508 (33-65) from the field and limited BMC to a .333 (20-60) clip.
 
Alcorn will end the week on the road at Vanderbilt at 5 p.m. Friday. It will be the final non-conference game for the Braves who open SWAC play at Prairie View A&M on Monday, Jan. 1, 2018 at 7 p.m.
 
NOTES
- Alcorn improved to 4-0 all-time against Blue Mountain.
 
- The Braves are now 4-1 at home this year and 15-3 over the last two seasons.
 
- Alcorn committed less than 10 turnovers for the second straight game.
 
- Mosby tied his career-high of 22 points set last season at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. He entered the game leading the league in assist:turnover ratio (3.1) and will significantly improve his mark after tallying six assists with no turnovers. Mosby etched his 26th career double-figure scoring game, 10th this season and seventh in his last eight games.
 
- Howard's 18 points were the second-most in his career. His career-high is 23 against Rust College this season. Howard nailed four three-pointers and registered his 11th career double-figure scoring game and third this season.
 
- Sterling continued his streak of making at least one three-pointer in every game this season. He recorded his seven double-digit scoring outing this year and fourth in a row.
 
- Patterson notched his seventh career double-figure scoring game, fourth this year and second in a row. He matched his career-high of six assists set last season against Rust College. Patterson grabbed four rebounds for the third time in his career.
 
- Wilson's 11 rebounds nearly tripled his previous best of four set against Rust College this season. It was the second-most by a Brave in a single-game this year.
 
- As a team, the Braves entered the game leading the conference in field goal percentage defense (.455), assists (14.6 apg), assist:turnover ratio (1.03), three-pointers made per game (8.3) and defensive rebounds (24.0 drpg). They will improve on all marks as BMC shot .333 from the field, and Alcorn ended with 17 assists, nine turnovers and 10 three-pointers made.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"I was pleased that we were able to play a lot of guys tonight. We're down to just nine or 10 bodies available and we're going to need all of them. We wanted to rotate everyone in and get them time on the floor. We also wanted to spread the ball around and get near 20 assists tonight, and we came close with 17. We'll need to get 20 assists a game in conference."
 
On Alcorn's guard play tonight
"Between Avery, A.J. and Maurice, we need all of those guys to give us good minutes. I'm going to need 14 or 15 points from those guys night-in and night-out. We're going to rely heavily on our guards and if they play like they did tonight then we can be successful."
 
On not turning the ball over
"We made it a point of emphasis coming into tonight to take care of the ball. We had zero turnovers at halftime which was great. We have to do a better job though in the second half and make sure we stay focused for 40 minutes."
 
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