LORMAN, Miss. – Alabama State erased a 19-point second half deficit to come back and take a lead, but ultimately senior
Marquis Vance's season-high 27 points was decisive in a 75-67 win for the Alcorn State University men's basketball program Saturday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex on Senior Night.
Alcorn (14-11, 11-3 SWAC) led 45-26 early in the second half when Alabama State (8-17, 6-7 SWAC) came storming back to go in front 54-53 halfway through the period. The lead exchanged back-and-forth over the next six minutes until an 8-0 run by the Braves beginning at the 4:12 mark put the game away.
Vance went 9-for-17 from the field which included a trio of three-pointers to go along with his nine rebounds.
Junior
Reginal Johnson aided the attack with 15 points and six rebounds, while senior
Denzel Dulin recorded 11 points and a pair of blocks.
The Hornets were led by Rodney Simeon who scored a team-high 15 points. Torloft Thomas and Terrance LeFlore netted 14 points apiece. Mikel Tyson was also in double-figures with 10 points.
The Braves jumped out to a 13-2 lead as Vance drilled three-pointers on their first two possessions and then scored a layup with 14:06 left. A jumper in the paint and a three-pointer by Johnson made it a 15-0 run and changed the score to 18-2 at the 12:16 mark.
Still up 22-7, the Hornets chipped away with a 6-0 run to make it a 22-13 game with 7:46 remaining.
The Braves responded with a 7-0 spurt which included a strong drive and basket by junior
A.J. Mosby to push the advantage back up to 39-23 with 2:27 to go. Alcorn carried a 41-26 edge into the break.
Vance scored the first four points of the second half to quickly extend the lead to 45-26.
The Hornets answered with a big 12-1 run to get the deficit down into single-figures 46-38 with 16:25 left. A turnover and layup further cut into the lead 48-42 with 14:51 remaining.
ASU's shots kept dropping and the Hornets came all the way back to trail just 53-52 after a 7-0 run at the 11:35 mark. A runner by LeFlore through the lane gave ASU its first lead of the contest 54-53 with 10:39 to go.
An old-fashion three-point play by Johnson on the ensuing possession put the Braves back in front 56-54. Though, the lead seesawed back-and-forth for the next six minutes with Alcorn clinging to a 63-62 edge at the 4-minute mark.
A pair of free throws by senior
DeAndre Davis and a key three-pointer by Vance near the end of the shot clock gave Alcorn slight breathing room 68-62 with 2:52 left. On Alcorn's next possession, the Braves won a 50-50 scramble as a loose-ball ended up in Johnson's hands for an open lay-up to make it 70-62 with 1:53 remaining.
The game featured six lead changes, all in the second half.
Up next, Alcorn will play its final regular season home game Monday when it goes for the season-sweep over Alabama A&M at 7 p.m.
NOTES
- The Braves honored Davis, Dulin and Vance before the game with a Senior Day ceremony.
- Alcorn is one of eight teams in the country to have an active winning-streak of at least nine games.
- The Braves have won nine in a row for the first time since 1998-99 when they won 12 straight contests.
- Alcorn swept the season-series over Alabama State for the first time since 2006-07. The Braves won the first meeting this year 78-71 on Jan. 21.
- The Braves are now 9-2 at home this year where they have outscored the opposition 842-688.
- Alcorn head coach
Montez Robinson improved his SWAC record to 24-8 in two seasons.
- The Braves snapped ASU's three-game winning-streak.
- Alcorn's 15-0 run in the first half was the most consecutive points it has scored in a game this season.
- The Braves entered the game leading the league in field goal percentage (.457) and shot .520 (26-50) in the game.
- Alcorn improved to 12-1 this season when leading at half and 6-0 when shooting over 50 percent from the field.
- Vance broke his previous season-high of 23 points set against Blue Mountain on Nov. 22, 2016. His career-high is 30 set last season against Grambling State at home. Vance tallied his 67th career double-figure scoring game and 17th this year. He's up to 1,236 career points. He reached the 20-point mark in a game for the eighth time in his career.
- Johnson has scored at least 12 points in 23 of the last 24 games. He etched his 42nd career double-figure scoring game after going six-for-eight from the field.
- Dulin has registered at least eight points in 11 of 15 conference games. He notched his 11th double-digit scoring game of the year.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"I was a little bit disgusted in the second half. This was still a great win and I'm not going to take anything away from it, but obviously we had a big lead and gave it up. Maybe we had to overcome a situation like this to get better. Their press bothered us and we turned it over a lot during their run. Still, it was a decent game and we shot the ball well.
Marquis Vance played out of his mind and almost had a double-double. It was a team effort and we rode the hot hand. We've had lulls and up-and-down play all season but we found a way to win. We still need to do a better job of staying consistent."
On senior night
"I was pleased with how the seniors played. We're an unselfish team. The guys don't care who gets the credit and we ride the hot hand. Still, we can't keep going through those lulls."
On ASU's run
"We turned it over a lot but ASU did hit some big, contested shots. We were defending them so close a few times that we could smell their breathe. They hit some big-time shots. Though we were able to weather the storm. It's a testament to our senior leadership and not panicking. I'm happy that we were able to fight through adversity and get a win tonight."
#FearTheBrave
