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HOUSTON – Just one game behind Texas Southern in the SWAC standings, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program will square off against the Tigers in a first-place showdown Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at H&PE Arena.
Alcorn (16-11, 13-3 SWAC) is riding an 11-game winning-streak which is the fifth longest active streak in the country. It's the fourth longest spurt in program history and the longest since 1998-99 when it won 12 consecutive contests. Alcorn was a perfect 7-0 in February.
The Braves also carry the seventh longest active road winning-streak in the nation at six games. They most recently beat Southern 68-67 last Saturday.
In order for Alcorn to surpass Texas Southern (18-11, 14-2 SWAC) in the standings and claim the top-seed heading into the season finale, the Braves must win by three or more points. The tiebreak comes down to point-differential in head-to-head meetings. The Tigers won the first meeting this year 67-65 on Jan. 2. If Alcorn wins by two points, the next tiebreak would be the comparison of results among the next highest team in the standings. Right now, that would be Southern which TSU ends the season against Saturday. There's currently a three-way tie for fourth-place with Grambling State, Jackson State and Prairie View A&M.
The Braves have three student-athletes averaging in double-figures. Junior
Reginal Johnson leads the way with 15.7 points per game, and close behind is senior
Marquis Vance (11.2 ppg) and junior
A.J. Mosby (10.1 ppg). Johnson also pulls down 7.0 rebounds per game and Vance 7.4. Mosby is the team's top three-point threat and shoots it at a .402 mark.
In conference games, the Braves lead the league in field goal percentage (.460), field goal percentage defense (.395), three-point field goal percentage defense (.272), assists (14.0 apg) and defensive rebounds (26.2 drpg).
The Tigers are looking to secure their third consecutive SWAC regular season title. They are on a four-game winning-streak and have also won eight of their last nine. TSU's only conference losses this season were on the road 103-89 (OT) at Mississippi Valley State and 71-62 at Jackson State.
TSU is on a 20-game home winning-streak which is the fourth longest in the country. Its last home loss was Feb. 7, 2015 against Prairie View A&M 58-55.
Zach Lofton leads the team with 17.7 points per game. Demontrae Jefferson also scores in double-figures with 14.0 points per game. Marvin Jones is the team's leading rebounder with 6.4 per game and also scores 8.0 points per outing.
Alcorn will wrap-up the regular season Saturday at 5 p.m. at Prairie View A&M. The Braves will host a first round game in the SWAC Championships on Tuesday, March 7. The start time is still pending on whether the Alcorn women also host a game. If the women don't host, the Braves will play at 6 p.m.
NOTES
- In two seasons, head coach
Montez Robinson hoists a 26-8 conference record. He's coached the Braves to back-to-back winning seasons in conference for the first time since 2001-02, 02-03.
- Alcorn's 16 wins overall are the most since 2001-02 when it won 20 games. That was also the last time the Braves had a winning season overall.
- The Braves are seeking their first win over Texas Southern since March 6, 2008 when they came out on top 74-70 (OT) at home. The last time they won at TSU was March 3, 2007 in a 70-67 decision as assistant coach
Delvin Thompson scored a game-high 16 points.
- Alcorn is 13-1 this season when leading at half, 7-0 when holding the opposition to under 60 points, 6-0 when scoring over 80 points, and 6-0 when shooting over 50 percent from the field.
- The Braves are 10-2 at home this season where they have outscored the opposition 916-747.
- Johnson, a two-time SWAC Player of the Week winner, is shooting .541 from the field. He's scored at least 11 points in 25 of the last 26 games. Johnson has scored at least 20 points five times this season including outings of 28 and 27 in two games against MVSU.
- Vance has tallied 68 career double-figure scoring games and nine double-doubles. He is Alcorn's newest member of the 1,000-point club after he surpassed the mark against Blue Mountain on Nov. 22, 2016. He's up to 1,255 career points. Vance ranks top-10 in the league in rebounding, blocks and assists.
- Mosby is 20-for-36 (.556) from three-point range over the last six games. He's tallied seven double-figure scoring games in his last nine outings. He's the only Brave to start in every game this year and also the only one to play 40 minutes in a contest.
- Senior
Denzel Dulin puts in 9.3 points per affair. He's registered at least eight points in 12 conference games. Dulin netted a 17-point performance at AAMU. He scored a career-high 20 points at Colorado State on Nov. 27.
- Senior
DeAndre Davis has scored eight double-figure scoring games in conference including a season-high 20 points at UAPB. Davis is shooting .574 from the field in league games which ranks sixth. He's also top-10 in rebounding.
- Freshman
Maurice Howard is shooting a team-best .805 from the free throw line. He's second on the team in three-point percentage with a .383 mark and ranks seventh in the league in that category.
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