Men's Basketball | 3/6/2017 4:27:00 PM

Alcorn Hosts MVSU in First Round of SWAC Championships

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LORMAN, Miss. – Earning the No. 2 seed in the SWAC Championships, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program will host seventh-seeded Mississippi Valley State in the first round Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Alcorn's (16-13, 13-5 SWAC) regular season was highlighted by an 11-game winning-streak. It was the fifth longest active streak in the nation. It was also the fourth longest in program history, and the longest since 1998-99. Alcorn also held a six-game road winning-streak which was the seventh-longest in the country.
 
Braves head coach Montez Robinson was named SWAC Coach of the Year. His squad was projected to finish in fifth-place in the SWAC Preseason Poll but rose three spots. It came after Alcorn went from ninth-place to second-place after his first year.
 
In two seasons, Robinson hoists a 26-10 conference record. He's coached the Braves to back-to-back winning seasons in conference for the first time since 2001-02, 02-03.
 
Senior Marquis Vance earned All-Conference First-Team honors. He's tallied 69 career double-figure scoring games and 10 double-doubles. Vance 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 1,275 career points. Vance ranks top-10 in the league in rebounding, blocks and assists.
 
Junior Reginal Johnson was selected to the All-Conference Second-Team. A two-time SWAC Player of the Week winner, Johnson has scored at least 10 points in 27 of the last 28 games. He's netted at least 20 points five times this season including outings of 28 and 27 in two games against MVSU.
 
The Delta Devils (7-24, 7-11 SWAC) made a surge late in their season as they had to win their final three games in order to qualify for the conference tournament. They came through by defeating Jackson State 70-67 (OT), Grambling 84-80 and Arkansas-Pine Bluff 88-77 all at home.
 
MVSU is guided by All-Conference First-Team selection Marcus Romain who averages 18.2 point and 5.0 rebounds per outing. He also shoots .406 from three-point range. Isaac Williams is also a big contributor with 14.0 points per contest.
 
The winner of Tuesday's match will advance to Houston for an 8:30 p.m. tipoff in the semifinals of the SWAC Championships at the Toyota Center on Friday. The championship game is set for 5:30 p.m. Saturday and will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
 
NOTES
- The Braves are 10-2 at home this season where they have outscored the opposition 916-747.
 
- 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 were a perfect 7-0 in February.
 
- In conference games, the Braves led the league in field goal percentage (.458), field goal percentage defense (.402), three-point field goal percentage defense (.287), assists (13.7 apg) and defensive rebounds (26.6 drpg).
 
- Alcorn is 13-2 this season when leading at half, 7-0 when holding the opposition to under 60 points and 6-0 when shooting over 50 percent from the field.
 
- Johnson leads the team with 15.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting .524 from the field. In conference games, he ranked top-five in the league in offensive rebounds (2.3 orpg), eighth in scoring (16.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg), and top-10 in field goal percentage (.530), defensive rebounding (4.3 drpg) and free throw percentage (.738).
 
- Vance also nearly averages a double-double with 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. He drained a season-high 27 points against Alabama State at home.
 
- Junior A.J. Mosby nets 10.3 points per game and shoots .400 from beyond-the-arc. He's 26-for-49 (.530) from three-point range over the last eight games. Mosby is the only Brave to start in every game this year and also the only one to play 40 minutes in a contest. In league games, he ranks third in the SWAC in three-point field goal percentage (.427), seventh in assists (2.8 apg) and ninth in minutes played (32.2 mpg)
 
- Senior DeAndre Davis has scored nine double-figure scoring games in conference. He recorded a season-high 23 points at Texas Southern where he was 10-for-15 from the field and secured eight rebounds. It was the second time he scored at least 20 points this season. Davis shot .591 from the field in league games which ranked fourth sixth. He' was also top-10 in rebounding. Davis averages 9.4 points per game on the year.
 
- Senior Denzel Dulin puts in 9.1 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.
 
- Freshman Maurice Howard is shooting team-bests of .400 from three-point range and .814 from the free throw line. He's made at least one three-pointer in 18 of the last 21 games. Howard has sunk at least four three-pointers three times.
 
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