Alcorn Drops Road Tilt at UAPB 71-59

PINE BLUFF, Ark. – Arkansas-Pine Bluff broke open a close game early in the second half and topped the Alcorn State University men's basketball program 71-59 Monday at H.O. Clemmons Arena.
 
Alcorn (5-14, 1-5 SWAC), which shot a blazing .632 from three-point range Saturday in a 77-63 victory at Mississippi Valley State, went cold and posted a .286 (6-21) clip from beyond-the-arc Monday. The Braves shot .333 (18-54) from the field, while the Golden Lions (5-14, 5-0 SWAC) were .423 (22-52).
 
The Braves saw a pair of student-athletes score in double-figures. Senior A.J. Mosby registered 10 points, four rebounds, a career-high four steals and three assists in 38 minutes. Sophomore Yalen Reed tallied 10 points and seven rebounds. Mosby's 38 minutes were the most by a Brave in a single-game this season.
 
UAPB was led by Martaveous McKnight who ended with 25 points and six assists. Charles Jackson was 5-of-10 from three-point distance and finished with 17 points.
 
The Braves held a 9-5 lead after the first five minutes after a tip-in by junior Dante Sterling and a pair of free throws by sophomore Devon Brewer. A three-pointer by sophomore Maurice Howard kept Alcorn ahead 12-9 at the 12:13 mark.
 
After the Golden Lions came back to take a 17-15 edge, they used a 6-0 spurt to create slight separation, 23-15, with 7:46 remaining. Free throws by freshman Troymain Crosby and Reed, followed by a three-pointer by Howard cut the deficit to 27-26 with 2:03 to go. UAPB scored the final three points of the half to carry a 30-26 advantage at the break.
 
Alcorn couldn't buy a bucket early in the second half as UAPB started off on an 8-0 run to jump ahead 38-26 with 16:22 left. The Golden Lions took their biggest lead of the game 60-37 at the 6:57 mark.
 
The Braves battled until the end and got the deficit down to 65-51 after a tip-in by Reed with 2:25 to go. A lay-up by sophomore Tyler Carter had Alcorn trailing by 12 in the final minute.
 
Alcorn will return home Saturday when it hosts Alabama A&M at 5:30 p.m. at the Davey L. Whitney Complex. The Braves swept the Bulldogs in the season series last year and are 4-0 in the series under head coach Montez Robinson.
 
NOTES
- It marked UAPB's first win over Alcorn in the last five tries. The Braves are now 4-1 against the Golden Lions under Robinson.
 
- Robinson, who is in his third year, is 27-15 in SWAC games.
 
- Monday marked the first time the Braves lost despite outrebounding their opposition. Alcorn outrebounded UAPB 37-35.
 
- Alcorn entered the game leading the conference in field goal percentage defense (.447) and limited the Golden Lions to a .423 (22-52) mark.
 
- Mosby notched his 31st career double-figure scoring game, 15th this season and fourth in the last five games. He was coming off a career-high 23 points at MVSU. Mosby's four steals bested his previous high of three set seven times.
 
- Reed submitted his fifth career double-digit scoring outing, third this season and second in the last three games. He drained six free throws which doubled his previous career-high set against Selma last season. Reed played a career-high 27 minutes.
 
- Alcorn continued to play without SWAC Preseason Player of the Year Reginal Johnson. He broke his leg at Tulane on Nov. 29 and has not played since.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
On only trailing by four at half
"We were only down four at half, but we had opportunities in the first half to have the game tied. We should have had buckets, but they resulted in turnovers and then we'd foul them on the other end. So even though we were only down four, we didn't go into the half with momentum and should have been either tied or winning. Turnovers have been killing us all year, and it showed up again at the end of the first half."
 
On the second half
"We preached in the locker room at half that we wanted to come out and start really strong in the second. We did that by getting three consecutive stops, but on the other end we committed three straight turnovers. We had a lot of opportunities but didn't capitalize. UAPB then started knocking down threes and it ballooned away from us, but again we didn't take advantage of our chances early on and weren't getting shots up."
 
On what went wrong
"It's just a lot of the little things that continue to hurt us. We have a young team but we have to get over the hump and prove that we can win these types of games against tough opponents. The game plan was there tonight but we lack consistency and had too many lulls. We also gave up 11 threes tonight which is a lot for a slow-paced game like it was."
 
Closing statement
"We have to be more disciplined and keep believing in ourselves. There's still a lot of ball games left and we're still in the hunt. We have to find a way to win one of these games and it'll be a big confidence boost for the team. We haven't been in this situation before, and this is new territory for the guys who've been here for the last couple years. We're playing hard and will continue to fight."
 
#FearTheBrave