Breakout Second Half Lifts Alcorn to 68-52 Victory over AAMU

LORMAN, Miss. – Trailing at the intermission, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program used a big second half to surge past Alabama A&M 68-52 Saturday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
The Braves (6-14, 2-5 SWAC) were down 24-23 at the half when they came out and shot .545 (18-33) in the second and .500 (4-8) from three-point range.
 
Junior Dante Sterling poured in a career-high 20 points. He was six-of-eight from the field and four-of-five from beyond-the-arc. He also grabbed five rebounds.
 
Senior A.J. Mosby registered a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and also dished out five assists. Freshman Troymain Crosby pitched in with a solid eight points and five rebounds off the bench.
 
Alcorn dominated the glass and held a 43-28 rebounding advantage and outscored the Bulldogs 11-0 in second chance points. The Braves also carried a 30-18 edge in points in the paint.
 
AAMU was paced by Arthur Johnson who recorded 16 points, four rebounds and four assists. Julian Walters neared a double-double with 11 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
 
The Braves trailed 13-12 midway through the first half they went on a 9-0 spurt which included a jumper and three-pointer by Mosby to take a 21-13 lead at the 6:01 mark. The run was energized by a pair of blocks on the defensive end by sophomore Yalen Reed.
 
Alcorn was still up 23-15 when the Bulldogs caught fire and ended the half on a 9-0 run to take a 24-23 edge into the break. It came over the last 3:48 of the half.
 
The Braves came out hot in the second half and scored the first 10 points, including a big fast-break dunk by Sterling to go up 33-24 as AAMU called timeout with 18:10 remaining.
 
Though after the timeout, AAMU chipped into the deficit after a lay-up and three-pointer by Johnson made it 33-28 with 17:23 to go.
 
Alcorn led 35-31 when it pushed its lead back up to 41-31 with 13:25 remaining after a 6-0 run which included buckets by sophomores Devon Brewer and Maurice Howard.
 
After the Bulldogs again got the deficit down to 45-40, the Braves answered with a put-back dunk by freshman Kobe Wilson and a three-pointer by Sterling to keep a 50-40 distance at the 7:58 mark.
 
Alcorn closed it out strong and took its biggest lead of the game 66-49 after a lay-up by Crosby with 1:35 left.
 
The Braves will remain at home when they host Alabama State at 7:30 p.m. Monday. Alcorn swept the season series against the Hornets last year and are 3-1 under head coach Montez Robinson.
 
NOTES
- Alcorn posted its fifth consecutive win over AAMU and are undefeated against the Bulldogs with Robinson at the helm.
 
- The Braves improved to 16-5 at home over the last two seasons.
 
- Robinson, who is in his third season, hoists a 28-15 SWAC record.
 
- Sterling surpassed his previous career-high of 17 points set twice this season. His four three-pointers were a career-best. Sterling notched his 11th double-figure scoring game of the year.
 
- Mosby tallied his second career double-double and first this year. It was his 32nd career double-figure scoring game, 16th this season and third in a row. He entered the game ranked fourth in the SWAC in assists per game (3.5 apg) and distributed five.
 
- The Braves entered the game shooting .357 from long-range in conference games as a team and were right near par with a .353 mark. They were also first in field goal percentage (.422) on the season, which will go up after shooting .446.
 
- The 52 points scored by AAMU was the second-lowest Alcorn has allowed this season. The Braves held Rust College to 50 points on Dec. 1.
 
- 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
Opening Statement
"I was really pleased with our effort and energy. We sort of fell short in the last four minutes of the first half, but the first four minutes of the second half were unbelievable. We also finished the game tonight and closed it out. Some of the keys to the game tonight were we wanted to outrebound them, shoot more free throws, have less turnovers and be the first to the floor on 50-50 balls. We did a great job with all of those things and that gave us a great chance to win. On the defensive end, we held them to 52 points and 38 percent shooting. Those are things that win ball games and we have to keep doing it moving forward."
 
On Alcorn's big guys playing well and rebounding
"One of the biggest keys for them is staying out of foul trouble. Kobe Wilson really stepped up today and played his part so we were able to rotate him in there a lot. We also emphasize to our guards that they have to help out on the boards. We need all five guys to put a body on someone and we can't get out in the fast break until we get the rebound."
 
On Dante Sterling's big night
"He just let the game come to him tonight. For the most part, he got his feet set on his shots and really came on strong in the second half. He made some big shots and that's what we need him to do. If we can keep getting contributions from him, A.J. and Maurice, and guard the way we did tonight then we can get on a winning-streak here."
 
On how big this win was tonight
"It was huge. We really needed this win for the locker room and the team's confidence. It's very important to keep the spirit up when you have a young team and they need to feel success as often as possible. Our seniors just have to keep everyone focused, keep pushing them and competing."
 
#FearTheBrave