Alcorn Dominates the Glass and Paint in 81-64 victory over Alabama State

LORMAN, Miss. – The lead never dropped below double-figures in the final 18 minutes for the Alcorn State University men's basketball program as it defeated Alabama State 81-64 Monday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Alcorn (7-14, 3-5 SWAC) battled for a +13 rebounding margin and +14 disparity in points in the paint over the Hornets (3-16, 3-4 SWAC). The Braves never trailed in the contest.
 
Four student-athletes scored in double-figures for the Braves as senior A.J. Mosby led the way with 19 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sophomore Maurice Howard came off the bench to net 17 points including a trio of three-pointers.
 
Senior Avery Patterson drained 11 points which was one shy of his season-high, and freshman Troymain Crosby ended with 10 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Yalen Reed also had a big contribution with nine rebounds.
 
Alcorn held the edge in nearly every statistical category including shooting percentage where it was .491 from the field compared to ASU's .373.
 
The Hornets were led by Reginald Gee's 19 points. Rodney Simeon scored 17.
 
The Braves came out hot and jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead after a three-pointer by junior Dante Sterling. Alcorn went up 18-7 after a three-pointer by Mosby at the 16:46 mark.
 
ASU responded with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 18-17 with 13:58 remaining. The Braves were up 27-24 when Howard hit back-to-back threes to give the team a small cushion 33-24 with 8:24 left.
 
The teams exchanged buckets for the final eight minutes of the half and Gee scored on a driving lay-up in the closing seconds, but Alcorn led 45-38 at the break.
 
The Braves got going early in the second as a jumper and a pair of free throws by Mosby made it 55-41 at the 16:15 mark. The Hornets could only come as close as 58-48 with 10:43 left after a three-pointer by Terrance LeFlore.
 
Alcorn's largest lead of the night came after a free throw by Reed to give the team a 76-59 advantage with 3:58 remaining.
 
Alcorn won its second straight game and three out of the last four.
 
The Braves will hit the road Saturday when they travel to Southern for a 5:30 p.m. tip. The Braves swept the season series last year including an 81-59 win in the SWAC Championships and are 4-1 against the Jaguars under head coach Montez Robinson.
 
NOTES
- Alcorn improved to 4-1 against the Hornets under Robinson.
 
- The Braves are now 17-5 at home over the last two seasons.
 
- Robinson, who is in his third season, hoists a 29-15 SWAC record.
 
- Alcorn entered the contest leading the SWAC in field goal percentage (.423) and will up it after shooting .491.
 
- Mosby entered the game leading the conference in assist:turnover ratio with a 2.2 mark, and will improve on it after ending with four assists and one turnover. He tallied his 33rd career double-figure scoring game, 17th this season and fourth in a row.
 
- Howard notched his 16th career double-digit scoring game and eighth this year. He was 7-of-13 from the field.
 
- Patterson etched his eighth career double-figure scoring performance and fifth this season. He pulled down five rebounds which was a career-high.
 
- Crosby posted his sixth double-digit scoring game. He's scored at least seven points in each of the last nine games. Crosby's seven rebounds tied a career-high set against Fisk University on Dec. 12. He was a perfect six-of-six from the free throw line, and his six makes were a career-high.
 
- 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'm really proud of the defensive effort that the guys put forward. We talk every game that if we can hold a team to under 40 percent shooting then that's going to give us a good chance of winning. We held them to 28 percent shooting in the second half. Also, Alabama State came in as one of the best rebounding teams and we outrebounded them by 13 tonight. We shot more free throws than them and also had less turnovers. The guys really followed through with the scout and the game plan."
 
On Alcorn's guards
"Maurice, A.J. and Avery all scored in double-figures tonight which was good to see. Though, sometimes I feel we get stiff on offense, and in those times we really have to rely on our defense which was there for us tonight. For the most part, we had a good flow offensively tonight and we got after it on the offensive glass. Our guards got in there and helped out on the boards which was big."
 
On staying consistent
"We needed to stay focused because we were playing against a team that was capable of running down the court and hitting consecutive threes to get back in it. When you have a young team, they can get complacent with the score but we couldn't let that happen tonight. We were up double-figures but still had a lot of game left to play, and I didn't want anyone to lose focus. Alabama State has a lot of shooters. Though in the end, we did a great job of controlling the pace of the game and playing at our speed. We ran when we wanted to run, and slowed it down and executed in the half court when we wanted to."
 
#FearTheBrave