LYNCHBURG, Va. – Senior
Reginal Johnson came off the bench to score 12 points, but the Alcorn State University men's basketball program fell to Liberty 76-54 Friday at the Vines Center.
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Johnson was 4-of-9 from the field and 3-for-6 from long-range in 20 minutes to lead the Braves (1-4) offensively.
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Alcorn shot a season-high .533 (8-15) from beyond-the-arc. Junior
Khari Jabriel Allen was 3-of-4 and junior
Maurice Howard was 2-of-3.
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Four student-athletes reached double-figures for the Flames (4-1), including Elijah Cuffee who posted a game-high 15 points. Scottie James ended with 10 points and nine rebounds as Liberty posted a .547 field goal percentage.
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Alcorn scored the first bucket of the game on a lay-up by junior Deshaw Andrews, but that was the team's only lead in the match. The Flames went on a big 20-2 run to catapult ahead 20-4 at the 12:26 mark.
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The Braves got the deficit down to 29-19 on a three-pointer by Howard with 4:32 left, but the Flames quickly answered with a 6-0 spurt and led 37-25 at the intermission.
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Liberty's largest lead came on a dunk by Keenan Gumbs which made it 59-34 with 11:02 to go. Alcorn out-scored the Flames 20-17 in the final 11 minutes including a jumper by senior
David Robinson in the closing seconds.
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The Braves will be back on the same court tomorrow when they face Savannah State at 1 p.m. (CT) at a neutral site.
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NOTES
- It was the first-ever meeting between Alcorn and Liberty.
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- The Braves entered the game leading the SWAC in three-pointers made per contest (7.6) and were right on par with eight.
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- Johnson posted his 57th career double-figure scoring performance and second this year. He's up to 1,072 career points. Johnson returned to the court this year after a leg injury forced him to sit out the majority of 2017-18.
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- Alcorn, which is currently on a five-game road trip, is in the midst of a loaded non-conference schedule. The slate includes trips to Tulsa, Vanderbilt, Kent State, Mississippi State, UAB and South Florida.
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#FearTheBrave
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