Braves Make History with Defensive Effort in 75-45 Win over Fisk University

LORMAN, Miss. – For the first time in school history, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program held the opposition to 45 points or less in back-to-back games as the Braves beat Fisk University 75-45 Sunday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Alcorn (4-6) was coming off a 109-45 victory over Champion Christian on Saturday.
 
The Braves limited Fisk (2-8) to just 17-of-58 (.293) shooting from the field and 4-of-24 (.167) from three-point range. The Bulldogs scored just two second-chance points and were outrebounded 48-33.
 
Offensive, Alcorn was led by junior Maurice Howard's 21 points, a career-high seven rebounds and four assists. He was 7-for-14 from the field including a trio of three-pointers. Howard was one of four Braves in double-figures.
 
Sophomore Troymain Crosby followed up on his triple-double Saturday with 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Junior Devon Brewer nearly submitted his second straight double-double with 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Junior Deshaw Andrews finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
 
Fisk's lone double-figure scorer was Montreal Nabors who ended with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
 
The first half was a defensive battle for most of the way. The Braves led 18-15 when it used a 7-0 run, capped by an old-fashion three-point play by Howard to go up 25-15 at the 3:02 mark. The final score of the half came on a jumper by Fisk's Marcus Summerville, but Alcorn led 30-21 at the intermission.
 
The Braves started to pull away early in the second. An 8-0 run, which included buckets by seniors Reginal Johnson and TyQuaylon Smith increased the edge to 42-22 with 14:07 left.
 
A dunk by Brewer started a 7-0 run to further extend the advantage to 56-28 with 7:28 to go.  Fisk could never make a run in the contest, and a pair of free throws by Crosby put Alcorn up 67-35 with 3:38 remaining.
 
Alcorn outscored Fisk 34-12 in the paint.
 
Sunday's contest was a rescheduled game, originally slated for Dec. 15. Alcorn will have nine days off before it takes the floor again Tuesday at 7 p.m. at UAB.
 
NOTES
­- Alcorn improved to 4-0 at home this year where it has outscored the opposition 366-211.
 
- The Braves are now 13-0 against non-Division I opponents under head coach Montez Robinson.
 
- Alcorn improved to 2-0 all-time against Fisk which included a 77-69 victory last year.
 
- Howard netted his sixth career 20-plus scoring out and second this year. It was also his 27th career double-digit scoring game and fifth this season. His previous career-high in rebounding was six, set twice last year.
 
- Crosby turned in his 15th career double-figure scoring game and fourth this year. He drained a career-high eight free throws.
 
- Brewer's four blocks marked a career-high and the most by a Brave in a single-game this season. His 13 points were a season-high. Brewer recorded his ninth career double-figure scoring game and third this year.
 
- Andrews etched his seventh double-digit scoring game of the year. He entered the game leading the SWAC in steals (2.1 spg) and stole three.
 
- Alcorn was 27-for-35 from the free throw line as a team. The 27 makes and 35 attempts were both season-highs.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"We exuded a lot of energy playing back-to-back games like this, and we got off to a slow start. Our timing was off in the preparation for this game and we only had a day to prepare. Though, it's great for us to experience this now because that's exactly how it is at the end of the season at the conference tournament. It's the second time this season we've played back-to-back games and it's good for us. Hopefully it will pay off at the end of the season."
 
On the team's shot selection
"We shot 40 percent which isn't that good, but on the defensive end we always tell our guys that if they hold a team to under 40 percent then we have a great chance to win a ball game. We took some uncharacteristic shots early in the first half and were trying to force it. We also have to do a better job of making our open looks when we have them."
 
On Troymain Crosby
"He was aggressive, and that's how he plays. One of the things we're trying to do is help him have a middle game – you can't always go 100 miles per hour. If you slow down, you'll have the opportunity to see what the defense is doing. Though, because of his aggressiveness on the offensive end, we were able to pick it up a little bit as a team."
 
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