Alcorn Crushes UAPB with All-Around Effort 84-52

LORMAN, Miss. – Arkansas-Pine Bluff entered the night in first-place in the SWAC standings, but the Golden Lions were no match for the Alcorn State University men's basketball program Monday evening as the Braves tallied a convincing 84-52 win at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Alcorn (9-17, 5-8 SWAC) played a complete-game as it outscored UAPB (9-18, 9-4 SWAC) by 14 in the first half and 18 in the second. The Braves shot a season-high .579 from the field and .545 from three-point range, and held the Golden Lions to .352 shooting and .240 from beyond-the-arc.
 
The Braves dominated the glass where they outrebounded UAPB 40-25. Alcorn also held a large edge in points in the paint 40-22.
 
Senior A.J. Mosby paved the way with 22 points and four assists. He was 9-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range. Junior Dante Sterling totaled 15 points and four assists.
 
Also in double-figures, sophomore Maurice Howard recorded 14 points and six assists, while sophomore Devon Brewer registered 11 points and a career-high eight rebounds.
 
The unsung hero of the match was senior James Stokes who made his first appearance in seven games. Stokes entered in the second half and racked up eight points, three steals and two rebounds which got the crowd fired up in 11 minutes of action. His previous career-high in scoring was two points.
 
For UAPB, Martaveous McKnight carried the team with 29 points which was more than half of their scoring. Trent Steen aided the attack with 14 points.
 
The Braves came out of the gates hot after a pair of threes by Mosby and a dunk by Sterling put them up 8-0 early. UAPB responded with four three-pointers by McKnight to cut the deficit to 13-12 at the 13:54 mark. An old-fashion three-point play by McKnight tied it 19-19 with 9:19 to go.
 
Alcorn trailed 24-23 when senior Avery Patterson and Mosby swished threes to leap back in front 29-24 with 4:53 remaining. A put-back by Brewer, fast-break layup by Mosby, a pair of free throws by freshman Troymain Crosby and a put-back by sophomore Tyler Carter made it a 14-0 run to push the lead up to 37-24 with 57 seconds left.
 
A late three-pointer by Howard gave the Braves a 40-26 advantage at the intermission.
 
Alcorn scored the first four points of the second half on inside buckets by Brewer and Mosby to lead 44-26 at the 19:01 mark. A pair of free throws by Brewer and a long-range shot by Howard increased it to 52-30 with 16:46 to go.
 
The Braves maintained a 20-point spread after a floater by Mosby changed the score to 58-38 with 12:09 left. An offensive rebound and layup by Stokes kept it at 68-48 with 7:42 remaining.
 
Alcorn poured it on late with a three-pointer and monster dunk by Sterling, and a drive by Mosby to extend it to 79-50 at the 2:58 mark. A steal and layup by Stokes made it a 9-0 run, and a fast-break jam by Stokes gave the Braves their largest lead 84-52.
 
Up next, Alcorn will hit the road next weekend beginning with a 5:30 p.m. tip at Alabama A&M. The Braves won the first meeting this year 68-52 and are a perfect 5-0 against the Bulldogs under head coach Montez Robinson.
 
NOTES
- The Braves won their third straight home game. They're 8-3 at the Davey L. Whitney Complex this year and 19-5 over the last two seasons.
 
- Alcorn is now 5-1 against UAPB since Robinson took over at the helm.
 
- Robinson, who is in his third season, now hoists a 31-18 SWAC record. He's the reigning SWAC Coach of the Year winner.
 
- The Braves improved to 6-0 this year when they shoot over 50 percent from the field and 6-0 when they score at least 80 points.
 
- Alcorn entered the game ranked first in the SWAC in both assists (12.6 apg) and three-pointers made per game (8.0). The Braves dished out a conference-high 24 assists and nailed 12 threes.
 
- Mosby notched his third consecutive 20-plus outing, fifth this year and sixth of his career. He posted his 37th career double-figure scoring game, 21st this season and eighth in the last nine games.
 
- Sterling, who was coming off a career-high 29 points Saturday against MVSU, etched his 15th double-figure scoring game and third in a row. He drained a trio of three-pointers.
 
- Howard was 4-for-7 from beyond-the-arc. He turned in his 19th career double-digit scoring affair and 11th this season.
 
- Brewer was 4-for-6 from the field. His eight rebounds surpassed his previous career-high of seven set against Blue Mountain earlier this year. Brewer inked his sixth double-figure scoring game this year.
 
- The Braves 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
"The guys played well, we stayed consistent and we didn't take our foot off of them; that's something we had been preaching. Once we get a lead, we have to keep a team down and not go through bad stretches. We wanted to run our offense until we got the best shot, not just the first quick look. We made UAPB guard us for the entire shot clock and we were able to rebound the ball and only give them one attempt at the basket."
 
On the hot shooting
"We've been talking about it all season that we need Dante, Maurice and A.J. to shoot well, and all three of them were solid tonight. All three of them did a great job of picking their spots and making them pay for any mistakes. We have to continue with that, and also our big guys Yalen and Devon played well in the paint. Scoring inside can open up our shooters and that's something we'll continue to need as well."
 
 On the defensive effort
"We knew what McKnight could do, but the game plan was to keep all of their other starters at bay and we did that. We just wanted to play at our pace and our tempo. Being able to hold a team down to 52 points, considering their firepower, is a great night. The guys really followed the game plan and paid attention to detail the whole game."
 
On James Stokes getting the crowd on its feet
"When we added Stokes to the roster we knew he was a great defender. He's such a good guy in general and the players love him. We always want guys like that on the team, and on top of that he's a good student. I asked him yesterday at practice if he could guard McKnight if we put him in, and he said 'coach, just put me in there.' When we put him in the game tonight he was ready to go and it was just a testament to him being ready when his number was called. If I had a game ball I'd give it to him tonight."
 
#FearTheBrave