Braves Keep Rolling with Second Half Drubbing over AAMU

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Winning its third consecutive game, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program used a big second half to take control and pull away from Alabama A&M on Saturday in an 80-60 victory at T.M. Elmore Gym.
 
The Braves (10-17, 6-8 SWAC) trailed AAMU (2-24, 2-11 SWAC) by one at the intermission when they came out and dominated the second half 41-20. Alcorn shot 30-of-56 (.536) from the field in the game and limited the Bulldogs to a 20-of-57 (.351) mark.
 
The Braves, who have shot over 50 percent from the field in three straight games, also owned the glass with a 43-25 rebounding advantage. It was Alcorn's largest positive rebounding margin of the year.
 
Sophomore Maurice Howard led Alcorn with 22 points which was one shy of his career-high. He was six-of-nine from long distance. Senior A.J. Mosby tallied his fourth consecutive game of at least 20 points as he ended with 20 and seven rebounds.
 
A big contribution came from sophomore Yalen Reed has he registered 15 points, nine rebounds and a career-high four blocks. Off the bench, freshman Troyman Crosby recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
 
The Bulldogs were paced by Tracy Burnett's 15 points. Arthur Johnson ended with 13 points and Jalen Reeder 12.
 
It was a back-and-forth first half which had AAMU leading 22-16 halfway through. Alcorn answered with an 11-0 run to take a 27-22 edge after a floater by Mosby at the 8:13 mark. A pair of free throws by Reed extended it to 35-26 Alcorn at the 4:46 mark.
 
AAMU came roaring back with a 9-0 spurt to tie it with 3:02 remaining. A three-pointer by Johnson put the Bulldogs ahead and they carried a slight 40-39 lead at the break.
 
The second half was all Alcorn as a three-pointer by Howard and an old-fashion three-point play by Crosby put the Braves in front 54-47 with 13:36 to go. After a bucket by AAMU, the Braves went on a 7-0 run which included another long-range shot by Howard to lead 61-49 with 9:22 left.
 
Alcorn slowly extended its advantage and took its largest lead of the night on a jumper by Crosby to go up by 20 with 1:34 remaining.
 
The Braves will look to make it four straight on Monday when they head to Alabama State for a 7 p.m. tip at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
 
NOTES
- Alcorn posted its sixth consecutive win over AAMU and is now 6-0 against the Bulldogs under head coach Montez Robinson.
 
- Robinson, who is in his third year, improved his SWAC record to 32-18. He's the reigning SWAC Coach of the Year winner.
 
- The Braves are now 7-0 when they score at least 80 points and 6-0 when they shoot at least 50 percent from the field
 
- Alcorn entered the game leading the SWAC in three-point percentage (.349) and will up it after going 6-for-17 (.353). On the other side of the court, the Braves held the Bulldogs to a 5-of-23 (.217) clip from beyond-the-arc.
 
- Howard turned in his 20th career double-figure scoring game, sixth career 20-plus game, 12th double-digit scoring game of the season and third in a row. Over the last four games, Howard is 16-for-26 (.615) from three-point range. It was the third time this year that he made at least six three-pointers in a game.
 
- Mosby notched his 38th double-figure scoring game and 22nd this year. It was his sixth career 20-plus scoring game, fifth this year and third in a row. Mosby has now scored exactly 400 points this year and 733 in his two-year career. He was 9-of-15 from the field; it was the fifth time this year he's made at least nine in a game and third time in the last four matches.
 
- Reed netted his seventh career double-figure scoring game and fifth this year. His 15 points were the second-most in his career as he drained a career-high 20 points against Rust College on Dec. 1, 2017. Reed was a perfect five-for-five from the field. Reed, the SWAC Preseason Co-Defensive Player of the Year, becomes the first Brave this season to swat four blocks in a single game.
 
- Crosby's double-double was the third by a Brave this season. Crosby inked his seventh double-figure scoring game and first double-digit rebounding 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. Alcorn was also without starting senior guard Avery Patterson due to a high ankle sprain.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"We weren't happy with how we played in the first half. We gave up straight line drives and they were able to kick it for open threes which is not something they normally do. We made some corrections at halftime, and AAMU only made one three-pointer in the second half. We knew we had to continue to rebound and get out and push the ball; we did that successfully in the second half and were able to build a lead and sustain it for the most part."
 
On Alcorn's starting guards Mosby and Howard each scoring 20+
"We've been trying to have a tandem of three or four guys all year long. Yalen stepped up and he became that third guy tonight. Yalen really covered up a lot of our mistakes in the first half especially with his blocks and what he was able to do on the defensive end. Overall, we just tried to keep punishing them. At every media timeout, we kept emphasizing that we can't give them any momentum and we needed to stay in-tune within the game. A.J. has been the silent assassin for us – he's quiet, but he knows when to speak up and be our leader."
 
On winning three in a row
"We're continuing to get better and we're starting to peak, but I still feel we haven't played our best yet. We're going up the hill, but we're not at the top of the hill yet."
 
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