JACKSON, Miss. – In a tale of two halves, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program raced out to a 13-point lead at halftime, but Jackson State was able to come back to take a 59-52 decision Saturday at the Williams Assembly Center.
The Braves (4-11, 0-3 SWAC) came out of the gates hot, but near the midway point of the second half they started a stretch of 10 minutes without a field goal. Alcorn was clinging to a 47-44 lead with four minutes left when the Tigers (5-11, 2-1 SWAC) went on a decisive 10-0 run down the stretch.
Alcorn shot 46.4 percent in the first half, but 29.2 percent in the second. Conversely, JSU posted a 28.0 shooting percentage in the first, and 46.2 in the second.
Junior
DeShaw Andrews notched 12 points and seven rebounds to lead Alcorn. Junior
Reginal Johnson came off the bench to record 12 points and five rebounds. Junior
Maurice Howard ended with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.
JSU spread its scoring around, but Venjie Wallis registered a team-high 12 points. Chris Howell and Jontrell Walker submitted 10 points apiece.
The Braves led 5-1 early after a drive by Andrews and a three-pointer by Howard from the top of the key. A fast-break lay-up by Johnson had Alcorn in front 12-6 at the 13:26 mark.
Alcorn went on a 14-2 run after back-to-back three-pointers by Andrews, followed by back-to-back three-pointers by Howard. It pushed the lead up to 26-10 as JSU called timeout with 7:40 left.
After a 7-2 JSU run, the Braves ended the half with a put-back by Johnson and a defensive top to carry a 33-20 edge into the break.
Early in the second half, junior
Devon Brewer hit a mid-range jumper as the shot clock expired to keep Alcorn on top 39-24 with 15:21 remaining.
The Tigers got back in it with a 9-0 run after forcing turnovers to trail 39-33 at the 12:17 mark. After an inside bucket by junior
Alonzo Campbell, JSU used another 9-0 spurt to take the lead 44-43 with 8:00 left.
Both teams were getting stops defensively, but the Braves were able to get to the free throw line and regain the lead 47-44 at the 4:08 mark on four free throws.
However, the final four minutes did not go Alcorn's way. The Braves could not buy a basket while the Tigers scored 10 straight points to lead 54-47 with under a minute left. Junior
Troymain Crosby snapped a 10-minute Alcorn stretch without a field goal with a three-pointer with 21.9 seconds remaining. JSU closed it out in the end by making free throws.
The Braves will close out the weekend Monday when it battles Grambling State at 7:30 p.m. at the Hobdy Assembly Center.
NOTES
- Alcorn led for 33:50 minutes in the game.
- The Braves turned the ball over just 10 times. It was the second-best mark of the season, only behind a season-low seven turnovers against Champion Christian.
- Alcorn entered the game leading the conference in steals with 8.6 per game. The Braves ended with nine in the game including two from Howard, sophomore
Jael Scott and junior
Khari Jabriel Allen.
- Howard has reached double-figures in every conference game this year. He totaled his 31st career double-digit game and ninth this year. Howard played all 40 minutes for the second straight game. His trio of three-pointers were on par with his league-leading 3.3 threes per game.
- Johnson etched his 61st career double-figure scoring game and sixth this year. He's up to 1,174 career points. Johnson was 5-for-9 from the field in the game.
- Andrews turned in his ninth double-figure scoring game of the season in just 19 minutes.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"We got away from what we were doing well in the first half. In the first 25 minutes of this game, we were executing our offense and sharing the ball. We were making the extra passes and getting the best shot. In the second half, we started taking early shots and rushing our offense. We got a little selfish. Defensively, we stopped rebounding. In the first half, JSU was only getting one attempt at the basket, but in the second we gave up tip-dunks. When we allow that, teams are going to go on runs. At one point in this game, we had a plus-10 rebounding margin, but when you look at the final stats we lost the rebounding battle."
On his message to the team after the game
"Consistency, and being able to stick to the game plan. We got away from what we do best. We've got to learn to stay on top of teams when we're winning. We didn't play a full 40 minutes tonight and it's getting repetitive. Consistency comes with good habits and doing the right things all the time. We did it for 25 minutes but we got away from it."
On the turning in the point
"We were up with 11 minutes left when we gave up a tip-dunk. Then after a bad offensive possession, they get another offensive rebound and another look. It wasn't just one play though. The game turned after we stopped doing a lot of different things that were working. If we can keep up our effort and energy, the tide will turn for us. We just have to make sure we continue doing the right things every day."
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