LORMAN, Miss. – Junior
Devon Brewer had the hot hand, and the Alcorn State University men's basketball program kept feeding him inside en route to a gritty 63-57 win over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
Brewer turned in a career-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting to help the Braves (5-12, 1-4 SWAC) erase a 29-24 halftime deficit and come up big in the second half. Alcorn out-scored MVSU (3-15, 1-3 SWAC) 39-28 in the second half which included 12 points from Brewer.
A couple other Braves had big nights as junior
Maurice Howard and sophomore
Troymain Crosby notched 15 points apiece. Howard was four-for-six from long-range. Crosby flirted with a triple-double with eight rebounds and eight assists.
The Delta Devils evenly dispersed their scoring as Greg Jones-Rollins finished with a team-high 11 points. Lacurtis Allen also reached double-figures with 10 points.
MVSU knocked down early shots to grab a 9-3 lead in the first three minutes. The Delta Devils extended it to 15-6 at the 13:32 mark on a three-pointer by Michael Green. MVSU took its largest advantage of the game 22-10 with 7:09 left on another three by Green.
Alcorn scored the final five points of the half to trail 29-24 at the intermission. It came on a lay-up by Crosby and a three-pointer by Howard.
A 6-0 run early in the second half, capped by a lay-up by Brewer, put the Braves in front 32-31 with 17:05 left. The teams exchanged buckets until a three-pointer by Torico Simmons had the Delta Devils back ahead 48-44 with 7:15 remaining.
Alcorn answered with the decisive 10-0 run. It started with a lay-up by Brewer, followed by back-to-back threes by Howard and another lay-up by Brewer. The Braves were on top 54-48 with 5:02 to go.
Alcorn was still ahead by six when Green nailed his third three-pointer of the game to cut it to 60-57 with 58 seconds left. However, MVSU did not score the rest of the way. The Braves made a pair of defensive stops, and Howard made three free throws in the final 19 seconds to end it.
The game featured 10 lead changes.
The Braves out-rebounded the Delta Devils 40-36, and out-blocked them 6-0. Brewer matched his career-high with four blocks.
Alcorn will look to sweep the home-stand Monday when it hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 7:30 p.m. at the Davey L. Whitney Complex. The Braves are 5-1 against the Golden Lions under head coach Montez Robinson.
NOTES
- The Braves are now 5-2 at home this year where they've outscored the opposition 553-412.
- Alcorn improved to 7-2 all-time against MVSU under Robinson who is in his fourth season. It included a season-sweep last year. Robinson is 34-25 in his career in the SWAC.
- The 12-point deficit was the largest erased in a win this season. The same goes for the five-point halftime deficit.
- MVSU made just six free throws which is the fewest the Braves have surrendered this year.
- Brewer's previous career-high was 15 points against Iowa State on Dec. 10, 2017. He recorded his 10th career double-figure scoring game and fourth this year. His eight made field goals were also a career-best.
- Crosby nearly had his second triple-double of the year. His eight assists were the second-most in his career. Crosby scored in double-figures for the 18th time in his career and seventh time this season.
- Howard entered the game leading the conference in three-pointers made per game with 3.2, and was above par with four. It was the fourth time this year he logged at least 39 minutes. He played with a wrap around his hand, nursing an injury. Howard is 17-for-18 (.944) from the free throw line this year.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"I thought we had a sense of urgency. The guys came out and played like they didn't want to lose. We were making winning basketball plays coming down the stretch. We were diving on the floor and even making big free throws. Those plays are needed to win games."
On Devon Brewer
"Devon was hot as a firecracker tonight. He was making big time plays. He was digging for deep post possession. If he felt like he didn't have it he was kicking it back out and re-posting again. He can do it all the time but he put it all together tonight. He told me 'Coach keep passing me the ball.' He was feeling it and his teammates saw it too."
On Maurice Howard
"Maurice had been battling with a bad wrist. He had been in a lot of pain, but he came in today and he said, 'Coach I'll deal with the pain tomorrow.' He knew his teammates needed him and he played through it.
Final Thoughts
"The coaches did well at making the necessary rotations down the stretch. The scouting report was really helpful and we stuck to it. We fouled the right guys and made the right switches on defense for the most part. It was a good team effort, I'll take it every day of the week."
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