LORMAN, Miss. – In a game in which the Alcorn State University men's basketball program was in control from the opening tip-off, the Braves breezed to a 92-56 win over Our Lady of the Lake on Thursday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
Alcorn (2-4) never trailed in the game. The team extended its home winning-streak to four games and have also won eight of the last nine at home.
Senior
Deshaw Andrews registered season-highs of 20 points and eight rebounds. He was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Andrews is now 19-for-21 (.905) from the line on the season.
As a team, Alcorn shot .842 (16-19) from the charity stripe tonight.
Andrews was one of three Braves in double-figures. Senior
Corey Tillery finished with 14 points, and senior
Maurice Howard scored 12 in his return from injury. Junior
Kobe Wilson pulled down a game-high nine rebounds off the bench.
The Braves outrebounded the Saints 53-37.
OLLU was led by Jared Embry's 18 points. Finn Wilzcek ended with 12 points.
Alcorn broke it open early and started the game on a 9-0 run. It included a three-pointer by Andrews and a fast-break lay-up by senior
Alonzo Campbell.
The Braves extended the lead to 21-1 on a three-pointer by freshman
Dekedran Thorn at the 14:32 mark. A lay-up by junior
Mark Carter made it 34-9 with 10:15 to go.
Alcorn closed out the half strong and took a 52-54 lead into the locker room after a jumper by Tillery on the team's final possession.
The Braves came out firing again in the second. A big dunk by Campbell, followed by a three by Tillery put them up 60-27 with 16:59 left. Howard got in on the action with a pair of long-range shots, as Alcorn was ahead 80-42 with 8:53 remaining.
Alcorn's largest lead of the game, 88-47, came after Howard was fouled shooting a three-pointer, and he made all three free throws.
The Braves will be off from competition over the weekend. Their next outing is Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. when they travel to Little Rock.
NOTES
- Alcorn improved to 15-0 against non-Division I opponents under head coach
Montez Robinson. Thursday was the first-ever meeting with OLLU.
- Alcorn has outscored the opposition 203-115 in two home games.
- The Braves have outscored the opposition 231-209 in the second half this year.
- Alcorn entered the game leading the league in both three-pointers made per game (8.4) and three-point percentage defense (.290). The Braves netted 10 threes, and held OLLU to a .278 (10-36) mark from long range.
- Andrews has reached double-figures in five of six games this year. It was his 17th career double-figure scoring game, and fourth 20-plus scoring night.
- Tillery came in ranked third in the SWAC in three-pointers made per game (2.4) and drained four. It was his fourth double-digit outing of the year.
- After missing the last two games, Howard notched his 46th career double-figure scoring game. He's up to 1,017 career points which ranks 39th in school history.
- Wilson entered the game ranked this in the SWAC in rebounds per game with 7.8 and secured nine in the contest.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"We were excited to come back and play in front of the home crowd. It felt good to get a win and I felt we did some good things on the offensive end. We have to turn the ball over less though and move the ball from side-to-side to get better looks. We had good looks, but not great looks at the basket. Defensively, it's usually pretty good when you hold a team to 56 points. We still have to be better in certain areas and we can't give up straight line drives. They drove to the basket and it opened up some three-point shooters. We have to be better at that. Giving up 10 three-pointers is too many."
On why the team shoots so much better at home
"I think our guys have just been more relaxed at home. This is the court where we shoot and practice every day, so they've spent a lot of time in this gym. We're still trying to figure out what we can do on the road to give our guys a little more comfort. We have to shoot the ball better on the road, and hopefully that tide will turn sometime soon. We have good shooters on our team."
On Deshaw Andrews
"He just took what the defense gave him tonight. He wasn't trying to overdue anything offensively and he was able to knock down some wide-open shots. He was also very aggressive on the offensive glass, had some put-backs, got to the free throw line and knocked down his free throws. One of his goals coming into the season was to be a better free throw shooter and he has been so far. As a team, we have to continue shooting free throws well."
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