Braves Use Balanced Attack to Post Wire-to-Wire Victory over JSU

LORMAN, Miss. – Four scored in double-figures for the Alcorn State University men's basketball program as it continued to defend its home court with a 66-52 win over Jackson State on Saturday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Alcorn (8-14, 4-6 SWAC) never trailed in the game and won its fourth straight at home. The Braves also snapped JSU's (9-14, 6-4 SWAC) three-game winning-streak.
 
Additionally, Alcorn handed JSU its largest margin of defeat in conference this year. The Braves held a big edge of 42-24 on the boards.
 
Sophomore Troymain Crosby turned in a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Devon Brewer neared a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds.
 
The game-high scorer was junior Maurice Howard who netted 15 points. He continued his hot shooting by going 6-for-10 from the floor with a trio of three-pointers. Senior Khari Jabriel Allen came off the bench to score 12 points.
 
Sophomore Jael Scott dished out a career-high six assists.
 
The Braves shot 23-for-46 (.500) from the floor and 14-for-16 (.875) from the free throw line. Allen was 5-for-5 at the line, while Brewer was 4-for-4.
 
The Tigers were led by Venjie Wallis who scored 13 points. Dontelius Ross ended with 12.
 
The Braves built an 11-4 lead early after Allen drilled a three-pointer at the 14:14 mark. A three-pointer by Howard kept them in front 22-13 with 9:07 to go. Alcorn extended it to 35-24 with 1:57 left after Brewer converted a lay-up inside.
 
JSU scored the last two baskets of the first half on a lay-up by Ross and a last-second jumper by Wallis to trail 35-28 at the half.
 
The Tigers came out hot in the second and quickly cut the deficit to 37-35 with 17:15 remaining after a jumper by Lemmie Howard. Alcorn was ahead by just one, 43-42 after a jumper by Walls at the 11:12 mark.
 
The Braves responded with jumpers by Crosby and Brewer to create some breathing room, 47-42 with 7:33 left. A pair of free throws by Allen kept them ahead 52-47 with 6:05 to go.
 
Alcorn continued to make its foul shots, and free throws by Allen and Brewer created a 56-48 advantage with 3:47 remaining. The dagger was a three-pointer by Howard which made it a 59-48 game with 2:22 left.
 
The Braves will look to keep winning at home Monday when they host Grambling State at 7:30 p.m. at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
NOTES
- The Braves improved to 8-2 at home this year where they've outscored the opposition 769-597.
 
- Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson is now 37-27 in his career in the SWAC. He's in his fourth season.
 
- The Braves entered the game leading the league in free throw percentage with a .679 and will see that improve. It was their second-highest free throw percentage of the year, only behind a .941 (16-17) effort at Alabama State.
 
- Crosby submitted his third career double-double, in addition to a triple-double on Dec. 8, 2018. It was his 22nd career double-figure scoring game and 11th this season. It was also his fourth career double-digit rebounding outing and second this year. Crosby has scored in double-figures in six of the last seven games.
 
- Howard, the leading three-pointer shooter in the SWAC, is 10-for-18 from long-range in his last two games. He's now shooting .415 from three-point range on the season. It was his 37th career double-figure scoring game, 15th this year and sixth in a row.
 
- Brewer notched his 12th career double-figure scoring game and sixth this year. He was 4-for-5 from the field.
 
- Allen tallied his second double-figure scoring game of the year. He's shooting .806 (25-31) from the free throw line.
 
- Scott's previous career-high in assists was five against UAPB on Jan. 21.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"Rebounding was the main thing we talked about. Jackson State had 19 offensive rebounds the other night against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. We wanted to man-handle them on the boards and that was our biggest priority tonight. Our guys did a great job of winning the rebounding war. Khari Allen got going and DeShaw Andrews hit a big three down the stretch. We tell them all the time though that if things aren't going well offensively, we still need them to step up defensively. The offense is going to come and DeShaw hit a huge one for us."
 
On limiting turnovers
"We had too many unforced turnovers in the first half. We were pressing too much on trying to make the play. We did a better job in the second half. Crosby only had one turnover tonight and that huge for him. He really took coaching well this week and it showed tonight. He didn't force anything and he slowed his game down. We really took care of the ball in the second half. Maurice Howard played extremely well. He worked hard and took care of the team in the three-minute drill."
 
On Khari Allen
"Khari Allen is starting to come into his roll. He started buying into what we were doing in the last couple of weeks. He's coming to terms with the fact that it's all about what you're here to do and not what you're used to doing. He's great at one dribble shots, but we want to see him continue to make plays and creating his own shots." 
 
On whether the loss at JSU motivated the team tonight
"Our guys took that loss personally. We expect to come out and play like the way we did tonight every time we take the floor. We've been hard on the guys, and we know we have to come out and work at it every single day if we want to be successful."
 
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