Jaguars Pull Away from Braves in Second Half

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Alcorn State University men's basketball program was unable to clinch its spot to the conference tournament Saturday with a 61-46 defeat to Southern at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
 
With Mississippi Valley State's 60-57 win over Jackson State, Alcorn (8-18, 6-10 SWAC) will have to wait until at least Monday to clinch a berth in the SWAC Championships. The Braves must win one of their last two, or have MVSU lose one of its remaining two, or have Southern (6-23, 5-11 SWAC) lose both of its last two to solidify a spot.
 
The Braves got off to a fast 12-3 start, but the Jaguars came back to take the lead at half. Southern broke it open in the second half and used a late 10-0 run to put it away.
 
Senior Reginal Johnson continued his late-season push with a team-high 14 points. He was 6-for-9 from the field and was Alcorn's lone double-figure scorer. Junior Maurice Howard ended with nine points and matched his career-high with seven rebounds.
 
Junior Khari Jabriel Allen registered two four-point plays and finished with nine points.
 
The Jaguars were paced by Sidney Umude's 18 points and eight rebounds. Richard Lee scored 15 points and Alex Ennis 12.
 
An early three-pointer by Howard, followed by a dunk by junior Devon Brewer put Alcorn up 7-2 early. The first four-point play by Allen extended it to 12-3 at the 12:13 mark.
 
The Jaguars responded with a 10-0 run to take a 13-12 edge with 7:52 remaining. Southern extended it to 22-17 with 3:22 left after a pair of steals and fast-break lay-ups. A put-back by Howard on Alcorn's final possession trimmed the deficit to 26-24 at the half.
 
Alcorn got the lead back 29-28 at the 17:50 mark in the second half on a pair of free throws by Johnson. Though, it was the team's final lead of the game as the Jaguars answered with a 7-0 run to leap ahead 34-29 with 14:20 remaining.
 
The Braves were down 42-33 when Allen recorded his second four-point play to cut the deficit to 42-37 with 10:20 to go. However, Southern scored the next five points to grab a double-digit lead 47-37.
 
The Jaguars used a 10-0 run in the final five minutes to pull away.
 
The Braves will be back in action Thursday when they travel to Texas Southern for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
 
NOTES
- Alcorn is now 6-3 against the Jaguars under head coach Montez Robinson. In four seasons, Robinson carries a 39-31 SWAC record and was the 2016-17 SWAC Coach of the Year.
 
- The Braves and the Jaguars split the season series. Alcorn won the first meeting in Lorman 76-64.
 
- Alcorn entered the game ranked second in the conference in scoring defense (68.5 ppg) and three-point defense (.310). The Braves will improve on both marks after limiting Southern to 61 points and .200 (3-15) from long-range.
 
- Johnson submitted his 69th career double-figure scoring game and 14th this year. He's up to 1,318 career points.
 
- Howard logged 40 minutes for the 10th time this year and 11th time in his career. He was 2-for-6 from beyond-the-arc to improve his season tally to 86, a school record.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"We committed 24 turnovers and Southern had 24 points off our turnovers. We then shot ourselves in the foot by going 11-for-23 from the free throw line. When you make mistakes like that – unforced turnovers and missing free throws it costs you. Not long ago we were the top free throw shooting team in the league and now we're probably third or fourth. When you're turning the ball over and not making free throws it's a recipe for disaster."
 
On giving up an early 12-3 lead
"It was definitely a turning point. Though, it just felt like our focus wasn't there the whole game. Even when it was a close two-point game it felt like we weren't there. It's evident in how we shot free throws. I thought we adjusted well at halftime and came out and took the lead. But then it was like an avalanche came down on top of us and we couldn't get anything good to happen for us. It's inexcusable the way that we played today. I thought we came in ready and the game plan was working early, but it got away from us."
 
On needing to win another game to make the conference tournament
"Well, as far as the standings go, we control our own destiny. We need to take care of business and not wait on someone else to take care of it for us. We're going to go back in this week, look at film and correct our mistakes. We need to take care of business on our end."
 
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