TSU Races Past Alcorn

HOUSTON – A trio of Alcorn State University men's basketball student-athletes scored at least 16 points, but the Braves dropped a 99-72 decision at Texas Southern on Thursday at H&PE Arena.
 
The Braves (10-19, 6-11 SWAC) have already clinched a berth to the SWAC Championships. They'll enter the tournament as either the No. 7 or 8 seed.
 
Junior Maurice Howard poured in a game-high 20 points and was 4-for-6 from beyond-the-arc. Howard also tallied six assists and five rebounds in 40 minutes.
 
Senior Reginal Johnson continued his strong play down the stretch with 17 points. Junior DeShaw Andrews turned in 16 points and six rebounds off the bench.
 
The hot-shooting Tigers (19-11, 14-3 SWAC), who won their 11th straight game, were paced by Jeremy Combs who finished with 18 points. Eden Ewing ended with 17.
 
The Braves led 7-5 early after a three-pointer by Howard at the 15:53 mark. Another long-range shot by Howard had Alcorn on top 15-10 with 13:38 left.
 
TSU answered with back-to-back threes by Patterson to go up 16-15 with 12:23 remaining. After free throws by Andrews put Alcorn back ahead, the Tigers went on a 7-0 run to lead 25-18 with 8:45 to go.
 
A three-pointer and two free throws by Johnson had Alcorn trailing 27-26 at the 7:36 mark. The Braves knotted it 29-29 on a deep three by Johnson with 6:30 left.
 
Still even at 33-33, TSU went on an 8-0 run to jump ahead 41-33 with 3:21 left. The Tigers carried a 51-41 lead into the intermission.
 
A long-range shot by senior Khari Jabriel Allen had Alcorn down 54-46 early in the second, but TSU responded with an 8-0 run to lead 62-46 with 17:17 remaining. The Tigers extended it to 68-48 on a jumper by Combs with 14:50 to go.
 
Alcorn will close out the regular season Saturday when it heads to Prairie View A&M for a 5 p.m. tip at the William Nicks Building. The 2019 SWAC Championships begin Tuesday with the higher seed hosting the first round - the Braves will play at either TSU or PVAMU.
 
NOTES
- Alcorn entered the game ranked second in the SWAC in assists with 12.8 per game. The team dished out 14.
 
- Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson is now 39-32 in the SWAC over four seasons.
 
- Howard, the league's top three-point shooter in both percentage and threes made per game, upped his single-season school record to 90 made. It was his eighth career 20-plus scoring game and fifth this year. It was also his 42nd career double-figure scoring game and 20th this season. Howard played all 40 minutes for the 11th time in his career and 10th time this year.
 
- Johnson is up to 1,335 career points. He notched his 69th career double-figure scoring game and 14th this year. Johnson is averaging 15.3 points per game over the last four matches.  
 
- Andrews etched his 12th double-digit scoring game of the year. The 16 points were the most he's scored in conference.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"We obviously have to look at our defense tonight. Though, even more so than that, 21 fouls to 11. In the first half, we had four starters on the bench with two fouls. The subs came in and battled, but we had more fouls and Texas Southern took advantage at the free throw line. They shot more than twice as many free throws as us. We also had too many turnovers – we had 10 in the first half. There were some bright spots though and I was happy to see Deshaw Andrews score 16 points. That's what we've needed from him all year long and I hope he continues to do it the next game and in the conference tournament."
 
On the foul trouble
"Alonzo [Campbell] started the game but got two quick fouls. Then, Devon [Brewer] came in and picked up two quick fouls. Deshaw and Reginal were getting called for fouls. It got to the point where we had no choice but to get some guys in there who don't always get in. We tried to savage as many minutes as we could from the bench, but we couldn't get match-up advantages because of the fouls. It threw off our game plan a little bit because we didn't have the guys in the game that we wanted to make the plays."
 
On what he's looking for in the final regular season game Saturday
"We need to go out there and compete. It's not really about changing things at this point, we just ask that the guys come out and do everything that they can do. We have to maintain our mental focus, know the scouting report and stick to your assignments. Those things are important for the growth of this team. We have to do a better job of putting ourselves in situations where we can be successful."
 
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