Long-Range Shot Not Falling for Braves at Southern

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Alcorn State University men's basketball program was unable to overcome a cold shooting night from beyond-the-arc and dropped a 93-82 decision to Southern on Saturday at F.G. Clark Activity Center.
 
Alcorn (10-10, 6-3 SWAC), which saw its five-game winning-streak come to a close, was 2-for-17 (.118) from three-point range. It came after the team entered the night ranked seventh in the nation in three-point percentage with a .393 mark.
 
The Jaguars (9-13, 6-3 SWAC) shot 30-for-50 (.600) on their home floor. The Braves were playing catch-up most of the way and cut it to a four-point game with about nine minutes left, but couldn't come any closer.
 
Alcorn's offense was led by junior Troymain Crosby who registered 24 points and seven rebounds. He was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
 
Off the bench, junior Arne Morris turned in 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Senior Deshaw Andrews also reached double-figures with 10 points. Junior Kobe Wilson pulled down eight rebounds.
 
Southern was led by Micah Bradford's 27 points and eight assists. Lamarcus Lee also had a big night with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Braves led 8-4 early after lay-ups by senior Alonzo Campbell and Andrews. Alcorn was still ahead 10-7 when the Jaguars went on a big 14-2 run to jump in front 21-12 at the 11:01 mark.
 
The Braves got the deficit down to 23-20 after a lay-up by Morris with 8:37 remaining. Though, SU scored the next six points to push back up 29-20.
 
Alcorn trailed 40-33 after a pair of free throws by senior Maurice Howard with 1:37 to go, but the Jaguars ended the half strong to carry a 48-35 advantage into the intermission.
 
The Braves were 1-for-11 from three in the first half.
 
Alcorn came out swinging early in the second, and after a trio of jumpers by Crosby, Southern called timeout at the 17:00 mark with the score 52-45.
 
However, the Jaguars answered with a quick six points to stay in front 58-45 with 15:57 left.
 
Still down 63-50, the Braves made one last surge as a jumper by Wilson sparked a 13-4 run, as a monster dunk by junior Anthony Fairley made it 67-63 with 9:02 remaining.
 
Though, SU scored the next five points to lead by nine and the Braves couldn't make another run down the stretch to threaten the lead.
 
The Braves will not have a game Monday. They'll continue their three-game road swing next Saturday when they head to Jackson State for a 5:30 p.m. tip.
 
NOTES
- Alcorn is now 6-4 against Southern under head coach Montez Robinson. In his fifth season, Robinson carries a 45-36 SWAC record.
 
- The Braves outscored the Jaguars 47-45 in the second half. They've outscored their opponents 814-724 in the second half this year.
 
- Alcorn dropped to 8-1 (4-1 SWAC) when scoring over 80 points in a game. The Braves were also outrebounded for the first time in conference play this year by a slight 26-25 margin.
 
- Crosby's 24 points were the second-most in his career, behind a 27-point performance at Mississippi Valley State two weeks ago. It was Crosby's 40th career double-figure scoring game and seventh career 20-plus outing.
 
- The 13 points by Morris were also the second-most of his career, behind a 16-point game versus Ecclesia on Dec. 20, 2019. His six made field goals marked a career-high.
 
- Andrews reached double-figures in scoring for the 26th time in his career and 14th time this year. He was 4-of-5 from the free throw line.
 
- With five assists in the game, Howard has dished out exactly 300 in his career, which ranks top-five in school history.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"We gave up 93 points tonight including 39 free throws. On some of them I thought we defended well, but we have to do better. We have to be able to keep guard and keep guys in front of us. Southern drove the ball down the lane all night and were getting dunks on drop-offs. They just kept driving, and we allowed one player to shoot 22 free throws on us. That's where the game was lost tonight. We had a lot of trouble staying in front of them defensively. On top of that, who would have thought we would shoot 11 percent from three? Of the 17 threes we shot, I thought 8 or 9 of them were great looks. Usually, 82 points is enough to win a ball game though."
 
On the foul trouble
"It was tough to navigate through the fouls, but again, Southern was driving the ball all night. We have to do a job of staying straight-up and being vertical underneath the basket. There were a lot of whistles and it was tough. Maurice picked up his fourth foul with 14 minutes left in the second half. That's the kind of night it was for us."
 
On Troymain Crosby
"Troymain made a few shots early in the second half and it really got him going. We have to do better across the board though. Teams are guarding Maurice and Corey so tight that it's opening up the floor for other guys. We have to be able to take advantage of the space if they're going to press so tight on our shooters. Southern pressured up on us, and we did have some great looks but didn't capitalize. I thought the game would have been different if we were able to make some of those shots."
 
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