Men's Basketball | 2/28/2020 9:28:00 AM

Braves Begin Pivotal Home Stretch Saturday against Southern

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LORMAN, Miss. – In the final three games of the season, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program will host the current top three teams in the SWAC standings beginning with a 5:30 p.m. game Saturday against Southern at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Alcorn (13-13, 9-6 SWAC) currently sits in fourth-place and can move up. The Braves are fighting for position in the standings as the top-four teams host a first round game in the SWAC Championships. Alcorn is one-game behind Southern (13-15, 10-5 SWAC) and a half game in front of Grambling State.
 
In Alcorn's last outing, the Braves completed the season sweep over Alabama State with an 80-77 road win. Alcorn took control with an 18-1 run in the first half and then held off an Alabama State comeback attempt down the stretch.
 
Freshman Dominic Brewton has stepped up as of late and scored 17 points against the Hornets. He's played well on the road and scored a career-high 23 points at Grambling State.
 
Alcorn has four student-athletes averaging in double-figures. All four shoot over 80 percent from the free throw line.
 
Senior Maurice Howard averages a team-high 13.8 points per game and shoots .361 from long range. In addition to his scoring and three-point shooting, he ranks fifth in the school record book in assists with 321. Howard has scored 1,303 career points with a career-high of 31 at Texas Southern this year.
 
In conference, junior Troymain Crosby is the team's leading scorer with 14.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He leads the SWAC in free throw percentage on the year with a .850 mark.
 
If the season ended today, senior Deshaw Andrews would break the single-season three-point percentage record in Alcorn history with a league-leading .487 clip. He averages 12.9 points per game. Andrews won SWAC Player of the Week on Jan. 20.
 
Senior Corey Tillery averages 12.3 points per outing and is already No. 2 in Alcorn single-season history in three-pointers made with 74. He's chasing Howard's mark of 95 made last season. The grad-transfer from Tennessee Tech has made at least five three-pointers in five different games this year.
 
Alcorn's leading rebounder is junior Kobe Wilson with 6.0 rebounds per outing. He ranks third in the SWAC in blocks (1.1 bpg) and top-five in offensive rebounds (2.0 orpg).
 
Southern has been a lockdown defensive team and allows just 60.1 points per game in conference. The Jaguars are riding a four-game winning-streak including road wins at Alabama State 56-44 and Alabama A&M 64-37. SU started conference play 0-3.
 
Offensively, the Jaguars have a very balanced attack and don't have a double-figure scorer. Ahsante Shivers averages a team-high 9.2 points per game. Southern has seven student-athletes scoring at least six points per outing.
 
NOTES
- Alcorn is 6-4 against Southern under head coach Montez Robinson. In the first meeting this year, the Braves were ice cold and shot 2-for-17 (.118) from three-point range, while the Jaguars shot 30-for-50 (.600) from the field on their home floor to finish on top 93-82.
 
- The Braves have swept three teams this year including Alabama State, Mississippi Valley State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
 
- Alcorn ranks top-30 in the nation and leads the SWAC in three-pointers made per game with 9.3. Individually, Tillery is first in the conference in threes made per game (2.8), Howard is second (2.4) and Andrews is fourth (2.1).
 
- Robinson is in his fifth season at the helm. He carries a 48-39 SWAC record.
 
- The Braves have won 11 of the last 12, and 15 of the last 17 home games at the Davey L. Whitney Complex. Alcorn has outscored the opposition 859-651 at home this year.
 
- Six different Braves on the roster have recorded a double-double in their career. The list includes Howard, Andrews, Tillery, Crosby, Wilson and senior Devon Brewer.
 
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