Alcorn Slips to JSU after Cold Second Half

JACKSON, Miss. – The Alcorn State University men's basketball program gave up a big run early in the second half which led to an 86-57 decision at Jackson State on Saturday at Williams Assembly Center.
 
The Braves (10-11, 6-4 SWAC) were down just 40-38 at halftime when Jackson State (8-14, 6-4 SWAC) used a 17-4 spurt to push ahead 57-42. Alcorn couldn't get the momentum back on its side to make a second half comeback.
 
The Braves shot just .241 percent in the second half including 1-for-8 from three. Alcorn posted a .344 shooting percentage for the game, while the Tigers shot .536 from the field and .636 from three-point range.
 
Junior Troymain Crosby led the offense with 15 points. Seniors Deshaw Andrews and Corey Tillery netted 10 points apiece.
 
JSU was led by 24 points from Tristan Jarrett and 23 points from Roland Griffin.
 
Alcorn didn't get off to a great start and missed its first seven shots. JSU took advantage and built a 12-0 lead at the 14:11 mark.
 
The Braves got on the board with a lay-in by Crosby, followed by a three by Andrews to trail 12-5. Still trailing 19-11, jumpers by Andrews and senior Alonzo Campbell cut it to 19-15 with 8:32 remaining.
 
The Braves remained down 32-27 on an old-fashion three-point play by Crosby with 4:01 left. Alcorn scored the final two baskets of the half on a put-back by junior Arne Morris and a lay-up by freshman Dominic Brewton to trail just 40-38 at the intermission.
 
The Tigers got off to a very strong start again in the second half. A big 17-4 run gave JSU a 57-42 edge with 14:07 to go. JSU went up 65-45 at the midway point of the second and Alcorn couldn't find its rhythm.
 
The Tigers took their largest lead of the game by 31 points in the final minute.
 
Alcorn will conclude its three-game road swing Monday when it heads to Grambling State for a 7:30 p.m. tip at Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center. The Braves are 72-42 all-time against GSU. Alcorn beat the Tigers 87-69 earlier this year as Howard netted a game-high 24 points.
 
NOTES
- The Braves committed just 11 turnovers in the game. JSU entered the night ranked 22nd in the country in turnovers forced with 16.6 per outing.
 
- Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson is now 45-37 in his career against the SWAC. He's in his fifth season.
 
- With two three-pointers made in the game, Tillery moved up to sixth in Alcorn single-season history with 61 threes made. He posted his 15th double-digit scoring outing of the season.
 
- Crosby was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. He notched his 41st career double-figure scoring game and 14th this year. Crosby was coming off a 24-point outing at Southern last weekend.
 
- Andrews tallied his 27th career double-figure scoring game and 15th this season. He was 4-of-9 from the field and also recorded a pair of steals.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
On what happened early in the second half
"Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It seemed like we could never get a grip on the ball. We'd get it, fumble it, grab an offensive rebound and loose it. There were some plays to be made, but we didn't make them. We gave up too many straight line drives and Jackson State went straight to the basket. We tried to get the guys fired up at timeouts, but we have to do a better job. That goes for everyone – the coaches, the players, everyone. We have to do a better job and we have to fight all the way to the end."
 
On trying different lineups
"We were trying to get different guys in there to give us a spark and see who would step up for us. We were rotating guys trying to find it and were also dealing with foul trouble. We tried a small lineup, but we gave up a couple rebounds there and a few missed plays, and it snowballed on us. We did have some good looks but didn't capitalize on our opportunities and we gave up way too many easy buckets."
 
On trying to slow teams down defensively
"It's really frustrating giving up that many points. We have to be able to guard. It all has to start for us on the defensive end. Even the first half we gave up 40 points which is too many. It shows we aren't doing a good enough job guarding. We have to regroup. The good thing about it is we have another game Monday and we have to be ready to go. We have to show up and play from start to finish."
 
#FearTheBrave