Final Season Notes
JACKSON, Miss. – An early hole grew to be too deep for the Alcorn State University men's basketball program as it fell to Jackson State 69-52 on Tuesday at the Williams Assembly Center in the quarterfinals of the SWAC Championships.
The fifth-seeded Braves (15-15, 11-7 SWAC) trailed by 21 at the intermission and couldn't overcome the sluggish first half against the fourth-seeded Tigers (15-17, 11-7 SWAC).
Alcorn outscored JSU 36-32 in the second half but was too far behind.
The Braves entered the night leading the conference and ranked top-30 in the country in both three-point percentage and threes made per game. Though, the shots just weren't falling for the Braves as they were 18-for-53 (.340) from the floor and 1-of-13 (.077) from long range.
Conversely, the Tigers shot 27-for-52 (.519) from the field, including 15-for-26 (.577) in the first half.
Alcorn was led by senior
Maurice Howard's 18 points and five rebounds. Junior
Troymain Crosby turned in 12 points and freshman
Dominic Brewton submitted 11 points, six rebounds and three assists.
JSU garnered a 19-point, 11-rebound outing from Roland Griffin. Tristan Jarrett came off the bench to score 16 points. Venjie Wallis recorded 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Braves fell behind 8-0 when they got on the board on a drive by Andrews. Though, the offense never got-going in the half. Alcorn shot 5-for-24 (.208) from the field and 0-for-5 from three. Conversely, the Tigers made 15-of-26 attempts (.577).
Alcorn got the deficit down to 16 points, 47-31 on a lay-up by Crosby with 10:24 remaining. The closest the Braves came was 63-48 on a lay-in by Howard with 3:01 left, but Alcorn didn't have enough time to get back in it.
NOTES
- It was the first time Alcorn dropped a postseason game to JSU since 1999-00.
- The Braves led the league in scoring in the regular season, but were well-below their average of 75.8 points per game.
- Howard tallied his 65th career double-figure scoring game and 21st this year. He was 6-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Howard's career scoring total is 1,363 points in four years.
- Crosby notched his 47th career double-figure scoring game and 20th this season. He's up to 936 career points in three seasons.
- Brewton etched his fifth double-digit scoring performance of the year and second in a row after he poured in 18 points in the regular season finale against Texas Southern.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"I was disappointed with the way we started the game. I thought our guys fought in the second half and we had some opportunities, but we didn't come to play in the first half. We made some plays in the second half, but overall, we didn't execute. We weren't making shots and we weren't our normal self offensively."
On what it was about the match-up against JSU that gave them problems
"The toughest thing for us was stopping Roland Griffin. He was a match-up problem for us in all three games. One of the biggest things we've struggled with this year was stopping a four-man that can put the ball down and be aggressive. It was a match-up problem."
On what wasn't working offensively
"Our normal flow and cohesiveness was just off. We didn't have any continuity. There were no drive and kicks, there wasn't much scoring in transition and we just could never get into our flow. We were at a stand-still most of the night and it was disappointing."
On how much time he takes after a season to decompress before jumping into next year
"For me, I don't decompress. It kills me until I get a chance to get on the court and coach again. Whether it's coaching at practice or getting out and recruiting, my mind will be on whatever is going on, but there won't be any decompressing. True competitors want to fight, play and win."
Quoting senior Maurice Howard
On how he felt about the game
"I gave it my all. I put everything I had into it. We just came out short tonight. We didn't come to play, and they outplayed us and outworked us, and it showed."
On what he'll remember most about his time as an Alcorn student-athlete
"The coaching staff because of the way that they cared about me as a young man, not just as a basketball player. They helped me a lot both on and off the court. I'd also say the brotherhood I had with my teammates, especially off the court. We made our mistakes on the court, but off the court we were always together and were very close. I'll miss that brotherhood."
#FearTheBrave
