LORMAN, Miss. – Led by four players in double-figures and a defense that kept the Arkansas-Pine Bluff offense in check all game, the Alcorn State University men's basketball team cruised to the 82-48 Southwestern Athletic Conference win on Martin Luther King Jr. Day inside Davey L. Whitney Complex.
Alcorn (2-6, 2-1 SWAC) had multiple players throughout the lineup that made an impact with Troymain Crosby leading the way with 18 points, along with five rebounds and both a steal and an assist. Oddyst Walker and David Pierce III added 15 points apiece, Walker also came away with three steals. Kurk Lee rounded out the four in double-figures with 14 points and had a team-high eight assists. Lee also reached 1,000 career points during the game.
The Braves dominated almost all of the categories including points off turnovers (18-5), second-chance points (17-0), bench points (35-12), points in the paint (24-20) and were even in fastbreak points (7-7). As a team, Alcorn forced 17 turnovers and committed just eight.
Alcorn was on fire from downtown, sinking 11-21 from three (52.4) and ended up making 29-61 (47.5) from the field and added a 13-18 (72.2) effort from the foul line. The defense limited UAPB (3-10, 2-2 SWAC) to just 17 made field goals on 45 attempts (37.8), 4-15 (26.7) from three and 10-19 (52.6) from the foul line.
The Golden Lions roared out to a quick 4-0 lead and had the advantage as high as six over the first three minutes of play. Trailing 10-5, Alcorn went on a 11-0 run to take control. Walker started the run with a three. Lee added a layup and then back-to-back three-pointers from Pierce III and Myson Lowe capped the run that left the Braves with a 16-10 lead.
The lead stretched to double-digits with just under seven minutes to play in the half when Arne Morris hit a three pointer and ended up turning it into a four-point play after being fouled on the play. After sinking the foul shot, the lead stretch to 26-14.
UAPB fought back to within seven at one point in the half before Alcorn took a 34-25 lead into the locker rooms.
The Golden Lions trimmed the deficit down to seven at one point six minutes into the second half, just to watch Alcorn respond and put the game out of reach. Pierce III would sink back-to-back three-pointers to quickly move the lead back to 13. Crosby would convert a three-point-play with seven minutes to play in the game to move the lead out to 20, 63-43. His three points were part of a 13-0 run that left the Braves with a 28-point lead late in the second half.
In a theme of the night, Alcorn closed the game on a run, this time a 7-0 variety with Lee hitting two foul shots, Malik Hardmon a jumper and a three-pointer by Morris closed the run and the scoring that left Alcorn with the dominating 82-48 victory.
Shaun Doss Jr. and Markedric Bell led UAPB with 10 points apiece. Bell pulled down eight rebounds.
Alcorn will take their two-game winning streak on the road this coming week as they will play at Alabama State on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. before closing the trip on Monday at Alabama A&M.
