LORMAN, Miss. – Graduate student Darrious Agnew hit back-to-back free throws with 3.0 seconds left in regulation to lift Alcorn State to a 61-60 win over Jackson State Saturday afternoon. The Davey L. Whitney Complex victory was the second against the Tigers to complete the season sweep against the league foe.
Keondre Montgomery led the Braves with 15 points, while junior Dominic Brewton (14 points) and freshman Byron Joshua (11) were the other Alcorn State players reaching double figures in the contest.
Montgomery, a freshman guard, went four of nine from the field, including one of five in three-point range. He also added six of six at the line for his 13th double-digit game of the season.
Alcorn State (11-15, 10-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference) hit 22 of its 55 (40.0 percent) of its attempts from the floor, with four of 17 (23.5 percent) from beyond the arc. The Braves missed two of their 15 shots at the line to make 86.7 percent of their free throws.
Jackson State (8-17, 6-8 SWAC) made 24 of its 50 (48.0 percent) shots from the floor, including six of 13 (46.2 percent) from behind the arc. The Tigers also saw six of 13 at the line.
Scoring a game-high 26 points, Ken Evans, Jr. led JSU's offense. Terrene Lewis had 10 to round out the Tigers' double-digit scorers.
It was just over two and a half minutes before the first points were scored in the competition. Getting the action going, Dontrell McQuarter split free throws at the line and added a jumper in the paint seconds later to give ASU a 3-0 advantage.
Over a minute passed before Jayveous McKinnis would score Jackson State's first points on a layup, cutting the Braves lead to 3-2 with 15:42 remaining before the break.
After a brief back-and-forth, JSU went on a run that saw the Tigers outscoring the Braves, 3-1, to lead 24-12 with just over five minutes left in the half.
A well-timed three-pointer from Dekedran Thorn and jumpers from Montgomery and Ladarius Marshall would get ASU within one of Jackson State's lead with ten seconds left.
As the time whined down, Evans hit a buzzer-beating jumper from beyond the arc to give the Tigers a 34-30 advantage entering the break.
After halftime, Lewis hit the period's first shot to start a brief 6-2 run for Jackson State. The Tigers did not stay on top long as Brewton scored eight consecutive points for the Braves to get within two of JSU, 42-40.
A shot-for-shot battle began that saw ASU trailing Jackson State 60-59 with just 33 seconds left to play.
After a foul, Agnew went to the line and made both free throws for the 61-60 win.
The Braves will have one week free of competition before hitting the road to Prairie View, Texas, on Saturday, Feb. 26, to take on conference rival Prairie View A&M. Tip-off against the Panthers is set for 3 p.m.
