LORMAN, Miss. – Under the direction of Head Coach Landon Bussie, Alcorn Men's Basketball looks to secure its first Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) win of the 2022-23 season on Saturday, Jan. 7, when the Braves welcome Alabama A&M to the Davey L. Whitney Complex. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
THE GAME: Alabama A&M at Alcorn
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 7, at 4 p.m. CT
WHERE: Davey L. Whitney Complex (Lorman, Miss.)
LISTEN: WPRL 91.7 FM
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with everything Alcorn Men's Basketball this year by following the Braves social media platforms. You can follow @Alcorn_St_MBB on Instagram and @BravesSports on Twitter.

SERIES VS. ALABAMA A&M
Alcorn Men's Basketball leads the all-time series against Alabama A&M by a count of 27-21, in a series that dates back to 1968-69. Alcorn took the first recorded game against the Bulldogs on the strength of a 91-80 score line in 1968. The last times these two teams met was a season ago in the SWAC Tournament, as the Braves claimed a 69-64 victory en route to earning a spot in the SWAC title contest.
 
LAST TIME OUT BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES
A second-half surge gets the Braves past Alabama A&M in the semifinal round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Tournament. The Alcorn State men's basketball team defeated the Bulldogs 69-64 to keep its season going and earn a spot in the 2022 SWAC Championship Game.
 
"I build my program on 'don't give up, compete and fight to the last whistle,'" said head coach Landon Bussie. "Coming in today, we knew we had new life, and we did not want to do what we did last time against Prairie View. Going into the second half, these guys realized that there is no more talking, and some of their basketball careers could come to an end, so right now, let's focus on giving it everything you got and let the end result be the end result."
 
In the contest, three Braves hit double-figures to guide the team through the semifinals. Justin Thomas found his spark to tally 17 of 19 points in the second half. The Indianapolis, Ind., native hit eight of 13 from the floor and added three on five attempts at the line. He also had four rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Keondre Montgomery came off the bench to score his 14 points in the first half. He had a five-for-eight showing from the field, including one in three-point range, and went three-for-three at the line.
 
Dominic Brewton hits his first double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and bringing down 11 rebounds to round out the double-figure scorers. The Braves got off to a slow start, allowing Alabama A&M to collect the game's first four points. Alcorn would come from behind to tie the game at 10, but the comeback did not last long. The Bulldogs answered with a couple of scoring runs to put some distance between them and the Braves to enter halftime with a 37-30 advantage. The second half of the competition belonged to Alcorn. The Braves found their spots and played tough defense to outscore Alabama A&M 39-27. Alcorn came off the break with a 12-2 run to find its first lead of the game, 42-41, with 16:39 left to play.
 
After allowing the Bulldogs to regain the lead a couple of times, the Braves closed the contest strong to outlast AAMU for a 69-64 victory and a spot in the title game.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ALCORN
Coltie Young buried a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining, while Byron Joshua's potential game-winning layup fell short of the mark on the other end to see Jackson State defeat Alcorn by a count of 67-66 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and home-opener for Braves Men's Basketball inside the Davey L. Whitney Complex. Alcorn held a 47-39 lead with just over nine minutes remaining in the contest when Dekedran Thorn's fast break layup was good off a steal by Byron Joshua.

Jackson State chipped into the lead a number of times across the final 20 minutes of play, getting the deficit to within 53-50 off the strength of Keiveon Hunt's three-pointer with 4:02 showing on the clock. However, the Purple and Gold used a steal and layup from Thorn, added a Jeremiah Kendall jumper inside the paint, to push the Braves lead back to seven (57-50) in a span of 50 seconds. A quick 6-0 run sparked by a jumper and free throws from Coltie Young and followed by another Young shot from long range – one of the guard's game-high tying three (3) three-pointers in the contest, pulled the visitors to within 57-56. It was the closest JSU had been to the Braves since trailing 23-22 in the opening half.

Joshua was fouled with 13 seconds remaining, but connected on just one of two at the line to extend the Alcorn lead at 66-64, and keeping the Tigers within striking distance. That set the stage for a quick rebound off the missed second free throw attempt, as JSU's Adams collected the rebound and pushed the outlet pass to Young, as he hit the eventual game-winner with 11 seconds remaining. Just moments later, Joshua had a chance to steal the win right at the death for the Braves, but his layup rimmed out and sealed the win for the visiting Tigers.
 
The opening half was a back-and-forth affair until a Keondre Montgomery three-pointer was followed by a Trevin Wade shot from beyond the arc to see the hosts open a five-point lead at 19-14 with 5:38 remaining in the half. JSU's Jamarcus Jones would throw down a couple of fast break dunks, but each Tigers run was answered in kind by Dontrell McQuarter and Kendall timely basket on the other end of the court. Back-to-back free throws by Joshua allowed the Purple and Gold to hold a 25-22 edge as the teams went to the locker room at the half.

Jackson State was led in scoring by Jones with his game-high 26-point performance, as he shot 10-of-12 from the floor, going on to add five rebounds and a pair of steals. Young was also in double-figures scoring for the Tigers with 11 points. Zeke Cook supplied JSU with eight rebounds. Three Alcorn players registered double-figures scoring, led by Montgomery with 18 points and seven rebounds. Kendall poured in 12 points and brought in nine rebounds, while teammate Thorn added 10 points and five boards.

CATCH THE BRAVES LIVE AT THE WHITNEY IN 2023
Season Tickets for 2022-23 Alcorn Men's Basketball at the Davey L. Whitney Health and Physical Education Complex are now available for purchase at Alcornsports.MyImpactTickets.com/basketball. Season tickets for the home SWAC competitions are $76.25, while single-game admission is $12.65 in advance.

UP NEXT
Alcorn will conclude playing three consecutive games at home to begin the 2023 calendar year when the Braves welcome Alabama State to the Davey L. Whitney Complex for a SWAC affair on Monday, Jan. 9, at 4 p.m.
 
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