Men’s Basketball Recap: Nov. 28-29
Around the SWAC
Wednesday
Mississippi Valley State 102, Rust College 62
ITTA BENA, MS – A total of 14 different Delta Devils scored points in the game as the Mississippi Valley State (2-6) won its second consecutive home game.
Dante Scott tallied team-high totals of 15 points and seven rebounds for the Delta Devils. Jordan Evans chipped in 11 points, which included sinking a trio of 3-point shots. Aleksa Koracin scored 10 points for the Delta Devils.
Kortez Wade scored a game-high 22 points and pulled in seven rebounds to lead Rust College (0-7).
Mississippi Valley State was in complete control of the game from start to finish, as they led for more than 39 of the game’s 40 minutes. The one tie score came when Wade opened Rust College’s scoring with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 3-3 at the 17:46 mark of the first half.
From there, the Delta Devils scored 16 of the next 18 points to establish a 19-5 lead with 11:09 left to play in the first half. Valley would not let its lead sink below 10 points for the rest of the contest.
The Delta Devils dominated every aspect of the game, most notably outscoring their opponents 55-6 in the paint. Valley held a 23-5 advantage in second-chance points, and a 15-0 advantage in fast-break points.
--Mississippi Valley State Sports Information
Akron 86, Alabama State 54
AKRON, OHIO – Alabama State could not overcome their slow shot and the hot shooting of Akron, falling to the Zips 86-54 at James A. Rhodes Arena Wednesday night.
The Hornets missed their first 12 shots of the contest, falling behind 17-3 with 10:17 remaining in the first half. The lone points for Alabama State (2-4) came from the free throw line courtesy of Reginald Gee and Jacoby Ross. The first field goal for the Hornets came with 9:52 to play in the first half when Therrell Gosier II hit a lay-up to trim the deficit to 17-5.
Akron kept the lead in double digits for much of the first half until Branden Johnson knocked it down to six at 19-13 with 6:49 to play in the half. The Hornets were able to keep around six for the next four minutes when Fausto Pichardo knocked down a lay-up to trim the deficit to 23-17. However, Akron was able to push it back to eight at the half, 29-21.
The second half was much the same story with Alabama State held without a field goal for the first 2:35 until Ross knocked down a three-pointer to trim the deficit to 39-25 with 17:25 to play. The Zips used a 12-0 run to push the lead to as many as 38 in the second.
Azariah Seay came off the bench late in the second half and ended the run with three consecutive three-pointers, sharing team-high honors with Reginald Gee with nine points each. Ross and Gosier each finished with eight for the Hornets, who ended the night shooting 32.7 (18-of-55) percent from the floor and 30.4 (7-of-23) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 73.3 (11-of-15) percent from the free throw line, while forcing 17 Akron turnovers.
Tyler Cheese led Akron (5-2) with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor, while also dishing out five assists. Meanwhile, Jimond Ivey added 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists; while also blocking a pair of shots and recording a pair of steals for the Zips.
--Alabama State Strategic Communications
Thursday
Texas Southern 81, Huston Tillotson 76
HOUSTON, TX – Trailing 76-71 with 2:06 remaining, the Tigers rallied back to finish the game on a 10-0 run to close it out.
A Trayvon Reed dunk followed by a Derrick Bruce 3-pointer knotted the score at 76 all with 1:15 left. Devocio Butler split a pair of free throws to give Texas Southern the lead, Reed came up with a block on the defensive end and Bruce made two more free throws to push the lead to three with 18 seconds left. A misfired 3-point attempt by the Rams and two free throws by Justin Hopkins sealed it.
Derrick Bruce scored 21 points off the bench, Jeremy Coombs had 18 points and Reed contributed 16 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers (3-4).
UAB 67, Alabama A&M 57
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Bulldogs (0-7) got as close as an eight-point deficit with 7:06 remaining in the second half and did not get any closer.
Arthur Johnson scored 17 points, Jalen Reeder had 13, Tre Todd added 12 and Gerron Scissum chipped in with 11 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
The Blazers (5-2) shot 51 percent from the floor.
Santa Clara 81, Jackson State 70
SANTA CLARA, CA – Four Tigers (1-7) finished in double digits in scoring (Jontrell Walker 17 points, Chris Howell 16, Venji Wallis 10, and Justin Johnson 10) and the team shot 50 percent from the field, but the Broncos (2-5) were able to get to the free throw line for 21 more attempts and received a 33-point effort from Trey Wertz.