#SWACMBB Recaps: January 7
Tonight’s Scores:
Texas Southern 77, Southern 67
Prairie View A&M 57, Alcorn State 54
Alabama A&M 65, Grambling State 60 (OT)
Alabama State 59, Jackson State 57
Game of the Night: Alabama State holds off Jackson State to stay perfect in SWAC play
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - For the second time this season, Alabama State went down to the buzzer with an opponent. Unlike the first time this season, the Hornets were able to hold on as they forced a bad shot in a 59-57 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) victory Monday night over Jackson State at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
Alabama State (4-9, 2-0 SWAC) led for all but six minutes of the contest against Jackson State (4-11, 1-1 SWAC), and led by as many as six with 5:04 to play. However, Jackson State came back to pull to within two at 53-51 on a free throw from Chris Howell until Alabama State pushed it back to three at 56-53 with 2:02 to play on a Fausto Pichardo free throw.
After a Jackson State free throw trimmed the lead to 56-54 with 1:35 to play, the Tigers took the lead on a Lemmie Howard three-pointer with just 48 seconds remaining for a 57-56 lead. Alabama State took the lead on a pair of free throws from Reginald Gee with 33 seconds to play (58-57), and pushed it to 59-57 with eight seconds remaining on a free throw rom Jacoby Ross.
Jackson State got one last look to tie the game up, but Howell missed a runner in the lane and Alabama State cleared the rebound for the two-point victory.
Ross led Alabama State with 13 points and six rebounds, while Gee finished with just six points but grabbed eight rebounds in the win. The Hornets shot 41 (16-of-39) percent from the floor and just 30 (6-of-20) percent from beyond the arc. They knocked down 63.6 (21-of-33) percent of their free throws, and forced 19 Jackson State turnovers.
Meanwhile, Jontrell Walker led Jackson State with 11 points, while Jayveous McKinnis grabbed 11 rebounds for a team that shot 38 (19-of-50) percent from the floor. The Tigers also shot 36.4 (8-of-22) percent from beyond the arc and 61.1 (11-of-18) percent from the free throw line.
- Alabama State Athletic Strategic Communications
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
QUICK HITS:
- Arthur Johnson led Alabama A&M with 16 points, six boards and two assists as the Bulldogs (2-14, 1-1) needed extra time to outlast Grambling (6-9, 0-2) 65-60. Andre Kennedy posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, along with two assists and one steal, while Jalen Reeder tallied 11 points, one rebound, one steal and one block. Ivy Smith, Jr. led Grambling with 27 points, five rebounds and three steals.
- Darius Williams came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points in leading Prairie View A&M (4-11, 2-0) to a 57-54 win over Alcorn State. Devonte Patterson added 15 for the Panthers. Reginal Johnson scored 12 points to lead Alcorn, and Maurice Howard added 10.
- Texas Southern remained undefeated in Southwestern Athletic Conference play Monday after winning 77-67 at Southern. Jeremy Combs scored 17 points and pulled in eight rebounds to lead four Tigers scoring in double-figures. Combs was 7-of-11 from the floor and pulled six of his rebounds off the offensive glass; he also blocked four Southern shots during the game. Jalyn Patterson and Justin Hopkins scored 13 points apiece for TSU (7-8, 2-0 SWAC). John Jones chipped in 12 points for the Tigers.
- Eddie Reese scored 17 points to lead the Jaguars (1-14), who fell to 0-2 in conference play.