Men’s Results
Prairie View A&M 82, Mississippi Valley State 69
Prairie View, TX. – The Panthers (9-18, 6-7 SWAC) jumped out to a 13-point halftime lead and then traded baskets in the second half to pick up a crucial conference victory in their push to make the playoffs.
Prairie View A&M now holds a 2.5 game lead over Mississippi Valley State for the eighth—and final—playoff spot.
Tevin Bellinger rang up 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting, eight rebounds and five steals and Zachary Hamilton added 20 points while Ja’Donta Blakley added 12 points, six assists and three steals.
Rashaan Surles led the Delta Devils (4-23, 4-10 SWAC) with 19 points and Isaac Williams added 15 points and five rebounds.
Alcorn State 75, Alabama State 67
Lorman, Miss. – The Braves (14-11, 11-3 SWAC) overcame sloppy ball handing (16 turnovers) by shooting 52 percent from the field to hold on for their conference-best ninth consecutive win.
The streak is tied for the 10th longest active winning streak in the nation.
Marquis Vance shot 9-of-17 for a game-high and season-best 27 points to go with nine rebounds and Reginal Johnson had 15 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench.
Rodney Simeon had 15 points, nine rebounds and a pair of steals to lead the Hornets (8-18, 6-8 SWAC).
Grambling State 62, Jackson State 59 (OT)
Jackson, Miss. – Nigel Riberio made a go-ahead 3-pointer with three seconds remaining in overtime to lift Grambling State to a big road victory at the Lee E. Williams Athletic Complex.
Avery Ugba recorded his conference-best ninth double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds and Ervin Mitchell scored 18 as well for GSU (12-15, 7-7 SWAC).
Maurice Rivers had 16 points and nine rebounds and Janarius Middleton had nine points and 14 rebounds for JSU (11-16, 7-7 SWAC).
Paris Collins had 14 points and six rebounds.
Texas Southern 78, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 40
Houston, TX – The Tigers defense forced 25 turnovers and held the Golden Lions to just 36 percent shooting and Demontrae Jefferson led TSU (15-11, 11-2 SWAC) with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Texas Southern led 39-19 at the break and thrived on picking up a combined 15 steals (Kevin Scott led team with five steals).
Zach Lofton had 13 points and Jalan McCloud added 11.
Deshon Bayless scored 12 points with five rebounds, one steal and one block to lead the Golden Lions (7-20, 6-8 SWAC).
Southern 77, Alabama A&M 64
Baton Rouge, La. – Four Jaguars scored in double figures led by Shawn Prudhomme’s 20 points and seven rebounds.
Chris Thomas had 15 points, Jared Sam added 12 points and eight rebounds and Trelun Banks chipped in with 10points and seven assists for Southern (13-14, 9-5 SWAC).
Quinterian McConico had 20 points on 10-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds for the Bulldogs (1-23, 1-12 SWAC).
Women’s Results
Prairie View 96, Mississippi Valley State 65
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Jeronia Allen’s career high 29 points led five Prairie View A&M University women’s basketball players in double figures in a 96-65 win over Mississippi Valley State at the William J. Nick Babydome.
Allen was 11-of-18 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 from three-point range in 29 minutes off the bench in the highest point total of the season for the Lady Panthers (9-16 overall, 4-9 SWAC), which broke a four-game losing streak.
Tori Carter and Dominique Newman each scored 20 points, Alexus Parker scored 17 and La’Sha Haynes added 10 for Prairie View A&M, which shot nearly 60 percent from the field (37-62) and made a season-high 13 three-pointers in 19 attempts.
The Lady Panthers never trailed, scoring nine of the game’s first 11 points. After Miss. Valley State (9-16, 6-8) cut its deficit to one twice in the quarter, Allen’s layup started a 9-2 run for PVAMU. Parker’s three-pointer capped the run, with the Lady Panthers taking a 20-16 lead into the second quarter. A 28-point second-quarter broke the game open for PVAMU. A pair of free throws by Newman provided an 18-point lead, as the Lady Panthers led 48-31 at halftime.
Ashley Beals scored 29 points and grabbed six boards for MVSU.
Courtesy: Prairie View A&M Sports Information
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 71, Texas Southern 60
HOUSTON – Arkansas–Pine Bluff scored 19 of the first 21 points of the fourth quarter Saturday as the visiting Golden Lions raced to a 71-60 win at Texas Southern
Faith Ohanta’s double-double tallies of 18 points and 13 rebounds – all on the defensive end – propelled the Golden Lions (12-13, 9-5 SWAC) to their sixth consecutive victory and their first win at TSU since 2009.
TSU’s Joyce Kennerson scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting Saturday, but it was not enough to prevent the Lady Tigers (15-9, 9-4 SWAC) from dropping their first Southwestern Athletic Conference home game of the season.
Ohanta led Pine Bluff’s 25-point effort in the fourth quarter. She scored 15 points in the final 10 minutes, going 3-of-3 from the field – with two 3-pointers – and making seven out of eight free throw attempts.
Courtesy: Texas Southern Sports
Alabama State 62, Alcorn State 56
LORMAN, Miss. – Britney Wright and Damya Toney sank free throws in the final 17 seconds as the Alabama State University women’s basketball team held off a late Alcorn State run in a 62-56 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) victory on Saturday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
Wright paced Alabama State with 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. She also hauled down five rebounds. Danielle Clark added 11 points.
Alabama State (11-12 overall, 10-3 SWAC) raced out to an 8-0 lead to begin the game as Alcorn State went without a field goal for the first 3:20.
The Lady Braves (8-17, 8-6) responded with a 12-2 run over the next two and a half minutes, capped by a 3-pointer by Brianna Luton to grab a 12-10 advantage with 4:18 left in the opening stanza. The Lady Hornets took control early in the second quarter, but in the final four minutes of the first half, neither team had a lead larger than four points as Alcorn State trimmed the margin to 32-29 at the break.
Alabama State began to pull away in the second half, building its biggest lead of the day, 53-39, with 5:53 remaining. Alcorn State used a 17-9 run over the final five minutes, but it wasn’t enough as Wright and Toney sealed the win at the foul line.
Alexus Freeman registered 13 points, seven boards and two assists to lead Alcorn State. Rushing finished with a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds, while Tori Spann chipped in with 10 points. The Lady Braves shot 26.1 percent (18-of-69) from the floor.
Courtesy: Alabama State Athletics Communications
Southern 69, Alabama A&M 57
BATON ROUGE, La. – Sklay O’Bear scored 15 points, and Briana Green and Cortnei Purnell each added 14 as Southern downed Alabama A&M 69-57 Friday night
An early back-and-forth battle leaned the Jaguars’ way after an 8-0 run in the first put them ahead 12-6. Alabama A&M’s (2-20, 0-13 SWAC) Lauren McKee netted two free throws with 52 seconds remaining in the first quarter before Southern closed the quarter with a layup to take a 14-8 lead.
The Lady Bulldogs cut Southern’s lead to three with 6:11 on the clock, but the Jagugars (11-11-, 9-5 SWAC) extended their lead to take a 31-24 at the half.
Southern eventually increased its lead to double-digits and proved to be too tough down the stretch.
Jameica Cobb led AAMU with 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds and led the Lady Bulldogs with five assists. Juliette Akinwole added 10 points and recorded six rebounds.
Courtesy: Alabama A&M Sports Information
Grambling State 60, Jackson State 57
JACKSON, Miss. – Jazmine Torian scored 17 points, and Shakyla Hill posted a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and three assists as Grambling State held off a hard charge from Jackson State to win 60-57.
Up 51-32 entering the final quarter, Grambling State’s offense disappeared as Jackson State began its furious comeback. Back-to-back lay-ups by Marneisha Hamer began a run that saw JSU (8-16, 2-12 SWAC) outscore Grambling (13-12, 11-3 SWAC) 25-6 over the first 8:49 of the final period. GSU only hit one shot from the floor over this span, as a Derica Wiggins lay-up tied the contest at 57.
However, JSU ran out of gas late. A go-ahead trey attempt with 27 ticks left by Jackson State’s Radejah Woodson was off the mark, and Hill sealed the deal for Grambling, sinking three free throws in the final seconds. A potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer by Wiggins was unsuccessful.
Wiggins scored 20 points for JSU, and Hamer had a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards.