SWAC MBB Regular Season Ends with Four Nailbiters
SWAC.org
The regular season came to a close Saturday with four games that could forecast a great tournament next week in Garland. Four games were decided by 11 points with an overtime contest in the mix.
Southern 56, Texas Southern 54
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Quinton Doggett had a double-double and scored the game-winning points as Southern University defeated Texas Southern 56-54 on Saturday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Doggett, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds, dunked to give the Jaguars a 55-54 lead with 14 seconds to play. He added a free throw with 2 seconds to go to seal the win for the Jaguars (17-14, 13-5 Southwestern Athletic Conference), who avenged a 73-39 loss to Texas Southern in January.
Texas Southern used a 10-0 second-half run to lead 39-36 after a three-point play by Fred Sturdivant with 10:20 remaining.
The Jaguars rallied to take a 52-44 lead with 2:40 to go before Madarious Gibbs capped a 9-2 run with a tip-in to give Texas Southern (13-17, 12-6) a 54-53 lead with 34 seconds left. Doggett took over from there.
Omar Strong led the Tigers with 16 points.
Grambling 75, Alabama A&M 72 (OT)
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Quincy Roberts scored seven points in overtime to lead Grambling State over Alabama A&M 75-72 on Saturday night.
The Tigers (7-20, 5-13 Southwestern Athletic Conference) led 67-65 in the extra session before Roberts hit back-to-back layups.
He then made three straight free throws to snap Grambling State's nine-game losing streak.
Roberts finished with 31 points, going 12 of 26 from the field. His layup with 1 second left sent it into overtime, 63-63.
Peter Roberson added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers, who shot 46.8 percent for the game (29 of 62), making all four of their field goals in overtime.
The Bulldogs (4-23, 4-14) were led by Jeremy Crutcher with 20 points and Demarquelle Tabb with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Casey Canty added 15 points and Justin Banks had 13 rebounds for Alabama A&M, which lost its third straight and seventh out of the last eight.
Alabama State 49, Jackson State 46
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Tramaine Butler scored 14 points and Ivory White added 11 as Alabama State edged Jackson State 49-46 Saturday night in the regular-season finale for both.
The Hornets (12-18, 9-9 Southwestern Athletic Conference) clinched the fourth spot in the regular-season standings and will be seeded accordingly in the conference tournament, which starts Wednesday. They'll play fifth-seeded Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the opening round.
With the victory, Alabama State swept the regular-season series against the Tigers, who they also beat 81-78 in triple-overtime in January.
This contest needed just the allotted regulation, though, as the Hornets held onto a 25-22 halftime edge as both teams scored 24 points in the second half.
Butler's trio of 3s led the Hornets, who shot 40 percent (6 of 15) from beyond the arc compared to a 25 percent (3 of 12) mark for the Tigers.
Sydney Coleman had 11 points to lead Jackson State (7-23, 5-13).
Prairie View A&M 64, Alcorn State 61
ALCORN STATE, Miss. -- Jourdan Demuynck scored 27 points to lead Prairie View A&M over Alcorn State 64-61 on Saturday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Panthers (14-17, 10-8 Southwestern Athletic Conference) took a 37-26 lead at halftime after shooting 46.4 percent in the first half (13 of 28), going 6 of 14 from 3-point range.
After Ken McDonald hit a 3-pointer for Alcorn State (9-21, 6-12) to tie it at 61 with15 seconds to go, the Braves were called for a technical foul on the bench with 12 seconds remaining.
Demuynck then made three of his four free throws for the final margin. Alcorn State missed three 3-pionters in the final 7 seconds.
Ryan Gesiakowski added 15 points for Prairie View A&M, which clinched the third seed in the conference tournament. The Panthers will play sixth-seeded Alcorn State on Wednesday.
Anthony Nevis led Alcorn State with 15 points.