Tight Contests Dot SWAC Men's Hoops Openers

Tight Contests Dot SWAC Men's Hoops Openers

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Alabama A&M 78, Grambling 53

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (SWAC) -- Five players scored in double figures as Alabama A&M (5-7, 1-0 in SWAC) opened their Southwestern Athletic Conference schedule with a 78-53 win over Grambling.

Center Justan Banks led the way for the Bulldogs with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Guards DeMarquelle Tabb, Jeremy Crutcher and Green Hill all finished with 12 points, while Tyler Davis came off the bench to contribute 10 points. Crutcher also had nine assists for A&M.

Grambling was led by Terry Rose who finished with a game-high 19 points off the bench. Bryant Purvis added 10 for the Tigers (0-10, 0-1).

Alabama State 70, Jackson State 66

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (SWAC) -- Despite a game-high 27 points by Jackson State guard Dundrecous Nelson, Alabama State held on for a 70-66 win in their SWAC home opener.

Denzell McDaniel came off the bench to score 16 points to lead Alabama State (3-11, 1-0 in SWAC). Jamel Waters added 15 points, while Ryan Watts tallied 10.

Nelson was the only JSU player in double-figures. He was 9-for-18 from the field, with a pair of 3-pointers. He also hit 7-of-14 freethrows.

After leading for all but 13 seconds in the opening 20 minutes, Jackson State (1-9, 0-1 in SWAC) led 26-25 at halftime. JSU held on to the lead, or was tied in the second half until Luther Page's layup with 14:13 left gave the Hornets the lead for good.

Alcorn State 68, Prairie View 54

LORMAN, Miss. (AP) -- Anthony Nieves scored a career-high 22 points as Alcorn State defeated Prairie View 68-54 Wednesday night in the Southwestern Athletic Conference opener for both teams, snapping a nine-game losing streak.

The Braves (3-13), coming off a 57-36 loss at No. 9 Syracuse, led 33-19 at halftime en route to their first win since defeating Samford 69-65 in overtime on Nov. 22.

Alcorn State shot 46.2 percent from the field in the first half (12 of 26), while the Panthers shot only 21.4 percent (6 of 28). Prairie View also struggled at the free-throw line in the first half, making 7 of 18.

Nieves was 6 of 9 from the floor for the Braves, hitting 4 of 6 from long range, while Marquiz Baker added 16 points and LeAntwan Luckett 14.

Carl Blair scored 14 points and Jourdan DeMuynck had 11 for the Panthers (5-9), who have lost four straight.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff 79, Mississippi Valley 64

PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) -- Terrell Kennedy scored 25 points, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff opened with a 17-0 run en route to a 79-64 victory Wednesday night over winless Mississippi Valley State in both teams' Southwestern Athletic Conference opener.

Kennedy was 9 of 14 from the field. Lazabian Jackson added 16 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Golden Lions (2-11), who snapped a nine-game losing streak in their first home game of the season. Pine Bluff dominated the boards, outrebounding MVSU 39-20, and made 20 of its 22 free-throw attempts.

Davon Usher led the Delta Devils (0-11) with 19 points and Matt Smith had 17.

After Pine Bluff's big opening run, MVSU narrowed the gap to 35-29 at halftime and pulled within three points with less than 11 minutes to play. But the Golden Lions responded with a 17-4 run to put the game away.

MVSU will play its home opener Sunday against Alabama A&M.

Southern 63, Texas Southern 57

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Malcolm Miller had 26 points and nine rebounds to lead Southern University to a 63-57 victory over Texas Southern in a Southwestern Athletic Conference game on Wednesday night.

Miller shot 11 of 20 from the field. Derick Beltran chipped in 12 points for the Jaguars (7-6).

Raymond Penn scored 18 points, and Omar Strong had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers (1-13), who have lost 11 in a row.

Southern won the turnover battle 14-3, including seven steals.

Texas Southern led 18-6 on Strong's 3-pointer 6 minutes in, but the Jaguars closed to 33-28 at the break.

The Jaguars took the lead at 50-49 on Beltran's two free throws with 8:17 to go. The Tigers led 55-53, but Javan Mitchell tied it at 55 on a layup at 4:28, and Miller's jumper made it 61-55 at 1:43.