Southern looks to gain momentum

The Southern University men’s basketball team still finds itself in the thick of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament field after picking up a split last weekend.
The Jaguars entertain Alcorn State at 4 p.m. at the F.G. Clark Activity Center in SU’s final home game before hitting the road next week to take on Texas Southern and Prairie View.
Southern (8-20, 6-9) currently sits fifth in the SWAC after falling to Alabama State 89-52 Saturday night and holding off Alabama A&M 81-72 on Monday.
On Monday, Douglas Scott had 17 points and 12 as the Jags shot 62.5 percent in the first half (20-of-32) and led by as many as 19 points at 46-27 with two minutes to go until the break.
The Bulldogs (7-15, 5-9) began the second half with a 19-5 run to pull within 55-53 with 11:52 left. Alabama A&M tied the game at 65 with 7:18 remaining, but could not take the lead despite 31 points from Trant Simpson.
Southern was 3-for-14 from 3-point range for the game, but hit 20-of-23 free throws, including 13-of-16 in the second half.
Chris Davis added 17 points for the Jaguars, while Geri Guillory had 14 and Steffon Wiley chipped in 12.
Jonathan Belt had 11 points for the Bulldogs, who have lost four in a row.
On Saturday, ASU’s Brandon Brooks scored 33 while Andrew Hayles added 15 points for the Hornets (15-8, 12-1), who shot 51 percent from the field (33 of 64).
Alabama State connected on 57.1 percent of its 3-pointers (12-of-21) compared to the Jaguars (6-19, 6-8), who shot 14.2 percent from beyond the arc (3-of-21).
The Hornets bettered their season high point total after defeating Alabama A&M 87-43 on Feb. 14.
Brooks, the Hornets leading scorer at 13.2 points per game, went 7-for-9 from behind the 3-point line.
The Jaguars were led by Davis with 12 points and Barry Honore’ with 10.
Wesley Jones’ nine rebounds helped Alabama State outrebound Southern 43-42.