On the final night of the regular season, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff grabbed the dominant road win needed to break its losing skid ahead of the SWAC men’s basketball tournament.
UAPB cruised past Alcorn State 83-48 on Thursday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex in Lorman, Miss., for its second win this season against the Braves.
Four UAPB players scored in double digits, led by senior guard Quion Williams’ 18 points and 13 rebounds. Senior forward Jaquan Scott scored 17 points, with freshman guard Milhan Charles adding 15. Junior guard Trevon Payton scored 13 with a team-high seven assists.
The Golden Lions (13-18, 10-8 SWAC) shot 52.3% from the field. UAPB dished 21 assists, a season high against a Division I opponent, while limiting turnovers to nine, its third fewest.
Alcorn State (8-22, 7-11) shot 32.1% and scored 19 points in the first half, both season-lows for UAPB’s defense. Junior forward Tycen McDaniels led the Braves with 16 points and nine rebounds, with senior forward Omari Hamilton adding nine points and 11 boards.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
UAPB outscored Alcorn 58-28 in the paint and 19-7 off turnovers. UAPB didn’t need the three-pointer, winning big despite shooting 4 of 16 from deep.
Alcorn led 2-0 early with UAPB missing its first four shots, but a Charles layup got the Golden Lions going. UAPB went on to lead 15-3 before the Braves made another shot from the field, a rim-shaking dunk by McDaniels.
The Braves later trimmed the UAPB lead to 20-16 before Charles again got the Golden Lions going, this time starting an 11-0 run. Alcorn didn’t score from the field in the final 5 minutes of the half as UAPB took a 37-19 lead into the break.
When these teams last met on Feb. 7, UAPB led by as much as 20 but had to hold off a furious Alcorn comeback to win 84-77. Thursday, the Golden Lions never gave Alcorn any room to think about a comeback, outscoring the Braves 46-29 in the second half.
This win came with UAPB reeling down the stretch of the regular season. The Golden Lions had lost five of their past six games, with the only win being an 84-82 survival at home against Prairie View A&M.
The 35-point victory will give UAPB some much-needed momentum and confidence entering next week’s SWAC tournament in Atlanta.
The Golden Lions finished the regular season in a four-way tie for fourth place with Texas Southern, Alabama A&M and Jackson State. The group of four teams finished one game back of second place, with Florida A&M and Southern tying for that position.