ITTA BENA, Miss. (January 14, 2019) – Mississippi Valley State dropped an exciting thriller in overtime to Alabama State 81-79, Monday night inside the Harrison HPER Complex. In a close battle between the Delta Devils and Hornets, costly turnovers by MVSU in the final minute of regulation allowed ASU to come back from an eight-point deficit to force overtime.

Junior Michael Green and senior Gregory Jones-Rollins each scored 18 for the Delta Devils (3-14, 1-2) while junior Torico Simmons and redshirt senior LaCurtis Allen both poured in 11 points apiece. Allen grabbed a game-high nine rebounds while Simmons had a game-high six assists.

The Hornets (5-10, 3-1) built an early advantage using a 13-2 run in the first half taking a 38-26 lead with 1:38 left. MVSU began the second half trailing the Hornets 40-28 and turned things around after a Jones-Rollins slam dunk igniting a 17-4 run. Simmons' put the Delta Devils ahead 47-46 after nailing a three-pointer at the 14:51 mark.

In a back-and-forth game, ASU reclaimed a 61-59 lead with just under five minutes to go. Green answered with a three-point play driving hard to the rim while drawing the foul putting MVSU back in front. Simmons led the offense in the final three minutes of regulation against the Hornets with his crafty dribbling. He drove down the middle of the lane with the shot clock winding down and nailed a floater over the ASU defense extending the MVSU advantage to 71-63 with 1:27 remaining.

Then things began to fall apart for MVSU. ASU forced four Delta Devil turnovers and held them scoreless the rest of the way. ASU forced a turnover with 26-seconds and managed to tie the game up at 71 with 23.8 seconds to go. A last-second attempt for the Delta Devils was halted by the Hornets with another turnover sending the game into overtime.

In the extra session, Green gave MVSU a 74-73 advantage with a three-pointer at the 3:36 mark. He converted on a pair from the charity stripe with 1:16 to go pushing their lead to 79-76. ASU's Jacoby Ross drained a three-pointer to tie the game with 58-seconds and then Tobi Ewuosho hit the game-winning field goal leaving 0.8-seconds. A last-second attempt by the Delta Devils just missed the front of the rim as the Hornets escaped with an 81-79 victory in overtime.

Reginald Gee and Ross both scored 16 points to lead the Hornets scoring. AJ Farrar finished with 15 points off the ASU bench.

MVSU will look to bounce back from a heartbreaking defeat with a road trip to Alcorn State on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 4:30 p.m.