Lorman, MS (January 19, 2019) – Mississippi Valley State men's basketball had a pair finish in double-figure scoring in a 63-57 defeat on the road to Alcorn State, Saturday night. The Delta Devils went into the second half with a five-point lead (29-24), but it came down to the wire for the second consecutive conference game where they came up short.
Senior Gregory Jones-Rollins finished with a team-high 11 points and five rebounds for the Delta Devils. Redshirt senior LaCurtis Allen scored in double-figures in back-to-back games for MVSU adding 10 points on 5-of-6 made shots from the field. Senior Emmanuel Ejeh had eight rebounds and junior Michael Green was just shy of his first career double-double finishing with nine points and seven rebounds. Junior Torico Simmons tied a season-high with six assists and scored eight points.
MVSU drops to 3-14 overall, 1-3 in the SWAC while Alcorn State moves to 4-12 overall and 1-4 in the conference.
In the first half, the Delta Devils shot 33.3 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from beyond the arc, and just 25 percent at the charity stripe. Despite shooting below 50 percent across the board, the Delta Devils held a 29-24, edge at the half. MVSU's largest lead (22-10) came with 7:09 to go in the first half as the Delta Devils outrebounded the Braves 25-15 (10-2 offensively) which turned into an advantage in second-chance points (5-0). Jones-Rollins, Allen, and Green all scored six points each pacing the scoring load throughout the opening 20 minutes.
The second half continued with scoring droughts on both ends. However, the Braves flipped the script, and outrebounded the Delta Devils 22-11 while also earning more second-chance point opportunities (8-0). Ejeh's layup gave the Delta Devils a 43-42 lead with 9:17 left and then Simmons stretched the MVSU advantage to 48-44 on a three-pointer. The Braves responded on a Maurice Howard three-pointer with 6:07 that put Alcorn State back in front, 49-48.
From there the Braves were able to build a six-point cushion and convert seven free-throws to stay in the lead. With 58-seconds left, MVSU made it 60-57 on a three-pointer by Green, but the Braves held off a late rally by the Delta Devils escaping with a 63-57 victory.
On the night, the Delta Devils were 22-of-60 (36.7 percent) from the field and made 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) at the charity stripe. Alcorn State made 22-of-51 (43.1 percent) field goals and 14-of-20 (60.0 percent) free-throw attempts. The Delta Devils forced the Braves into 15 turnovers while committing 11 and held a 16-7 advantage in bench scoring.
For the Braves, Devon Brewer netted 18 points, while Maurice Howard and Troymain Crosby both added 15 points each. Crosby also added eight rebounds, yet rebounding efforts were lead by Kobe Wilson (10).
The Delta Devils will continue on the road Monday, Jan. 21 when they visit the Jaguars of Southern. Tipoff will be at 7:30 p.m. (CT) in the F.G. Clark Activity Center. You can follow the action via Twitter @MVSUDevilSports or online at mvsusport.com.
