#2 seed Southern Tigers (23-8) vs #3 seed Texas Southern Tigers (22-8)—Southern got off to a quick start while Texas Southern’s offense was impotent for the first 5 minutes. Southern held a 49-38 halftime lead and then cruised in the 2nd half to blast Texas Southern 79-58. Texas Southern hit just 28% of their shots. PF DeJuan Ellis put in 21 points for Southern. Texas Southern was led by PF Matt Tebbs 13 points.
#1 seed Alcorn State Braves (24-6) vs #4 seed Grambling Tigers (20-11)—We lost to the Braves by 12 at home and 8 on their court. But I told our guys we can compete with the Braves and this is a time to step up and surprise some people. There were 8 lead changes in the first 10 minutes of this game, but we then pulled away and built a 43-34 halftime advantage. Our D which had been good in the first half tightened even more in the 2nd half. And even though we were outscored by 13 points at the foul line, we steadily expanded our lead and came away with a huge upset win, 80-60. We were +13 on the boards and made 5 less turnovers than Alcorn State. SG Lonnie Robertson dropped in 21 points, C Correy Parker hit for 14 points, PF Etan Benton had a big double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and PF Aubrey Johnson scored 10. Alcorn State’s top scorer was C Brett Smith with 16 points.
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