HOUSTON (AP) — Marcus Romain had 22 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks to help seventh-seeded Mississippi Valley State beat No. 2 seed Alcorn State 64-61 Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament.

Ta’Jay Henry opened the second half with a 3-point play for a 31-29 lead and Valley never trailed again. It led by as many as 11 points in the second half.

Jabari Alex hit a long jumper from the corner for a 58-52 lead with 5:21 left. Alex scored their next field goal, off an assist from Romain, at the 2:28 mark for a 60-55 lead. The Delta Devils went 4-of-7 from the stripe the rest of the way.

Alcorn State missed three shots — a blocked layup and two off-the-mark 3s — on its final possession.

Isaac Williams had 12 points and 10 rebounds for MVSU (8-26), which will play in the semifinals Friday against either Jackson State or Prairie View.

Alcorn’s Tamarcio Wilson scored 15 points and Octavius Brown added 13, but the duo was 0-of-11 from 3-point range. The Braves as a team were 2-of-22 from 3-point range.

“Sometimes the basket just has a lid on it, and a lot of the shots we normally make, we didn’t make today,” Alcorn coach Montez Robinson said. “We played with some energy and passion. It just didn’t flow like it normally flows for us.”

Alcorn was ineligible for the NCAA Tournament because of sanctions related to the program’s Academic Progress Rating, but still completed a remarkable turnaround.

The Braves finished 15-15 after going 6-25 last season. It’s the first time since 2001-02 that Alcorn finished with a .500 or better record.

“I thought we had a great season. I thought it was excellent. These seniors came out and did everything I asked of them,” Robinson said. “Through us going through APR issues and a postseason ban, they could have did like some other seniors did, and not return. But they wanted to leave something behind that Braves Nation could be proud of. That’s something they did. I can’t thank them enough.”

In the other quarterfinal game Wednesday, Texas Southern beat Alabama A&M 77-69. Texas Southern will play either Southern or Alabama State on Friday night.