ITTA BENA (AP) — A.J. Mosby scored 23 points as Alcorn State snapped a five-game skid and picked up its first conference win, beating winless Mississippi Valley State 77-63 on Saturday night.

Mosby was 9-of-13 from the field including 5-of-7 from 3-point range for the Braves (5-13, 1-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Maurice Howard added 20 points off the bench before fouling out.

The Braves shot 55 percent compared to 39 percent for Valley and had a 34-26 rebounding edge.
Dante Scott scored 16 points with six rebounds and four assists to lead the Delta Devils (0-17, 0-4).
Mississippi Valley State is the only team in Division I without a win this season.

Middle Tennessee 69, Southern Miss 49

Brandon Walters totaled 19 points and eight rebounds and Giddy Potts added 14 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals to power Middle Tennessee past Southern Miss.

Potts scored nine points in the first 3 1/2 minutes — sandwiching two 3-pointers around a 3-point play — as the Blue Raiders (13-4, 5-0 Conference USA) jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back. Nick King snagged 10 rebounds to help Middle Tennessee control the boards 50-23.

Tyree Griffin had 21 points to pace the Golden Eagles (9-10, 2-4), while LaDavius Draine finished with 14 points and nine rebounds and Cortez Edwards scored 10.

Draine scored the last five points of the first half to pull Southern Miss within 30-24. But Walters scored six in a 12-6 run to open the second half to put the Blue Raiders up 42-30. A 3-pointer from Edward Simpson pushed the lead to 21.

The Golden Eagles shot 35 percent from the floor, 17 percent from distance and had just three assists.

“They have the best team in our league, and they have proven it all year,” USM coach Doc Sadler said. “We knew it would be a difficult game coming in. We had a lot of guys play a lot of minutes on Thursday, so that may have had something to do with our perimeter shooting. We also missed some easy shots in four contested layups.”