LORMAN (AP) — Alcorn State might not be the best team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, but right now it is undoubtedly the hottest.

Reginal Johnson scored 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and Alcorn State won its sixth straight game, 75-65 over Grambling State on Monday night.

It’s the third time the Braves (11-1, 8-3 SWAC) have won five games in a row over the last two seasons, but this is their first six-game winning streak since 2006-07. They remained alone in second place in the SWAC, two games behind leader Texas Southern.

DeAndré Davis, Denzel Dulin, and A.J. Mosby each finished with 14 points for the Braves, with Mosby adding a team-high nine assists. The Braves finished with 24 total assists on their 31 field goals, and finished shooting 57.4 percent.

“Overall this was a great team effort by us. All of our guys played hard and we really spread the ball around; 24 assists is incredible. We made the extra pass tonight. I’m really pleased with how we played,” Alcorn State coach Montez Robinson said.

Alcorn State held a nine-point lead in the first half before the Tigers closed to 37-33 at halftime. Grambling kept it close for much of the second half, trailing just 63-61 with 4:55 left, but the Braves slowly pulled away.

Dulin made a 3-pointer to spark a 12-4 run for Alcorn that pushed the lead to double digits with under a minute left.

Averyl Ugba led Grambling (10-14, 5-6) with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Remond Brown scored 16 points, Ervin Mitchell had 15 and Drake Wilks scored 10.

Alcorn’s bench outscored Grambling’s 25-3.

“Grambling is a very good team. They are physical, have big guys inside and also have great wings. They are relentless inside and get to the free throw line,” Robinson said. “Those guys can really draw contact, but I thought my guys did a great job of staying up-and-down. I’m content with only allowing Grambling to shoot 18 free throws. As hard as they drive in the paint, that’s a good night for us.”

Johnson has scored at least 12 points in 20 of the last 21 games for Alcorn. He notched his 39th career double-figure scoring game.

Johnson was 8-of-12 from the field despite being poked in the eye. Robinson said the injury caused Johnson’s eye to swell and affected his free throw shooting.
Johnson was 1-for-4 at the foul line.

“His eye is almost shut right now,” Robinson said after the game. “The good news is that we don’t play again until Saturday which gives him time to get treatment.”