PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) — The hottest team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference is showing no signs of slowing down.

A.J. Mosby scored 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and DeAndre Davis hit all 10 of his free throw attempts and finished with 20 points as Alcorn State beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70-58 on Monday.
Mosby was 4-of-6 from 3-point range and Reginal Johnson added 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting for Alcorn State (13-11, 10-3 SWAC).

The Braves have won eight in a row for the first time since the 2001-02 season and moved within a half-game of conference-leading Texas Southern. Alcorn is tied with three other teams for the seventh-longest active winning streak in the country. No. 1 Gonzaga, which is undefeated, leads that list with 26 wins in a row.

“We played unselfish basketball tonight. I told the guys after the game that it’s amazing what can happen when we pass the ball around and nobody is concerned about who gets the credit. That’s the type of ball team we are right now. We don’t care who has the hot hand or who is scoring. When we’re sharing the ball, playing good defense and rebounding we are a very good team,” Alcorn coach Montez Robinson said.

Davis converted a 3-point play, Mosby hit a 3-pointer and Johnson made two free throws to give the Braves the lead, 55-49, for good midway through the second half. Kennedy McKinney’s layup pulled UAPB to 57-56 with 6:42 left, but the Golden Lions missed all eight of their field goal attempts from there as Alcorn State closed the game on a 13-2 run. Davis scored six points and Mosby added five during that stretch.

Mosby has scored in double figures in 10 of his last 11 games, and six in a row. The 22 points were a career high for the junior guard.

“(Mosby) was unbelievable. He took what the defense gave him. His teammates where telling him to just shoot if he’s open and he did. He got the ball inside at the right times and he shot at the right times. He played an unbelievable game,” Robinson said.

Jaquan Lynch hit six 3-pointers and finished with 20 points for UAPB (7-20, 6-7). Trent Steen scored 12.

Alcorn State shot 22-of-44 from the field and 19-of-20 from the foul line. The Lions were 24-of-57 (42 percent) shooting and made just 3 of 7 foul shots. UAPB was also 8-for-25 (32 percent) shooting in the second half.

Lynch, who scored 18 first-half points, hit back-to-back 3s to give UAPB an early 16-6 lead.

“I’m pleased with our overall effort. We stayed strong after Pine Bluff jumped out to an early lead. Pine Bluff was making shots but we had to just try and continue to contest all of them. We weathered the storm and managed to tie it up at half,” Robinson said. “I just told the guys at half that we have to sustain our defense and do what we have been doing. We knew that we had to win this game on defense. We only allowed 20 points in the second half and I can’t be more pleased with the effort.”