College Basketball Roundup: Alcorn scratches out a win; JSU, Southern Miss and Valley stumble

Published 12:05 am Tuesday, January 28, 2025

LORMAN — It took until the second half for Alcorn State to gain some separation from Bethune-Cookman, and once it did it stayed at arm’s length.

Marcus Tankersley scored 10 of his 17 points in the second half, and Alcorn beat Bethune-Cookman 70-61 in a men’s basketball game on Monday.

Alcorn (4-16, 4-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference) only led by two points at halftime, following a first half in which the biggest lead for either team was five.

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Former Vicksburg High star Davian Williams started the second half with a layup, triggering a 17-4 run for the Braves. Marcus Tankersley’s jumper with 14:22 left made it 49-36.

Bethune-Cookman (7-13, 4-3) whittled its deficit to as few as five points, on a basket by Trey Thomas with 2:20 to go, but never got back within one possession. Alcorn made its last six free throw attempts to close it out.

Daniel Rouzan led Bethune-Cookman with 17 points, and Thomas scored 16.

Michael Pajeaud had 11 points and nine rebounds for Alcorn, while Keionte Cornelius scored 13 points and Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt had 11.

Williams finished with four points, three steals and two assists while drawing his fourth start of the season. He had reached double figures in three of his previous four games, including a season-high 15 points against Florida A&M last Saturday.

Florida A&M 72, Jackson State 62
Jordan Chatman led four Florida A&M players in double figures with 18 points as the Rattlers (7-11, 4-3 SWAC) went on the road and beat Jackson State (5-15, 5-2).

Milton Matthews added 17 points for Florida A&M, Roderick Coffee III had 12, and Kaleb Washington totaled 16 points and nine rebounds. Chatman made three 3-pointers and was 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

Jackson State erased a 14-point deficit to take a 47-42 lead on a 3-pointer by Jayme Mitchell Jr. with 8:49 left in the game. Florida A&M answered with a 15-5 run, however, and then used another big surge to put it away.

Washington’s dunk put Florida A&M ahead 63-61 with 2:21 to go, and ignited a game-ending 9-0 run. Coffee scored six points and assisted on another basket during the run.

Grant led Jackson State with 18 points. Mitchell scored 11, Daeshun Ruffin had 10, and Dorian McMillian had nine points and eight rebounds.

Jackson State goes to Louisiana for its next two games, Saturday at Grambling and Feb. 2 at Southern University.

Southern U. 63, Mississippi Valley State 42
Jordan Johnson scored a game-high 16 points, and Southern University (12-8, 7-0 SWAC) used a balanced effort to beat Mississippi Valley State (2-19, 0-8).

Eleven players scored for Southern. Michael Jacobs, Andre Nunley, PJ Dobuol and AJ Barnes all scored eight points each. Johnson was the only Jaguar in double figures.

For Valley, Jair Horton was the high scorer with eight points. The Delta Devils were 3-for-13 from 3-point ranges and shot 33.3 percent (15-for-45) from the field overall.

Troy 70, Southern Miss 61
Thomas Dowd finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Tayton Conerway scored 17 points as Troy (13-7, 6-3 Sun Belt Conference) defeated Southern Miss (9-12, 4-5).

Southern Miss lost for the third time on a four-game road swing, and is now 1-11 on the road this season.
The Golden Eagles trailed by 13 points at halftime, and by as many as 27 in the second half, as Troy blew the game open with a 21-2 run.

Southern Miss finished the game on a 20-4 run over the last 7:17 to make the final score more respectable.

Denijay Harris led Southern Miss with 21 points and seven rebounds. No other USM player scored more than seven points.

The Golden Eagles are back at home at Reed Green Coliseum Wednesday at 7 p.m., against Arkansas State.