Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Recaps

Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Aaric Murray scored 16 points and pulled down five rebounds for Texas Southern as the Tigers defeated the Alabama State Hornets, 73-61, in the semifinals of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament at the Toyota Center.

D’Aris Scarver accounted for 14 points and eight rebounds, although he shot just 3-of-9 behind the 3-point line for second-seeded Texas Southern (18-14) in the win. Madarious Gibbs added 12 points and a game-high seven assists, but at the same time he was charged with nine turnovers.

The third-seeded Hornets (19-12) were paced by Jamel Waters as he produced 21 points, six rebounds and six assists, but shot only 6-of-18 from the floor and suffered five miscues. Luther Page pitched in with 13 points off the bench, hitting a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor, and Terrance LeFlore 12 points, to go along with five steals.

Alabama State held a brief two-point advantage early in the first half, but the squad converted a mere 7-of-24 shots from the floor and missed all five chances behind the 3-point line in the frame, en route to a 30-19 deficit at the break.

After connecting on just 1-of-2 at the free-throw line through the first 20 minutes, the Tigers feasted at the charity stripe in the second half with 18- of-22 accuracy. It also helped that the squad made good on 64.7 percent from the floor in the period as well.

Texas Southern, which held the Hornets to a mere 1-of-8 shooting beyond the arc, managed to overcome 18 turnovers on the day.

Texas Southern will now take on Prairie View in the title game of the tournament on Saturday afternoon with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.

Final Score: Prairie View 55, Alabama A&M 49

Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Tre Hagood tallied 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds and recorded three steals as his Prairie View A&M Panthers outlasted the Alabama A&M Bulldogs, 55-49, in a semifinal matchup of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament at the Toyota Center.

Montrael Scott netted 10 points with six rebounds, and Demondre Chapman chipped in 10 points of his own off the bench with eight boards for Prairie View (11-22), which will advance to the SWAC championship game Saturday and take on the Texas Southern Tigers for a shot at an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

Jeremy Crutcher scored 13 points to lead Alabama A&M (14-16), adding six rebounds to his stat line. Brandon Ellis contributed 11 points with seven rebounds in the loss.

Prairie View shot just 38.2 percent from the floor in the first half, including 1-of-8 from 3-point range, yet still managed to take a 33-22 lead into the intermission. Alabama A&M connected on just 35 percent of its field goal attempts in the frame, and went 1-of-6 from deep.

The two teams shot nearly identical percentages in the second half, and they were both horrendous. The Panthers hit 27.8 percent from the field in the period, while the Bulldogs made 27.3 percent of their attempts, including 0- of-9 from beyond the arc. Alabama A&M was able to shave off five points from the Prairie View first-half lead, but couldn’t complete the comeback to advance to the SWAC championship game.

Prairie View had a 45-34 edge in rebounding in the contest, and got a greater contribution in bench scoring, 20-9. The two teams combined to go 2-of-24 from 3-point distance.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball