Jan. 3, 2006

Final Stats

GRAMBLING, La. - The missed shot most might remember from Alabama State's Southwestern Athletic Conference opener at Grambling State is probably the 3-pointer at the horn by LaMarquis Blake that sealed the Hornets' 62-59 defeat.

But head coach Lewis Jackson knows of at least 19 other missed shots that his Hornets can look back on that had more of a bearing on the outcome than Blake's last second jumper. ASU went 19-of-38 from the free throw line against the Tigers, points that would have probably given Bama State an important road victory.

"When you go 19-of-38 and lose by three, that sums it up in a nutshell," Jackson said.

Even with the poor shooting from the charity stripe, ASU (2-10, 0-1 SWAC) was knotted with Grambling at 59 with under a minute remaining. But Brion Rush - the SWAC's leading scorer - dropped a fadeaway jumper with 33 seconds left to give the Tigers a two-point advantage. He scored a game-high 25 points, 14 in the second half.

"At times, we played solid defense. But when it came time to make some stops and execute on defense, we couldn't get it," Jackson said.

On the ensuing possessions, the Hornets looked to tie the game and send it to overtime but freshman Andrew Hayles turned the ball over with 4.8 seconds remaining and a quick foul sent Grambling's Jamar Lewis to the line for two free throws. He would miss one of two, setting up Blake's last second attempt.

"That was not by design. We wanted to get the ball to Akeim (Claborn). Alex (Oliver) drove the middle and ended up kicking the ball out. Andrew found himself out in no-man's land," Jackson said. "That was a big possession and we needed our senior's to step up. It's unfortunate that we came up short with effort we gave throughout the game."

ASU led 29-27 at halftime but the game stayed tight throughout as neither team could put together a run. There were 12 ties, 21 lead changes and neither team led by more than five points.

Claborn led the Hornets with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Dustin Richmond scored 13 and Oliver added 10 for ASU, which travels to Jackson State Wednesday with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.