Jan. 30, 2006

Final Stats

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Alabama State led the entire way in a 78-70 win over Prairie View A&M Monday night at the Joe L. Reed Acadome, the team's fourth win in five games. But despite opening the game on a 20-4 run and leading by as many as 17 points, head coach Lewis Jackson was not pleased by his team's effort -- especially defensively -- against a team that has yet to win a Southwestern Athletic Conference contest this season.

"We didn't do a good job of playing defense," Jackson said. "We lost focus of our game plan. We gave up easy basket after easy basket."

Senior forward Akeim Claborn scored a game-high 19 points, pulled down nine rebounds and blocked four shots while freshman Andrew Hayles added 18 points, six rebounds and two steals. But the Hornets (6-14, 4-5 SWAC) allowed the Panthers to shoot over 43 percent from the field and allowed them to score 34 points in the paint to keep the game close.

Even after opening the big lead, Bama State could not finish off the Panthers. They cut the lead to single digits in the first half before going to the locker room down 42-32.

Prairie View had the deficit down to six points in the opening minute of the second half but the Hornets, behind buckets by Hayles and Cedric Mitchell and a dunk by Richard Lott Jr., went on a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to give ASU plenty of cushion. The Panthers would only get as close as six points in the last minute of the game.