Feb. 25, 2006

Final Stats

HOUSTON, Tex. - As the Alabama State men's basketball team assembled at the end of practice Friday night, former star Kevin Loder told the team that if it didn't play with enough intensity from Saturday's opening jump against Texas Southern, winning would be difficult.

Apparently, the young Hornets missed the message.

The Hornets produced one of their most lackadaisical efforts of the year in the first half. By the time the team showed any life, Texas Southern had opened a double-digit, first half lead en route to a 69-62 win at H&PE Arena Saturday night.

"We've been fighting for the last couple of games to keep these guys focused," head coach Lewis Jackson said. "We're trying to get them to understand that when you're playing against a team fighting for their playoff lives, they're going to give it everything they've got."

The loss ended ASU's seven-game winning streak, ended its slim hopes of a regular season league title and dropped the Hornets (11-15, 9-6) into a tie for third with Jackson State in the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings.

During the game-breaking first half, Bama State made only eight shots from the field, was late on defensive assignments and got outworked on the glass. That all amounted to a 35-22 halftime deficit.

"It was one of the worst halves we've played in a while," Jackson said. "We missed some defensive assignments and were not executing on offense."

The second half produced better results as the Hornets seemed to have gotten their act together. But after the Hornets closed to within four points with 5:34 remaining, TSU was able to quell the ASU comeback attempt.

Andrew Hayles scored a team-high 13 points and Richard Lott had a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) for the Hornets. Sean Walkers scored a game-high 17 points to pace Texas Southern.