March 7, 2007

Final Stats

Birmingham, Ala. - Alabama State's season ended Wednesday night when they were beaten 62-52 by the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils in the first round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament.

MSVU, the SWAC regular season champions, used the same formula they've employed all season - stingy defense, strong rebounding and timely offense from Stanford Speech - to put away a game Hornet team.

ASU and Valley exchanged 3-pointers throughout and up-and-down first half. Ty Snow did the damage for MSVU, and Andrew Hayles and Dustin Richmond answered for the Hornets.

The first half ended with the score 38-34, a very different brand of basketball these teams played when they last faced each other.

Unfortunately, the offensive uglies re-emerged in the second half as both teams struggled to hit shots. The Hornets shot a paltry 20% in the final stanza.

ASU trailed 45-44 midway through the second half, and had several opportunities to take the lead.

"This is what we've done all season," said head coach Lewis Jackson. "When we had the opportunity to take charge of games we just haven't had the kind of poise we needed. We rush shots, we force shots or we turn the ball over. It's tough to win in the postseason like that."

Valley took advantage of the ASU miscues, as Speech hit a 3-pointer, a runner, and a couple of free throws and suddenly the lead was 55-45. He finished with a game high 18 points.

Despite pressure defense and a couple of baskets, ASU couldn't get any closer.

"We definitely played hard," Jackson said. "We can be proud of that. We didn't quit out there, we kept fighting and we showed great spirit. We will have to carry that same kind of fight into the offseason and use it to get ready for next year."

Hayles led the Hornets with 12 points. Tahrea Jackson had 9 points, and Richard Lott had eight points and eight rebounds for the Hornets.