March 12, 2008

Final Stats

Updated SWAC tournament brackets in PDF Format

Birmingham, Ala. - Lewis Jackson's Alabama State Hornets carried the number one seed into the SWAC tournament.

That also meant ASU wore a huge target on their back, a perfect scenario for a team like Texas Southern who came into the tournament with no pressure and enough shooters to scare any coach.

Jackson drilled his team with the knowledge that in this tournament it's one loss and you're done. Obviously, the Hornets got the message as they rolled TSU 67-49 in their first round match-up Wednesday night.

"We wanted to make sure we started strong," Jackson said, after picking up the first conference tournament win of his career. "Our guys brought a lot of energy tonight. It wasn't perfect by any means, but we'll definitely take it."

ASU raced out to a 19-7 lead behind hot three-point shooting from Brandon Brooks and Andrew Hayles and inside power from Brandon Gordon and Roland Fitch.

The Hornets continued to pound away around the basket, building to a 36-24 halftime advantage.

In the locker room, Jackson urged his team to continue the same intensity in the second half.

"We played well in spurts, but we relaxed a couple of times and they (TSU) made us pay for it," Hayles said. "But we really wanted this win and we were going to do whatever it took to get it.

ASU's lead bulged to as much as 25 point in the second half. The Hornets took great advantage of their size edge, as they repeatedly dished the ball inside. The results were high percentage shots and a huge rebounding margin.

ASU beat TSU 57-42 on the boards, while outshooting them 42% to 26%.

"I'm proud our guys," Jackson said. "There are some things we have to improve on, but we played very hard and that's what you have to do in these situations."

Fitch and Hayles led ASU with 14 point each. Brandon Gordon added 11.

ASU advances to the conference semifinals where they'll face the winner of the Jackson State-Southern game Friday night at 8 p.m.