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MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama State football team earned its first Southwestern Athletic Conference victory of the season with an impressive 24-17 win over the Eastern Division leading Alcorn State Braves Saturday at Cramton Bowl.

The Hornets (4-3, 1-3 SWAC) snapped a three-game losing skid while extending their win streak over Alcorn (2-4, 2-2) to seven consecutive games.

"This was a great win," said ASU head coach Reggie Barlow. "Our guys have been fighting hard the last few weeks to get one. Our guys came out today and played with tremendous enthusiasm and passion. We are extremely proud of the effort because they could have given up a little bit after losing three in a row. We worked hard all week and it was nice to come out with victory."

Junior quarterback Anthony Speight, who completed 15 of 23 passes for 161 yards in his start of the season, threw a pair of touchdown passes and senior safety Jason Bruce had two interceptions in leading Bama State to the victory.

ASU marched its first possession into scoring range, but Jake King's 34-yard field goal attempt bounce off the right goal post. The Hornets defense held, forcing the Braves into a punting situation. Senior Rechard Johnson flashed in from the left side and blocked the Alcorn punt into the arms of teammate Justin Wright, who caught the ball and carried it 10 yards for a touchdown.

Alcorn responded with a 93-yard, 12-play scoring drive of its own to knot the score at seven. Braves quarterback Tim Buckley, who was 33-of-60 for 355 yards on the day, completed 10 passes in the drive, including the six-yard scoring toss to Edward Johnson.

Bama State fumbled the ball on its next possession, when “Wild Hornet” quarterback John Andrews had the ball snapped over his head. However, the ASU defense again stepped up getting the ball back for the offense after holding on a fourth-down attempt.

Following the defensive stop, ASU drove the ball 71 yards in 12 plays capped by a 17-yard touchdown pass from Speight to Nick Andrews.

Bruce collected the first of his interceptions on Alcorn's next drive setting up the Hornets for a 30-yard field goal by King for a 17-7 advantage. ASU closed out the first half scoring with just under two minutes left when Speight connected with Darius Mathis for an 11-yard score and a 24-7 lead. Nick Andrews had an elusive 32-yard punt return that helped set up the final scoring drive for ASU.

The third quarter featured a time-consuming drive by each squad, but resulted in no points as both teams saw a field goal attempt sail wide right. Alcorn's drive, which lasted nearly seven minutes, consisted of 16 plays while Alabama State went 11 plays and used up five minutes on the clock.

The Braves made things interesting in the fourth quarter after rallying with 10 points. Alcorn closed the deficit to 24-14 when Buckley and Johnson hooked up from seven yards with 6:14 remaining for their second scoring play of the game. After executing a successful onside kick, Alcorn was unable to mount a drive on the Hornets defense and had to turn the ball over on downs.

After a Bama State punt, Buckley hit Johnson for 61 yards and then found Larry Moore for an 18-yard completion to get Alcorn into scoring position. The drive stalled at the ASU 15-yard line, forcing the Braves to settle for a 32-yard field goal from Ryan McMahon to make the score 24-17 with only two minutes left.

Alcorn's next onside kick attempt was fielded by the Hornets. ASU had to punt, but Andrew Lyons' kick was covered at the two-yard line leaving the Braves 98 yards from a possible score. After moving the ball out to the 35, Buckley's final pass attempt was picked off by Bruce at the 12-yard line to seal the Bama State victory.

For the game, Alcorn State outgained Alabama State 380 to 304 in total yardage. ASU continued its strong play against the run on defense allowing just 25 yards on the ground. The Hornets offense remained balanced, finishing with 143 yards rushing and 185 passing.

Next up for Alabama State is the Magic City Classic Saturday in Birmingham at 2:30 p.m. The game pits the Hornets against in-state rival Alabama A&M at Legion Field.

GAME NOTES:
*The Hornets defense, which held Alcorn to just 25 yards rushing, still has not allowed an opposing running back to rush for 100 yards this year.
*ASU quarterback Anthony Speight made his season debut. Speight threw 2 TDs and had no interceptions.
*ASU's Andrew Lyons punted the ball for the first time in his career, averaging 41.5 yards on four punts.
*Jason Bruce's two INTs give ASU 7 picks for this season, which surpasses last year's total of 5.
*Alabama State extended its win streak versus Alcorn State to seven games.