FINAL STATS

GARLAND, Tx. –   The Alabama State men's basketball team topped archrival Alabama A&M 81-61 Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Farmers Insurance Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament.  ASU advances to face top-seeded Texas Southern Friday night at 8 p.m.

For the second straight season, the two arch rivals battled in the quarterfinals of the league's tournament.  ASU won that battle a year ago, 56-45.  This year's 20-point win marked the largest margin of victory over AAMU since the 2009 season when ASU won 87-43. 

The fourth-seeded Hornets (15-17) never trailed in the game and were paced early by Tramaine Butler and Kenderek Washington.  Collectively, the duo was responsible for 22 of the teams' first half points, with Butler making two of the squad's four first-half 3-pointers.   Tremayne Moorer, Washington and Ivory White all had five rebounds at the break as ASU led 38-29 at halftime.

In the second half, Butler started to take control. ASU led 43-33 when the Detroit, Michigan native scored 10 straight points. A pair of 3-pointers began and ended the run, sandwiched around a layup and a pair of free throws to give the Hornets its biggest lead of the evening, 53-33. 

ASU had four players to score in double figures.  Butler led all scorers with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting.  Washington scored 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds.  Moorer finished with 13 points along with eight boards, while Chris Duncan chipped 12 points.

Winners of nine of their last 10 games, the Hornets will now face the regular season champion Tigers for the third time this season. TSU won at home 73-59 on Jan. 31, while ASU defended its home court with a 60-48 victory on Feb. 28 in the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.

-Hornets-