MONTGOMERY—After the first weekend of the Southwestern Athletic Conference men's basketball season there are only three undefeated teams left and two of those will be playing tomorrow when Alabama State (5-9/2-0) will host Mississippi Valley State University (2-11/1-0) Saturday, Jan. 7 at 5 p.m. in the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
 
ASU is coming off a road trip to open conference play which saw them defeat Grambling State (73-62) and Jackson State (81-78) in triple overtime.
 
The Delta Devils did not play on Thursday evening, but did open conference play with an 82-67 win over the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
 
“They are a very good ball club and are well coached by coach Woods,” head coach Lewis Jackson said.  “They have good athletes that can get up and down the floor, they will shoot it quick and they can play off the dribble and it is just another tough battle.”
 
“We are going to have our hands full with trying to keep them off the glass and trying to deal with their bigs around the basket.  We are going to have to come out and play a very good ball game to have an opportunity to win down the stretch.”
 
The Hornets are in the midst of four-games in seven days, and Saturday's game is not only the first conference home game of the season for ASU, but is the first of a season-long three consecutive home games.
 
“Thursday night's triple overtime game really took a lot out of us,” Jackson stated.  “We had guys that played 50-plus minutes and a couple played in the 40's so there's a chance they could get tired, but I think once the game starts, hopefully the mental toughness will come into play and they can play through some of the mental fatigue that may come since this is the third game this week.”
 
The insertion of Philip Crawford into the starting lineup has had an effect on the Hornets offense as ASU has averaged 73.1 points per game during his three starts, compared to only 54.6 points per game before he was penciled in as a starter.  Crawford is averaging 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
 
The balanced scoring attack is led by Kenderek Washington's 14.3 points per game average.  He is among the league leaders in scoring (4^th), rebounding (15^th), field goal percentage (6^th), free throw percentage (13^th), steals (7^th), 3-point field goal percentage (4^th) and 3-point field goals made (2^nd).
 
Tramaine Butler inches closer to the 1,000 career point total, needing only 120 more points to reach the milestone.  He is averaging 11.9 points per game.
 
Ivory White is closing in on averaging double-digits in scoring.  He is averaging 9.5 points per game and a 5.1 rebounds per outing.
 
Paul Crosby leads MVSU in scoring at 13.5 points per game and Terrence Joyner averages 12.8 points.  Cor-J Cox leads the team in rebounding at 6.4 rebounds per game.
 
Tomorrow's game is Educator's Night for the double-header with all Montgomery County teachers and administrators, with a valid ID, gaining general admission to the games for half-price ($5).  The game will also be streamed live at www.bamastatesports.com for $5.95.