PINE BLUFF, Ark.—Alabama State University (8-15/5-6 SWAC) dropped a heart-breaking 62-61 conference game to Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-19/4-7 SWAC) after battling back from a 19-point first half deficit.
Like ASU's game at Alcorn State, the Hornets missed two final shots in the last few seconds as
Ryan Watts and
Philip Crawford's last second shots could not find the mark and the Golden Lions escaped with the win.
The Hornets trailed by 14 at the half, but came out in the second half with more life as Crawford scored nine straight points and Watts added three three pointers as ASU cut into the lead.
Jeff Middlebrooks hit a three with eight minutes left cut UAPB's lead to 48-47, but UAPB went on a run of their own to push the lead back out to eight (57-49) with 5:22 left.
ASU would not go away and again started to chip away at the lead getting it down to 62-61 after two free throws from
Ivory White with 22 seconds left.
After an ASU timeout, the Hornets were able to force a jump ball with 13 seconds left and the arrow possession pointing the Hornets' way. After another timeout, Watts was able to get past his defender and laid the ball up off the glass, but it rolled off, Crawford got the offensive rebound but his shot came up short as the horn sounded.
The SWAC's leading scorer Savalace Townsend led the way for UAPB with a game-high 18 points and Lazabian Jackson added 14.
Crawford, who was in foul trouble most of the night, led the Hornets with 17 points in only 25 minutes of action. Middlebrooks added 14 points and a game-high five assists without a turnover.
“We wanted to attack with Phil and we got him going down the stretch and we got to the free throw line and he made some,” head coach
Lewis Jackson said.
Ivory White picked up three-first half fouls and only wound up playing 27 minutes. He finished the game with 13 points.
The Hornets shot 57 percent from the field in the second half, but a problem that crept up again tonight was free throw shooting. The Hornets only connected on 12 of their 25 free throw attempts.
ASU's defense allowed them to get back into the game, holding UAPB to only 29 percent shooting on 9-31 shooting in the second half.
“We are trying to get guys to buy into what we are trying to do and to do what is working for us,” Jackson said. "We needed to get the ball on the inside because we had their bigs in foul trouble and once we figured out what we could do, that made it better.”
“We fought hard to get back into it and then lost. We are not doing what we need to do to win. We did not get it done, but if the guys take the effort and build on it and not go backwards, we can be a pretty good ball team.”
The Lions went into the half with a 36-22 lead led by Townsend's 12 points and Jackson's eight. UAPB shot 46 percent in the first half while holding ASU to 27 percent. UAPB could have led by more as they shot 12 free throws, but only hit six of them.
White led ASU with nine points, but only played 12 minutes due to picking up three first half fouls. The Hornets, even though they struggled, could have been much closer but only hit one of five free throws and turned the ball over nine times.
ASU will be back on the road Saturday, Feb. 11 when they play at Alabama A&M in Normal. Opening tip has been set for 5 p.m.
