MONTGOMERY, Ala.—After winning two of three on this past home stand, the Alabama State University men's basketball team hits the road for two important games, starting off at league-leading Southern University Saturday, Feb. 16 at 5 p.m. and at Alcorn State Monday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
 
All of the action can be heard live on WVAS Radio FM 90.7.  The link can be found on Game Day Central at www.bamastatesports.com.
 
Southern (17-8/11-2 SWAC) started the year off as though no conference team could beat them as they won their first eight conference games of the season.  Since that start they have lost two of their past five games which has dropped them into a first place tie with Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
 
As for the conference tournament that starts March 12, the Jaguars are the top team as Arkansas-Pine Bluff along with Texas Southern and Mississippi Valley are ineligible for competition in the tournament.
 
That means ASU (8-17/6-6 SWAC) has an opportunity to gain a second or third seed for the tournament if they can win at least four of their final six games.
 
“At all of our team meetings or film sessions we have a chance to discuss things that can happen and we still have an opportunity to control a lot of things.” Head Coach Lewis Jackson said.  “What we are trying to do is prepare for that one game at a time, try to go out and compete and try to get wins so as the tournament nears you want to try and get the best seed that is possible and the way that looks now we can go up as high as the number two seed.”
 
Defeating Southern will be no easy task as the team is ranked first in 11 of the 21 team statistical categories kept by the conference office.  They are ranked second in five others.
 
Derick Beltran leads a balanced and top-ranked Jag offensive attack that has four players ranked among the top 24 in conference scorers.  He averages 16.7 (3^rd in SWAC) points per game and had 20 the first time the two teams met this season.
 
Malcolm Miller has been coming off the bench for Southern, but still averages 16 (4^th) points per game.  Javan Mitchell averages 9.5 (22^nd) and Jameel Grace 8.5 (24^th).
 
“They are very good offensively,” Jackson said.  “They share the ball, they get out in transition and they are just well oiled right now.  You have to make sure you are communicating defensively to have a chance to beat them because they can get on a roll and really make it difficult for you.  They are very good at getting to their second and third options in their sets and that makes a really good ball team when you can get to those second and third options.”
 
ASU's offense has been infused by the play of senior forward Phillip Crawford.  He is averaging 23.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game over the past four games and has recorded double-doubles in three of those contests.  He was the SWAC Player of the Week two weeks ago, and last week he was named the SWAC Co-Player of the Week.
 
Crawford is now averaging 12 points per game which has him ranked 15^th in the conference and has moved up to 12^th in rebounding at 5.3 per game.  He is shooting .585 from the field which is second best among all conference players.
 
“With Phil, we have been trying to keep him on the floor, he had issues early on with foul trouble and a lot of that came with not being in tip-top shape,” Jackson said.  “He has really started to come into his own and giving us what we need inside with his scoring and rebounding and playing defense.  He is playing at the top of his game right now.”
 
“We have to continue to find ways for him to score because of his frame bigger guys can wear him down by leaning on him.  So what we are trying to do is be creative so we can get him in a position to score without a lot of contact and he has been playing well.”
 
Joshua Freelove continues to be ASU's leading scorer at 13.2 points per game which has him ranked ninth in the conference.  Shawntez Patterson continues to be a consistent player for the Hornets and is 26^th in the SWAC averaging 7.5 points per game and is 18^th in rebounding averaging 4.7 per game.
 
Southern defeated ASU 79-67 in Montgomery back on Jan. 19.  ASU out rebounded (39-36) the Jags, shot better at the free throw line (71%-61%) and had fewer turnovers (11-13), but Southern shot 52 percent from the field compared to ASU's 37 percent, and that turned out to be the difference in the game.
 
“It is going to be a tall order (to win) they have a good ball club,” Jackson said.  “They do a lot of things well and what we have to do is not turn the ball over and our shot selection has to be on point, be a good selection, make the extra pass and then we have to make it tough for them to score.”
 
“They play great together and when you're playing against teams like that and they have a strong inside and outside game it's difficult to beat them.  It is a tall order but it is certainly something that can be done.”