"First of all I am glad we won," Head Coach Lewis Jackson said.  "It's good to be standing here with a win instead of a loss, but we didn't play very well tonight.  I thought we stood around and watched them play."
 
After an Isaac Williams three evened the score at 56 with 3:28 left in the game the Hornets outscored the visitors 9-1 to pull away at the end.  The final ASU push was led by Robinson who connected on a three to put ASU up 59-56 and after a defensive stop Robinson hit a short jumper with just under two minutes left in the game to give ASU all they would need for the win.  He added two free throws for the final two points of the game, scoring seven of ASU's final nine points.
 
"They were big shots," Jackson said.  "They hit a three to tie the game and Jamel got in the lane and drew the defense to him and kicked the ball out to Robinson who hit the shot to put us up three.  We stopped them on the next possession and he came back down and hit a two after we took some time off the clock."
 
"Those baskets were big for us and he has been playing well for us here lately.  He's been playing good defense and his shot is starting to come back and it was good to see those shots go down."
 
Chidozie Omile made the first start of his career and scored a career-high 10 points.  Maurice Strong was also big for the Hornets, especially in the second half where he scored 10 of his 12 points.
 
ASU (14-6/10-1 SWAC) was able to use their size advantage winning the rebounding battle 34-31.  Robinson, Strong and Luther Page all had game-highs with seven rebounds.
 
ASU finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field, 32 percent from beyond the three point line and hit eight of their 12 free throws.
 
Waters along with his points had a game-high four assists and two steals.
 
Williams scored a game-high 20 points for MVSU (4-20/3-8 SWAC) and Jeffrey Simmons added 15 as the visitors shot 46 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three point line.
 
The difference in the game was ASU's defense forcing 23 turnovers which led to 22 points.
 
The teams went into the locker room at halftime even at 31 after MVSU was able to withstand a furious start by the Hornets which saw ASU jump out to a 20-8 lead.
 
After that the Delta Devils settled down and got into an offensive rhythm out scoring ASU 23-11 over the final 11 minutes of the opening half.
 
"Initially we came out and played pretty decent and got some shots to fall early and then we started to celebrate like the game was over with 14 minutes left in the first half and we were up 10 or 12 points."
 
"They got the momentum and outscored us like 25 to eight or nine and tied the ball game up.  When you're playing teams and you're not giving them the full credit they deserve these types of things will happen to us.  I think we have to do a better job of preparing for our opponents regardless of what place they're in and we have to play the team and get focused on things we have to do as a team."
 
MVSU shot 48 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes led by Williams 13 points and Simmons 10.  The Delta Devils also forced the Hornets into 13 turnovers.

ASU got 10 points from Chidozie Omile and seven from Waters while only knocking down 43 percent of their field goals.  The Hornets did manage to grab 18 rebounds to 15 for MVSU.
 
"It feels good to get a win even when we didn't play that well and that lets us know we have some things we have to work on," Jackson said.  "Getting a "w" and staying one game up was crucial for us.  We have a goal set we don't want to lose at home and this was the next conference game which means it was the next biggest game on our schedule.  We got the "w" but we have a lot of work to do for Saturday night."
 
ASU will host rival Alabama A&M Saturday, Feb. 14 at 5 p.m.  Fans are encouraged to wear pink or red to the game in support of Breast Cancer Awareness and Heart Awareness Month.