DeMarcus Robinson led ASU with 14 points while Jamel Waters and Brandon Graham added 12 points each.  ASU finished the game shooting 51 percent from the field and that includes hitting eight of their 18 three point field goals.  It was the second consecutive game ASU shot over 50 percent from the field.
 
The Hornets defense was the story in today's game limiting the host to 42 points and 30 percent shooting from the field.  The defense was especially strong in the second half of the game as JSU (11-20/9-9 SWAC) only shot 23 percent from the field and scored 20 points.
 
"At halftime we had a stern conversation with the player about the effort and actually our defense was pretty decent we just had some bad offense," Head Coach Lewis Jackson said.  "They scored 22 points in the first half and we thought that was pretty decent, but we had 14 turnovers.  We came out in the second half and moved the ball around and got some decent shots and they fell."
 
ASU out rebounded JSU 41-27 and Maurice Strong continued to show why he is one of the top rebounders in the SWAC with a game-high 11 rebounds.  Bobby Brown added nine rebounds and Wendell Lewis had six.
 
Waters had a game-high eight assists to go along with his double digit scoring, all of which came in the second half.  He also added another two steals.
 
"We tell Jamel we want him to be the floor leader, the floor general," Jackson said.  "We want him to run the offense, make the right decisions with the basketball and we have to make them play defense and I thought he did an outstanding job with that.  He played with poise, played under control and his shots came in the second half when he was able to get into the lane and make some things happen."
 
JSU only had one player reach double digits with Janirius Middleton scoring 12 points and he also had a team-high seven rebounds.  No other Tiger had more than seven points.
 
ASU came out in the second half and outscored JSU 13-4 over the opening five minutes to turn a two-point halftime lead into an 11-point lead and went on to lead by as many as 26 points before settling in for the 20-point win.
 
ASU finished the regular season with an 18-9 overall record and 14-4 in SWAC action.  The Hornets also finished the season winning eight of their nine SWAC road games, the most in recent memory.
 
Luther Page scored at the horn on an assist from Waters to give ASU a 24-22 lead.  It was not a shooting problem for ASU as they shot 50 percent from the field, and ASU out rebounded JSU 16-13.  The main problem was the 14 first-half turnovers the Hornets had.  Those turnovers led to nine points for the Tigers.
 
ASU hit four of their seven three point attempts as Graham had two and led the Hornets in scoring with six points.  Brown had five.
 
JSU shot 39 percent from the field with Janarius Middleton leading the way with six.  Treshawn Bolden, Raeford Worsham and Kaven Bernard had four points each.
 
"It was good to see our guys see something go through the basket," Jackson said.  "We are going to need all of these guys to play come next week and I thought it was a great win to get ready to go into the tournament."
 
ASU will now prepare for the SWAC Tournament which will see them enter tournament play as the tourney's second seed.  They open play Wednesday March 11 at 2:30 p.m.  The SWAC will release the total bracket tomorrow and the Hornets will find out their opponent.