HOUSTON, Texas – The Alabama State University men's basketball team faced a double-digit deficit in the second half, fighting back with a chance to tie in the final seconds before falling to Texas Southern 70-68 in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) action Saturday night.
 
This was a tough game," Alabama State head coach Lewis Jackson said. "It was a tough loss. I thought we had the right game plan for them, we wanted to attack the paint and our guys were playing a good solid game. When you are in position to win and the game is tied, you have to be able to score.
 
"When you have possession with under a minute to go, you have to score. We called a timeout to set up a play, and the play didn't happen and was thrown outside and ended up being an air ball jump shot. That is just confidence in getting the ball to where it needs to go. Our guys played hard against a tough team. The effort was good, but you just have to close the game out."
 
Rodney Simeon led Alabama State with 17 points, including knocking down five three-pointers on the night, while Tony Armstrong finished with 14. Amir Warnock added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets who ended the night shooting 44.4 (28-of-63) percent from the floor, including 40 (8-of-20) percent from beyond the arc.
 
"We got down because we got away from our offense," Jackson said. "We came down and shot a couple of quick jump shots where no one was under the basket for the opportunity for the offensive rebound, and they were able to get run outs. That put us down 10,"
 
After falling down by 10 midway through the second half, the Hornets fought back to pull within a single point at 53-52 when Steve Rogers drained a three-pointer from the wing with 7:19 to play in the game. Texas Southern was able to push it back to six with back-to-back baskets with 6:19 to play in the contest, before Alabama State used a Rodney Simeon three-pointer with 4:28 to play.
 
Alabama State (5-15, 3-5 SWAC) tied the game on another Simeon three-pointer, and took the lead on an Amir Warnock free throw with 3:07 to play (61-60). The two teams traded baskets until Zach Lofton knocked down a pair of free throws for Texas Southern to give the Tigers a 66-63 lead, and Texas Southern was able to seal the win with free throws down the stretch.
 
"We were able to get back in and tie the game up a couple of times," Jackson said. "Again, we had the ball with under a minute to go, you have to come up with something and we didn't. This is a tough loss for us because the guys played hard, and they stuck to things we were doing. This team is growing, effort-wise, playing with intensity and playing for each other. We are growing, I just hate it for the guys that we let it get away from us."
 
The two teams traded runs in the first half with Alabama State opening the game on a 7-0 run, before Texas Southern answered with 13 consecutive points. Alabama State battled from behind in the first half to take a 22-20 lead with 2:38 remaining in the opening half on an Armstrong basket. The lead was built to five on a Torloft Thomas three-pointer with 34 seconds to play in the half, before Texas Southern was able to cut it on a lay-up in the final seconds.
 
Lofton led Texas Southern with a game-high 25 points, while Kevin Scott added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers who shot just 34.9 (22-of-63) percent from the floor. Texas Southern also shot just 21.4 (3-of-14) percent from beyond the arc, while turning the ball over just eight times.
 
The biggest difference in the game was at the free throw line where Alabama State finished the night at 40 (8-of-10), while Texas Southern attempted 27 free throws on the night and finished shooting 85.2 percent.
 
Alabama State returns to action Monday night against Prairie View A&M on the road, with tip set for 8:05 pm. The game can be seen on ESPNU.
 
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