MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Jacoby Ross paced three Alabama State players in double figures, but it wasn't enough to overcome a big second half by Winthrop as the Eagles claimed an 88-80 victory at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome Saturday afternoon.
 
Ross scored a career-high 30 points, including the final 17 points of the game for the Hornets. The freshman finished the day shooting 71.4 (10-of-14) percent from the floor, including 62.5 (5-of-8) percent from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Reginald Gee finished with 17 and Tobi Ewuosho 12 for Alabama State (0-10).
 
Anders Broman led Winthrop (6-4), the fifth NCAA Tournament team from a season ago that the Hornets have faced, with 19 points on seven three-pointers (all in the second half). He led four other players in double figures as Bjorn Broman added 18 as the duo combined for 37 on the day.
 
The Hornets scored the first five points of the contest and never trailed in the first half, pushing the lead to 10 (29-19) on a jumper from Jacoby Ross with 5:59 to play in the opening stanza. The biggest run of the first half came over a four minute stretch beginning at 8:14 on a pair Reginald Gee free throws to push the lead to 20-16 that ignited an 11-3 run for the Hornets, ending with a Ross jumper with 5:59 to play in the half.
 
After the lead was pushed to 32-21 on a short jumper from Rodney Simeon with 3:18 to play in the half, Winthrop went on an 8-0 run that ended with a Jermaine Ukaegbu dunk with 1:56 to play in the half. However, Alabama State was able to push the lead back to four (35-31) at intermission with baskets from Tobi Ewuosho and Terrance LeFlore in the final seconds.
 
Winthrop went on a 22-6 run to start the second half to take their first lead of the contest with 17:35 remaining in the contest on a three-pointer from Anders Broman. The Hornets had held the lead for the entire contest until the three-pointer from Broman. Alabama State trimmed the deficit to 53-46 on a three-pointer from Ross and a dunk from Gee, until Broman hit his third three-pointer of the second half with 13:48 to play in the contest to push the lead back to 10 (56-46). The Hornets were able to get to within single digits late in the second half behind Ross, however, the lead proved too much for the Hornets to come back from.
 
Alabama State returns to action in the New Orleans Shootout Thursday afternoon against Louisiana Tech, with tip set for 2:30 pm at Xavier (La.) University.
 
Follow the Hornets
For complete coverage of Alabama State University men's basketball, please follow the Hornets on social media @BamaStateMBB (Twitter), /BamaStateSports (Facebook) and @BamaStateSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Alabama State athletics at BamaStateSports.com.