JACKSON, Miss. – The Alabama State University men's basketball team is headed to Houston, Texas.
 
The Hornets concluded the regular season on Saturday night with a 65-59 loss to Jackson State in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game at the Lee Williams Athletic Complex.
 
With the Alabama State loss and a Mississippi Valley State victory, the Hornets (8-22 overall, 6-12 SWAC) wrapped up the eighth and final seed for next week's 2017 SWAC Basketball Tournament. ASU will visit top seed and regular season conference champion Texas Southern at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Houston, Texas.
 
On Saturday night, the Hornets shot 43.5 percent (20-of-46) from the floor and 70.0 percent (14-of-20) from the free-throw line.
 
Rodney Simeon paced three Alabama State players in double figures with 15 points and seven rebounds. Corvon Butler added 11 points and five boards, while Torloft Thomas finished with 11 points and a team-high four assists.
 
After a back-and-forth opening 13 minutes, Jackson State (14-17, 10-8) put some distance between them and Alabama State with an 11-5 run, capped by Yettra Specks 3-pointer with a little more than three minutes remaining in the first half to give the Tigers a 29-20 advantage.
 
Back came the Hornets as Alabama State outscored Jackson State during the final three minutes, 7-3, and trailed 32-27 at the break.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Simeon to open the second half tied the game at 33 with 17:42 left. But the Tigers used an 8-3 run, capped by a Derek Roscoe dunk to grab a 44-36 lead with 11:46 remaining.
 
Alabama State answered and used an 11-3 run, capped by a pair of free throws by Butler to tie the game at 47 with a 8:45 left in the contest. Back came the Tigers with buckets by Maurice Rivers and Collins gave Jackson State a 53-47 advantage with 4:38 remaining.
 
The Hornets continued to rally as a layup by Simon with 2:45 cut the Tigers advantage to 55-54. But two free throws by Collins, along with two free throws and a 3-pointer by Specks gave Jackson State a 62-55 lead with 54.6 seconds.
 
Alabama State couldn't recover during the final minute as Jackson State sealed the game at the charity stripe.
 
Specks led Jackson State with a game-high 21 points, including going 8-of-9 from the foul line. Rivers registered 13 points, five rebounds and one steal as the Tigers finished the night shooting 19-of-56 (33.9 percent) from the field and 20-of-30 (66.7 percent) from the foul line.
 
Texas Southern swept the season series from Alabama State this season. TSU took the opening contest, 70-68, on Jan. 28 and completed the sweep at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on Feb. 25, 86-73.
 
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