BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | Alabama State used a big first half and was able to pull away late in the second half, cruising to a 72-54 victory over Alabama A&M in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) action at Bill Harris Arena Saturday night.

Alabama State (6-10, 4-1 SWAC) used 19 points from Reginald Gee, as the junior connected on 7-of-13 from the floor and was perfect from the free throw line (3-3). He also collected seven rebounds and dished out a pair of assists. Jacoby Ross finished with 11 points, five rebounds, a pair of assists and steals; while Tobi Ewuosho came off the bench with 10 points and five rebounds.

The Hornets finished the night shooting 48.3 (29-of-60) percent from the floor and 19 (4-of-21) percent from beyond the arc, with a pair of those coming from Gee. The Hornets also shot 66.7 (10-of-15) percent from the free throw line, while winning the rebounding battle 38-27 and forcing 20 Alabama A&M turnovers.

Meanwhile, Andre Kennedy led Alabama A&M (2-17, 1-4 SWAC) with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Tre Todd added 13.

The Bulldogs shot 44.0 (22-of-50) percent from the floor and 35.3 (6-of-17) percent from beyond the arc. They also finished the night with just nine free throw attempts, shooting 44.4 (4-of-9) percent from the stripe.

NOTEWORTHY

Alabama State won the tip for the sixth time in seven games, and have gone 4-3 in those games.

Branden Johnson came into the game against Alabama A&M, averaging 12.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game in two games. He was inserted back into the starting lineup, and responded with seven points and four rebounds.

Alabama State finished with three players in double figures for the fourth time this season.

The Hornets are 4-1 in conference play for the first time since 2013, although they did start 7-0 in conference play in 2015.

Alabama State played in Bill Harris Arena for the first time since winning the first conference title under head coach Lewis Jackson.

Alabama State won for the 82nd time in the series with Alabama A&M, including their sixth straight in the series. They have now won seven of the last nine.

With his 19 points, Gee now sits at 961 career points – leaving him just 39 points shy of 1,000 career points in just his third season.

Two big plays that sealed the game for Alabama State were a runner by Kevin Holston with 12:01 remaining to put the Hornets up by 13 (51-38), and then Gee finishing off a three-point play after muscling his way to the basket with 5:55 to play.

QUOTABLE

"The guys played hard tonight, the whole team did what we had to do to come out with the win. We wanted to come out defensively and take some things away from them, and for the most part we were able to do that. Offensively, we were able to get hot and go on a couple of runs and pull away." – Alabama State head coach Lewis Jackson said.

"Branden (Johnson) played well for us down in the post, as did Fox and AJ. We wanted to attack their big man (Andre Kennedy) and were successful in it because we got him to the bench with two fouls early in the first half." – Jackson talking about the play in the post

"We are praying for Gene (Davis), I know they took him to the hospital and that is all I know right now. He went down, and then Jacoby went down on that foul in the first half and forced us to change things up some. Kevin (Holston) grew up tonight, and played really well." – Jackson on guard play with injuries

"We need the time off, having a week off helps this time of year. We have some injuries we need to heal up with Jacoby and Gee with some little injuries. We have to rest up and get ready to play next week. In this conference, you can't take nights off. Anyone can win on any night, and our goal is to win as many games as we can." – Jackson said about having time off

WHAT'S NEXT

Alabama State returns to action Saturday against Alcorn State at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome, with tip set for 5:30 pm January 26. The game will be part of Greek Night for Alabama State.

The game will be carried on the Hornet Sports Network, with pregame beginning at 5:15 pm.

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