MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama State completed the series sweep of Alabama A&M and kept pace with the rest of the leaders in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), with a hard-fought 68-62 victory over the Bulldogs at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome Saturday night.

Alabama State (10-13, 8-4 SWAC) finds itself in sole possession of third place in the conference race with six games remaining in conference play – one game back of Texas Southern for second, and one ahead of Grambling State and UAPB in fourth – with the win. The Hornets won for the eighth time at home this season, including six of seven at home in conference play.

Reginald Gee led the Hornets with 17 points and seven rebounds, connecting on four of his five three-point opportunities. Meanwhile, Tobi Ewuosho and Leon Daniels each finished with 15 off the bench for the Hornets, with Ewuosho coming up with four steals for the Hornets who finished the night shooting 39.2 (20-of-51) percent from the field and 55 (11-of-20) percent from beyond the arc.

Alabama State also shot 70.8 (17-of-24) percent from the free throw line and won the rebounding battle, 37-34.

The Hornets found themselves tied with Alabama A&M at 58-all with 4:01 to play, but outscored the Bulldogs 10-4 over the final four minutes to secure the win. Ewuosho broke the tie with a fast break opportunity with 3:01 to play, giving the Hornets a 60-58 lead, before Daniels drained a three from the right side for a 63-58 lead with just 2:33 to play.

After Alabama A&M pulled to within three at 63-60, Jacoby Ross struck for his first basket of the game with just 1:20 remaining in the contest on a short jumper to give the Hornets a 65-60 lead. He put the game out of reach with just 37 seconds remaining when he drained a long three-pointer for a 68-60 lead.

Jalen Reeder paced three Alabama A&M (5-21, 4-8 SWAC) players in double figures with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

Noteworthy
Alabama State finished off the second season series sweep in conference action with the win Saturday night, having already swept Mississippi Valley State.

The Hornets finished with three players in double figures, all over 15 points on the night – the first time this season they have three players with 15-plus points in a game.

Kevin Holston and Ross combined for seven assists on the night; four coming from Holston and three from Ross. Gee not only lead the team in scoring, but he also led the team with seven rebounds that all came on the defensive end of the court.

The Hornets outscored Alabama A&M 33-7 in bench points on the night, and shot a higher percentage (55.0) from beyond the arc than they did from the field (39.2).

Quotable
"A great win for us, a really hard fought basketball game from start to finish. We knew A&M was going to come in with their best game and we always get that whenever we play, and I think they had a lot of incentive coming in. They can't go to the tournament, so we told our guys they would be playing like a tournament game and they would come looking for a win at our place." – Alabama State head coach Lewis Jackson on the game Saturday night

"We just wanted to come out and play with a lot of intensity. They came out and shot really well, they rebounded really well, and moved the ball. They took some things away from us by making adjustments from the first time we played, it was a tough game. But our guys hung in there and were resilient, they continued to fight. We got down late by four or five points late, but we just stayed the course and were able to get some big shots. We were able to big plays from Leon and Tobi, Gee and Jacoby – who struggled all night – hit some big shots for us there at the end." – Jackson on the intensity

"He is more than capable of taking those shots and making them. I subbed him out at one point during the game because I thought he was pressing really hard trying to score, instead of doing the other things that would help the team win. Even after he settled down a little bit, he still kind of struggled a little bit and as an offensive player those things happen. But he was able to hit some big shots there at the end, and that was really big for us." – Jackson on Jacoby Ross

"I think we really didn't do a good job of getting the ball to Gee when he was really going. We have to do a better job of riding guys who are hot, we have to ride them as long as we can until they cool off. Overall, the guys played well and stuck with each other. We just have to continue to work and get better." – Jackson on getting the ball to Gee

What's Next
Alabama State hits the road for a pair of key conference games next week, with just six games remaining in conference action. The Hornets travel to face Alcorn State and Southern, with both games being carried on the Hornet Sports Network beginning next Saturday.

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