BATON ROUGE, La. | Alabama State got down early and battled back, hitting clutch free throws down the stretch to win a tough road contest, 60-57, over Southern in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play at the F.G Clark Activity Center Monday night.

Alabama State (11-14, 9-5 SWAC) got down 13-2 to start the game, before coming back to take the lead on 10-0 run. The teams continued to swap the lead throughout the contest until the final minute. The Hornets led 58-55 until a Southern basket cut the lead to 58-57 with under 30 seconds to play. Following an Alabama State turnover, Southern had a chance to take the lead with 19 seconds to play.

Southern missed three shots, including two at the rim, before Alabama State battled for the rebound and Daniels came away with it. He stepped to the line and sealed the game at the line with under five seconds remaining.

AJ Farrar recorded a double-double for the Hornets with a career-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Daniels added 16 in the win (including going 6-for-6 from the free throw line). Kevin Holston added six rebounds and three assists, while Jacoby Ross added four assists and three steals.

Alabama State finished the night shooting 41.7 (20-for-48) percent from the floor and 22.2 (4-for-18) percent from beyond the arc, while also hitting 80 (16-of-20) percent from the free throw line.

Noteworthy
AJ Farrar recorded a double-double in the win against Southern, the second time this season he had a double-double against the Jaguars. He recorded 18 points and 14 rebounds in the first meeting between the two teams.

For the second time this season, Alabama State got down big to Southern to start – this time 13-2 – before battling back to sweep the season series.

Alabama State has swept the season series against Mississippi Valley State, Alabama A&M and Southern this season.

Lewis Jackson recorded win number 198 in his career at Alabama State, leaving him just two shy of 200 at the school.

Alabama State is in sole possession of third place in the conference standings, one game ahead of UAPB and two games ahead Jackson State and Grambling State.

Quotable
"Leon stepped up big when we needed him to step up late in the game. He stepped to the free throw line and knocked down some big shots for us tonight, and made the difference down the stretch." – Lewis Jackson said of Leon Daniels at the free throw line

"We just kept fighting all night long, and found a way to win. This team has a lot of fight in them and it showed tonight. We went small, and that group has been playing hard for us for a while, and that is why we went to them late. They just kept fighting and kept fighting. This was a big road win for us." – Jackson said about going small late in the game

"AJ is a warrior; he just plays hard every time he gets on the court. He goes out there and makes plays when we need him to make plays, he goes in and gets the tough rebound and he went in tonight and played tough defense when we needed him to. He finished with a double-double tonight, and went in at halftime with 16 and nine. He just plays tough for an undersized post player." Jackson on the play of AJ Farrar

"We had some people step up tonight and make some plays. Kevin (Holston) played hard all night and got some shots for our post players. He was able to pass the ball around for a bunch of guys to take some shots. All of our guys played hard tonight, and they just continue to fight." – Jackson said about the team

"We have to get ready to play a tough Texas Southern team. They haven't lost since they beat us in Houston, and we have to get ready for them when they come to our place. We have a lot of prep to do to get ready to play them, but we need to be the team that beats them." – Jackson on the next game

What's Next
Alabama State returns to action Saturday night against Texas Southern at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome. Tip is scheduled for 5 pm and can be seen on the Hornet Sports Network.

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