BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | Alabama State's season came to an end in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) semifinals late Friday night with an 80-66 loss to Texas Southern at Bill Harris Arena.

Alabama State (12-19) jumped out early, but could not overcome a nine-minute scoring drought to end the first half and begin the second half in which Texas Southern built a 16-point advantage. The Hornets got down as many as 19 midway through the second half, but fought their way back into the contest and trailed by nine with just over two minutes to play.

"We played against a very good Texas Southern team," Alabama State head coach Lewis Jackson said. "We just hit a point in the game where we couldn't get anything going, and we started missing free throws. You can't do that against a good ball club."

Alabama State finished the night shooting 38.1 (24-of-63) percent from the floor and 25.0 (6-of-24) percent from beyond the arc. Hey also shot just 48.0 (12-of-25) percent from the free throw line, while Texas Southern (21-12) finished the night shooting 52.6 (30-of-57) percent from the floor and 25.0 (3-of-12) percent from beyond the arc.

They also shot 65.4 (17-of-26) percent from the free throw line.

Leon Daniels finished the night with his first career double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds, while AJ Farrar finished with 14 points off the bench. Fausto Pichardo and Tobi Ewuosho each finished with 11 points in the loss.

Jeremy Combs led Texas Southern with a double-double as he finished with 28 points and 18 rebounds, while Trayvon Reed finished with 15 points in the win. Jayln Patterson and Tyrik Armstrong each finished with 11 points for Texas Southern who will play Prairie View A&M in the championship game Saturday night.

The loss brings to end the careers of Ed Jones, Pichardo and Gene Davis who helped Alabama State get to as high as third in the conference standings near the end of the season and reach the conference semifinals

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