JACKSON, Miss. | Despite falling in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) action Thursday night, Alabama State still finds itself in a battle for a home game in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.
The Hornets return to action Saturday evening at the Lee E. Williams AAC, facing Jackson State at 5 pm. The game can be heard on the Hornet Sports Network, beginning at 4:45 pm.
Alabama State (11-16, 9-8 SWAC) is in a four-way for third place, and can finish no higher than third in the conference standings and no lower than sixth. In order for the Hornets to host a quarterfinal contest, they must defeat Jackson State and get a Mississippi Valley State win over UAPB Saturday night. With those two scenarios, coupled with a Grambling State loss to Alabama A&M, the Hornets could finish as high as third in the standings.
The two teams last met back in January in the second conference game of the season for both, with Alabama State coming away with a 59-57 victory. In that contest,
Jacoby Ross was the only player in double figures for the Hornets with 13 points; while
Reginald Gee grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Jontrell Walker led Jackson State with 11 points in the first contest, while Jayveous McKinnis grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
On the season, Gee leads the Hornets in scoring at 13.8 points per game, and is shooting 40.5 (47-of-116) percent from beyond the arc; while Ross is at 13.2 points per game and leads the conference in free throw shooting at 83.5 (66-of-79) percent.
Leon Daniels has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games, and is averaging 8.6 points per game for the Hornets.
Meanwhile, Jackson State (12-18, 9-8 SWAC) owns the tiebreaker over Grambling State and UAPB heading into regular season finale, and can finish third with a win over Alabama State. With a loss, the Tigers could drop as low as sixth heading into the conference tournament.
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