PINE BLUFF, Ark.| Alabama State came up short on the road in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play, falling to UAPB at the buzzer 70-68 at H.O. Clemmons Arena on Wednesday night.

The Hornets trailed by five with 1:37 to play following a lay-up before E.J. Clark (Dallas, Texas) knocked down a three-pointer with 50 seconds to play pulling Alabama State to within two at 70-68. Following a timeout called by Alabama State (2-12, 1-1 SWAC), Clark forced a turnover and came away with the steal with 29 seconds to play.

Alabama State held the ball for the final shot and got a good look from Isaiah Range (Cedar Hill, Texas) that bounced off the rim before Kenny Strawbridge (Rockford, Ill.) gathered the offensive rebound and went up for a contested lay-up. That rebound found its way to Jordan O'Neal (Mobile, Ala.) who had the put back roll off the rim as time expired.

O'Neal led Alabama State with a double-double, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Clark finished with 12 points on four three-pointers. Jayme Mitchell (Jackson, Miss.) came off the bench to add 11 points, while DJ Jackson (San Bernardino, Calif.) added 11 points and a pair of assists.

Alabama State finished the night shooting 49.1 (27-of-55) percent from the floor and 36.8 (7-of-19) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 50.0 (7-of-14) percent from the free throw line, while grabbing 33 rebounds and forcing 10 turnovers.

Shawn Williams led four players in double figures for UAPB (3-12, 1-1 SWAC) with 22 points.

UP NEXT
Alabama State returns home for three consecutive games beginning with Jackson State on Saturday, January 8. The game tips at 4:30 pm and can be seen on the Hornet Sports Network. Season tickets are currently on sale by calling (334) 229-4551.

QUOTES from associate head coach Trey Johnson
"It hurts. Hats off to UAPB, they played well, but we hurt ourselves in that one. We missed seven free throws, they had 22 points off turnovers. They did what we wanted them to do. They shot the three from the outside, they didn't make as many as we thought they would make. It was the exact game plan; we didn't execute down the stretch. We had some key turnovers down the stretch that hurt us, and our free throw shooting."

"It set up perfectly. They were going to have to take a shot based on the clock, we wanted to play that possession out and not foul. We were able to get the steal, we came down and what we didn't want was them getting another shot in a two-point game. We wanted to make sure we got the last shot. We had what we wanted with EJ (Clark) having the ball in his hands and getting downhill and have him create. We had two offensive rebounds right there with a chance to tie the game and just didn't convert."

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