Mississippi Valley rallies past instate rival JSU

For Jackson State, wins are hard to come by in Itta Bena. That fact was evident Saturday night before a standing-room-only crowd (Attendance: 4,719) at the Harrison HPER Complex as Mississippi Valley State erased a 16-point second half deficit to rally past JSU for a 73-67 victory. "We've been able to fight back all year, but we haven't been smart enough to finish games," Valley head coach Sean Woods said. "We finished tonight. This shows we're getting better."

Valley first year head coach Sean Woods gets big win over Tigers.

Eric Petty helped lead the comeback for Valley (6-23, 6-10 in the SWAC) with 14 of his team-high 18 points coming in the second half. Shannon Behling also played a key role in the Delta Devils' rally, going for 10 of his 15 points after the break. JSU (13-14, 12-3), which hasn't won at Valley since 2006, saw its SWAC-high eight-game win streak snapped by its instate rival. Julius Cheeks came off the bench to score 13 for Valley, and point guard Dewayne Harmason had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.

JSU center Jeremy Caldwell fouled out in the second half but not before scoring a team-high 25 points.Petty's strong play inside helped draw four second-half fouls on Caldwell.

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Southwestern Athletic Conference Update 3/1/09
TEAM CONF. W-L OVERALL W-L
Alabama State 14-1 17-8
Jackson State 12-3 13-14
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 10-6 11-16
Prairie View A&M 9-6 13-15
Southern University 8-8 8-20
Mississippi Valley State 6-10 6-23
Alabama A&M 5-10 7-16
Texas Southern 5-10 5-23
Grambling State 4-11 6-20
Alcorn State 4-12 6-23