Alcorn State hands Southern men their first SWAC loss

Lorman, Miss.  --  The Southern men’s basketball team rolled into the Davey L. Whitney Complex having crushed much of the Southwestern Athletic Conference competition in its way. The Jaguars were perfect in eight conference games, with six straight wins by double digits.

Alcorn State wasn’t fazed. The Braves jumped to an early seven-point lead, then spent most of Saturday night doing just enough to keep Southern at arm’s length. The result was a 61-57 upset that ended any notion of the Jaguars running the table during their 18-game SWAC schedule.

“We pay attention to the standings and the hoopla and all that,” said Alcorn coach Luther Riley, whose team improved to 8-16 overall and 6-3 in the SWAC. “But the game had to be played on the floor.”
Southern (14-7, 8-1) had not only won most of its first eight SWAC games in convincing fashion but also had upset Texas A&M late in nonconference action to start a 10-game winning streak.

The Jaguars entered Saturday as the league leader in a number of statistical categories, including scoring offense, scoring defense and scoring margin.

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