SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- Alabama State got back in the win column with a 91-79 win over Texas-Pan American out in Salt Lake City at the Utah Tournament.
"I thought unlike last night we came out tonight with a lot of energy," Head Coach Lewis Jackson said. "Guys were out there giving second and third efforts in what we were trying to do. We wanted to get the ball out and run and press them. In the first half it was going really, really good for us. We played a lot of guys and they were all doing what we ask them to do."
The Hornets (2-2) made a big run at the midway point of the first half. With the score even at 21 ASU went on an 18-5 run to push the lead out to 39-26 lead and went on to lead by as many as 19 in the first half.
"If we could have kept going (without halftime) it would have been good for us," Jackson said. "Like all good teams we knew they were going to come out in the second half and make a run. Our thing was to try and hold off the run and not panic and lose our cool. They ran off five quick points early and I thought our guys stuck with it. We didn't do everything right because we turned it over way too much in the second half, but the guys were able to hold on and get a good team victory."
Five players reached double figures for ASU with Jamel Waters and Wendell Lewis leading the way with 14 each. Bobby Brown and Luther Page added 13 and DeMarcus Robinson added 10.
Waters added a game-high eight assists and three steals. ASU out rebounded UTPA 47-34 with Lewis leading the team with nine. Maurice Strong had eight and Brown added seven.
The Hornets finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field and hit eight of their 17 three point attempts for 47 percent. ASU managed to get to the free throw line 17 times and hit 13 (77%).
During its second half run the Broncs got as close as nine points (85-76) with 1:23 left in the game, but that would be as close as they would get. Janari Joesaar had a solid game for UTPA (3-2) with a double-double. He finished with a game-high 28 points and another game-high 11 rebounds.
Free throws also helped the Broncs get back in the game. They finished the game shooting 36 free throws and hitting 27 of them for 75 percent. They managed to shoot 43 percent from the field and hit six of their 12 three point field goals.
The Hornets had a big advantage in the paint out scoring UTPA 48-21 in the paint. ASU had 18 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds and scored 21 points off 18 UTPA turnovers. The Hornets also had a huge game from its bench outscoring UPA 32-5.
ASU put 55 points on the scoreboard in the first half as they pushed the ball up the court on each possession. Page was the only Hornet in double digits with 11 points, but the Hornets had 10 players score in the opening half.
ASU shot 48 percent from the field and hit seven of its 10 three point field goals (70%). The Hornets also hit the boards out rebounding UTPA 25-22.
Joesaar scored 15 first-half points to keep UTPA in the game. He also led the Broncs with seven first half rebounds. UTPA shot 38 percent from the field but did get to the free throw line attempting 18 free throws and hitting 13 of those.
"Our defense has to be better going into tomorrow," Jackson said. "In saying that we have to help more and we have to be poised on offense. We had the lead there and took some ill-advised shots early in the shot clock when we were up 12 or 13 points and that gave them a chance to get some run outs. It's still early and we are still working on everything."
The Hornets will end their trip to Utah by playing the host Utes tomorrow at 8 p.m. (CT). The game will be carried live on the Pac-12 Network. Check for all the viewing opportunities on Game Day Central tomorrow at bamastatesports.com.
Box Score
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