Sunday, March 12, 2017

Texas Southern Tigers win third SWAC Tournament Title in four years

HOUSTON, Texas – Texas Southern fought off a late Alcorn State charge to win its third Southwestern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament Championship in four years. The top-seeded Tigers prevailed 53-50.

Down 37-31 at the start of the fourth, the Braves opened the period on an 11-4 run, keyed by the Alcorn frontline of Marquis Vance and Reginal Johnson. Johnson buried a three and followed with a layup to tie the contest at 41 with 7:20 remaining in the game.

Denzel Dulin then handed Alcorn State the lead with a lay-up with 5:41 to go. Texas Southern answered with five straight points – sparked by a successful trip to the line by tournament MVP Marvin Jones -- to reclaim the advantage, but Johnson converted at the line to bring the Braves within one, and Kevin Scott scored for TSU to push the Tigers ahead by three.


Johnson subsequently scored, but Demontrae Jefferson buried the go-ahead three with 1:06 left just before the shot clock expired, giving Texas Southern the lead for good. The freshman iced it for TSU at the line, securing the championship.

"This time of year everybody is giving maximum effort out there on the floor," said TSU head coach Mike Davis. "Our team matched their intensity and we were able to get some timely buckets down the stretch to help us win the game."

The defensive-minded game saw both sides shoot less than 40 percent on the day, with Alcorn State connecting on just 33 percent of their shots.

Scott led Texas Southern with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Jones was 6-of-7 from the floor, scoring 14 points, snagging seven rebounds and swatting four shots. Jefferson added 13 points highlighted by a critical three point basket late in the game.

The trio of Jefferson, Scott and Jones scored 42 of Texas Southern's 53 points. The Tigers shot 39.2 percent from the field, while Alcorn State was at just 33.3 percent.

The All-Tournament Team is listed below.

Most Valuable Player:
Marvin Jones – Texas Southern

All-Tournament Team:
Marvin Jones – Texas Southern
Kevin Scott – Texas Southern
Demontrae Jefferson – Texas Southern
Reginal Johnson – Alcorn State
Ivy Smith, Jr. – Grambling State

BOX SCORE

TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

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