Alabama State Beats Grambling State, Wins SWAC, NCAA Bid

ASU Coach Lewis Jackson and the Hornets are rolling to the Big Dance

GARLAND, Texas - Tremayne Moorer scored 14 points and Tramaine Butler added 13, lifting Alabama State to a 65-48 victory over Grambling on Saturday night to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament.

The Hornets are sure to be a low seed considering they are only 17-17. At least they have momentum going for them — they were 6-16 at the start of February, but head into the tournament on an 11-1 run. This victory avenged their only loss in their recent spurt, a one-pointer on the road in the regular-season finale.

Grambling (12-21) reached the SWAC tournament finals for the first time on a big roll of its own, winning nine of 11. The sixth-seeded Tigers led 28-26 at halftime, then fell apart.

Grambling falls, 65-48

The red-hot Grambling basketball team's fire finally burned out in the second half of the SWAC tournament championship game. The Tigers led Alabama State by two points at halftime, but were badly out-played in the second half and lost 65-48 at the Special Events Center in Garland, Texas.

The second half opened with GSU leading 28-26, and Alabama State quickly tied the game at 30-30 after a jump shot from Shareif Adamu. A Tramaine Butler layup gave the Hornets the lead, and from that point the lead only continued to grow.



ASU Throttles Grambling; Wins SWAC Tournament Championship

Garland, Tx. –Alabama State defeated Grambling State 65-48 at the Special Events Center in the 2011 Farmers Insurance Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament Championship. The victory gave Lewis Jackson his second conference tournament crown in his six years as head coach and the school's fourth.

ASU led 10-4 at the 15 minute mark of the first half. GSU responded with a pair of layups each from Justin Patton and Donald Qualls tying the game at 10 apiece. Qualls scored 35 points the night prior in the semi-finals against Jackson State. He finished with only 12 points on the night to lead Grambling.

Grambling's first lead came off of a Peter Robinson jump hook to make the score 22-20, with just under seven minutes to play before halftime. Four free throws later from Qualls and all of a sudden GSU led 26-20. The biggest deficit the hornets would see all tournament long.

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Prairie View dances back in: Panthers beat Southern to earn third NCAA bid

First-Year PVAMU Head Coach Toyelle Wilson
wins first SWAC Championship and NCAA
Division I Tournament bid.

GARLAND, TX – Once the final buzzer of the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship sounded, Prairie View A&M senior guard Dominique Smith rushed to embrace freshman guard Siarra Soliz and offer some words of encouragement.

“I’m leaving it,” Smith said. “It’s in your hands now.”

If Saturday’s championship against Southern is any indication, Smith and the rest of the seniors can rest assured that the program’s future is in good hands. Soliz scored a game-high 21 points, senior forward Robin Jones hit a go-ahead jumper with 33 seconds remaining, and the second-seeded Panthers closed the game on a 12-0 run to beat top-seeded Southern 48-44 on Saturday at the Special Events Center and capture the program’s third NCAA Tournament bid.

The Panthers (21-11) will appear in the Big Dance for the first time since...

Prairie View wins SWAC tourney, snags NCAA bid

GARLAND, Texas -- The first half of the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship was more than halfway done when Prairie View A&M's cheerleaders came running into the arena. They hustled down a long flight of stairs to reach the floor, then scrambled into position on the baseline.
Just like their team, they showed up late, but made a lot of noise when it mattered most.

Robin Jones made a go-ahead jumper from the foul line with 33.3 seconds left, the pivotal play in a 12-0 closing run that lifted Prairie View to a 48-44 victory and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

The Lady Panthers (21-11) started slowly in both halves, trailing 10-2 shortly before the cheerleaders arrived, then letting a five-point halftime lead get away by giving up the first seven points of the second half. They trailed nearly the rest of the game, and were down 44-36 with 5:13 left, matching their biggest deficit.



Prairie View women rally, drop Southern in SWAC championship game

A memorable season for the Southern women’s basketball team has ended. Saturday night in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game, the top-seeded Jaguars lost a late eight-point lead and failed to score over the final 5:13, allowing Prairie View to pull ahead for a 48-44 victory here in Garland, Texas.

The Lady Panthers (21-11) earned the SWAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Southern (20-11) is coming home. Athletic Director Greg LaFleur said SU will turn down a bid to the WNIT because of concerns over travel costs.

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