Texas Southern’s on fire shooting in the second half to claim victory over Alabama State 90-76 and advance to the semifinals of the SWAC Men’s Basketball Tournamemt. The Tigers shot 65% from the floor in the deciding half and that proved to be too much for the Hornets.
Texas Southern had four players in double figures, led by Donte Clark, who scored a game-high 30 points. Trae Jefferson had 24 ; Marquis Salmon put in 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Derrick Bruce chipped in with 12.
Texas Southern lead for the entire first half, amassing as much as a ten-point advantage at one point. Alabama State would close the gap to one at 38-37 headed into the half.
It was all Tigers in the second half , save a stretch from 18:04 to 16:26 remaining in the game where the Hornets were out in front. From that point on it was all Texas Southern as they outscored Alabama State 52-39 in the second stanza and would lead by as much as 19.
It was a rough go shooting the basketball for Alabama State as they would only shoot 40.5% (30-74) from the field, and a frigid 31.8% (7-22) from the foul line.
Texas Southern now moves on to face Prairie View A&M in the semifinals March 9. Tipoff time is 8:30 at Delmar Fieldhouse.
