BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Alcorn State had just shocked the Southwestern Athletic Conference basketball world, so forgive coach Sam West if he thought he needed to offer an apology.
The eighth-seeded Braves upset top-seeded Mississippi Valley State 67-66 in the first round of the SWAC Tournament here Thursday night at Fair Park Arena.
The loss snapped a nine-game win streak for Valley, which manhandled Alcorn in the two previous meetings this year en route to winning the regular-season title by five games and setting a school record for regular-season wins.
"This is a great win … I feel strange, because if anybody deserved to represent our conference in th NCAA Tournament, it was Valley," West said. "The reason I say that is because they started the season strong and finished it strong. What Valley did with such a great record was phenomenal.
"But on the other side of the coin, we live to dance another night. I am really excited for our kids."
Alcorn (11-17) advances to tonight's semifinal round to face No. 5 seed Alabama A&M, while Valley finishes the season at 22-7, unless the Delta Devils - who have a higher RPI (125) than UCLA and Georgtown - receive a surprising NIT invitation.
The Braves led 60-50 with 1 minute, 17 seconds left after a pair of free throws by Dion Callans. Valley point guard Hosea Butler hit two 3-pointers in the final eight seconds, including one at the buzzer, to make it a one-point win for Alcorn.
"We met a team that came to play, and we didn't come to play," said stunned Valley coach Lafayette Stribling. "I knew it was anybody's tournament, because what you've done in the past isn't going to get it done come tournament time."
The Braves shot 58 percent from the field, compared to 36 percent for Valley. Alcorn was effective from 3-point range against the Delta Devils' zone defense, knocking down 7 of 13 (54 percent), and had no problems taking the ball to the hoop, setting up a lot of close-range shots.
"Defensively, we didn't follow instructions. We spread our zone out too much, and they penetrated it," Stribling said.
During its regular-season domination of the SWAC, Valley prided itself on hitting the boards, but the Delta Devils were outrebounded 39-25 by the Braves.
Those numbers sickened Stribling.
"Anytime you don't get but six rebounds in the first half, you're asking for trouble. It was a miracle we were even in the game," he said. "You've got to win the battle on the boards."
Valley's top three scorers - Attarrius Norwood, Solomon Forbes and Edward Mack - were a combined 11 of 38 from the field. Mack, who was questionable due to a sprained ankle, finished with 12 points, while Norwood and Forbes had 11 and nine, respectively.
Butler and center Willie Neal had 12 points each for Valley.
Guard DeAndre Jones led the Braves with a game-high 14 points - doubling his season average. He also dished out a game-high six assists.
Howard Myles and Brian Jackson added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
"Everybody doubted us tonight because we were the eighth seed," said Jones, a sophomore guard. "But we came into this game with a lot of confidence, lots more than we had the first two times we played them. We were shaky in those games. Tonight we weren't."
Alcorn sent Valley a message early that it wouldn't back down, as Jones hit two straight 3-pointers to put the Braves up 6-2.
Alcorn used a 12-4 run to take a five-point lead, its biggest of the first half. Howard capped the scoring burst with a putback at the 7:32 mark,Valley chipped away at that lead late in the first half, scoring the final four points to cut Alcorn's lead to 31-30 at the intermission.
#n Jackson St. 71, Texas Southern 62 - K.C. Cavette scored 20 points and sixth-seeded Jackson State rallied for a 71-62 win over No. 3 Texas Southern Thursday in the opening round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament.
Jackson State (12-16) trailed 32-27 at halftime, but made 5-of-9 3-pointers and shot 48 percent in the second half. The Tigers advance to face Alabama State in the semifinals.
Cavette, who came off the bench, also had seven rebounds and four steals to lead five scorers in double figures. Antonio Parker-Williams had 17 points while three players - Kelly Ross, Ernest Hassell and Dakari Wallace - had 10 apiece.
Allan Lovett led Texas Southern (14-15) with 17 points and Lionel Willis added 11. The other three starters combined for just three field goals and 10 points.
Jackson State had lost six of its last seven games while Texas Southern ends on a three-game skid.
