HOUSTON (AP) — Omar Strong scored 21 points and Texas Southern held on to top Alabama State 67-59 on Saturday.
Texas Southern (11-16, 10-5 Southwestern Conference), which led 31-19 at the half and 36-21 at the second half’s 18:23 mark, saw Alabama State (10-17, 7-8) cut the lead to 39-35 with 11:28 remaining. The Tigers answered with a 9-2 run to regain control.
Alabama State shot 0 of 18 from 3-pointers in the game.
It took nearly seven minutes for Texas Sourthern to assert itself, but when it did, there was little doubt as to who the front-runner was. Following a 5-all tie with 13:41 remaining in the first half, Texas Southern scored 10 unanswered points.
Fred Sturdivant scored 14 points for the Tigers, who turned the ball over 27 times yet still managed to win comfortably.
Tramaine Butler led Alabama State with 18 points.
