3 Score In Double Figures As Men’s Basketball Wins 2nd Straight

Texas Southern won its second straight game behind a season-best 56 percent shooting performance as they muscled past Arkansas-Pine Bluff behind a strong second-half in a 79-65 victory Thursday night.

Fresh off an impressive win over Mississippi Valley State Tuesday night, TSU came out on fire as they had a pair of nine-point leads within the first six minutes of the first half. However, the tide of the contest changed in a matter of minutes as UAPB exploded for a 24-6 run over the next 8:16 as they claimed a 29-20 lead with 5:24 remaining after Joshuwan Johnson’s trey. UAPB was red hot from the field as they shot 7-of-9 during that span and 5-of-6 from the three-point line while TSU was its own worst enemy with five turnovers. The Tigers would persevere through the storm though and battled back to close out the half as Michael Weathers led the way with seven points as they outscored UAPB 12-5 to trail 34-32 at the half.

The Tigers kept clawing to open the second half as they tied the contest at 38-all after two Yahuza Rasas’ free throws. UAPB would continue to keep them at bay over the next four minutes though with timely shooting as they pushed its lead to 47-42. Once again, TSU battled back and hit four of its next five shots as four players would score during a 12-4 run which moved the lead back into TSU’s corner for good. Weathers once again was a thorn in UAPB’s side as he led the way with 12 points over the final 9:07 followed by seven from Justin Hopkins. TSU also began to heat up from the three-point line with 4-of-5 shots made. Defensively, the Tigers stepped their game up also and cooled down the Golden Lions as the outside as they went scoreless from beyond the arc.

Weathers led the way with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, five assists, four rebounds and three steals and two blocks. Karl Nicholas had another strong contest with a double-double of 18 points, and 10 rebounds on 8-of-13 shooting. Hopkins added 17 points with five rebounds and two assists.

TSU continues its busy stretch with a contest at Alabama State on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Montgomery, Ala.