Tigers Start Out Red Hot, Hold Off Alabama State For 3rd Straight Win

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Texas Southern men’s basketball came out on fire to open the contest and made plays when needed at the end to defeat Alabama State 86-76 Saturday afternoon in the Acadome.

TSU wasted no time in setting the tone as they were sizzling from the field within the first eight minutes. Shooting 11-of-14 from the field, TSU stormed out to a 24-7 lead thanks to nine points from Michael Weathers, six from John Walker III and five from John Jones.

The lead would eventually grow to as much as 21 as the Tigers closed out the half ahead 49-28. In the half, TSU was on fire shooting 58.3 percent from the field as Walker III led the way with 12 followed by 10 each from Weathers and Jones. The Tigers outrebounded ASU a whopping 30-9.

The Tigers held their ground to open the second half but ASU would fail to go away easily as they closed to within 14 on three occasions within the first nine minutes. Things would go the way of ASU over the next five minutes as they outscored TSU 17-6 thanks to timely shooting from the three-point line to trail 73-68 with 4:37 left.

Two free throws by Weathers pushed TSU’s lead back to seven followed by a Justin Hopkins’ layup. ASU narrowed the gap to seven twice over the next minute but Weathers came through with a huge dunk and free throw with 1:12 left to give TSU a 10-point lead and seal the win.

Weathers led the way with 23 points and seven rebounds followed by 14 from Walker III and Karl Nicholas. Jones added 13 while Walker III grabbed nine rebounds.

TSU is back in action Monday night at Alabama A&M for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.