Texas Southern beats Alabama State 58-49 in SWAC showdown

Feb 28, 2015, 10:09 pm

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Madarious Gibbs had 16 points, Malcom Riley added 14 and Texas Southern swept the season series with Alabama State 58-49 on Saturday in a showdown of the top two teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Gibbs scored on back-to-back possessions to give Texas Southern a 52-43 lead with 6:08 left. The Tigers (16-12, 13-2 SWAC) stretched out their possessions from there to win their fifth straight.

Deverell Biggs added 10 points for the Tigers.

Alabama State (16-8, 12-3) dropped a game behind TSU in the standings. Both teams have three games remaining in the conference season.

Wendell Lewis had 17 of his 25 points in the first half as the Hornets led 33-31 at the break. Jamel Waters added 10 points, but the Hornets shot just 20.8 percent (5 of 24) in the second half.

Texas Southern pulled away with seven straight points to lead 47-39 with 11:27 left.