HOUSTON -- Ladarius Tabb scored 17, Nicholas West added 14 points and No. 8 seed Alabama A&M beat ninth-seeded Arkansas-Pine Bluff 61-53 on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament.

Tabb, the two-time SWAC scoring champion averaging 19.1 points coming in, was 7-of-17 shooting with three 3-pointers.

Tabb hit a 3-pointer with 5:15 to go to tie it at 52-all. Jacob Perry made 1 of 2 free throws on Alabama A&M's next possession and the Bulldogs led the rest of the way. Perry added two more free throws, Tabb had a dunk and Rakiya Battle made 4 of 4 free throws in the final minute.

West had nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks and Tabb grabbed seven boards for Alabama A&M (11-17), which advances to play top-seeded Texas Southern (17-13) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs also swept the regular-season series with UAPB.

JoVaughn Love had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Arkansas-Pine Bluff (8-25). Marquis Cunningham added 12 points.