Texas Southern tops Alabama State; pulls even in SWAC

Jan 31, 2015, 11:02 pm

HOUSTON -- Madarious Gibbs scored 24 points and Texas Southern beat Alabama State 80-65 on Saturday.

The win pulls Texas Southern (10-11) into a tie with Alabama State (11-6) atop the Southwestern Conference at 7-1.

Texas Southern ran off eight-straight points midway through the first half -- four on a pair of Malcolm Riley layups -- and led 41-34 at the break.

The Tigers pushed the lead over 20 on Riley's trey with 9:29 left and cruised to the win.

Gibbs was 10 of 20 from the field with five assists. Riley finished with 17 points and eight boards and Chris Thomas had 10 points. Texas Southern shot 55 percent and was 10 of 18 beyond the arc.

Alabama State was led by Jamel Waters with 16 points while Bobby Brown and Maurice Strong had 11 points apiece.