Alcorn State survived a tough head-to-head battle with Alabama A&M at home Saturday night, as the Braves defeated the Bulldogs 86-77.

Alabama A&M (8-17, 2-11) jumped to an early seven point lead early on in the first half as the Braves dealt with turnovers and cold shooting from the field. But Alcorn State (9-16, 8-6) settled down and eventually gained the lead by hitting their shots from the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs stayed close after relinquishing the lead to Alcorn, and Alabama A&M regained the lead with 3.4 seconds to go in the first half as Evan Hilton hit two free throws to give the Bulldogs a 40-38 lead at the half.

Juan Wyatt led the Braves offensively in the first half by scoring 12 points. He would eventually finish with 20 points in the contest.

The second half was similar to the first, as both teams battled for momentum to carry them down the final stretch. Wyatt got into foul trouble early in the second half and had to leave the game. At that point Delvin Thompson, who finished with a team high of 24 points, took over.

After multiple ties and lead changes, the Braves stayed consistent at the free throw line and eventually regained the lead for good with less than five minutes to play in the ball game. In the final four minutes, the Braves went on a 12-5 run that put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs and closed the door on an 86-77 Alcorn State victory.

“The key for us was great play calling down the stretch by my assistant coaches,” Alcorn State head coach Sam West said. He also said his team did a great job of hitting free throws in the final minutes, and said the win is credited to the effort put forth by his team.

Alabama A&M was led in scoring by Trant Simpson, who finished with 22 points. Simpson was backed by teammate Jonathan Inman, who finished with 10.

The Braves will have a short rest on Sunday as they prepare to take on Alabama State at home on Monday.

“I just hope we can keep it going,” West said.

Alcorn State Lady Braves 58, Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs 57

Alcorn State University survived a close showdown with Alabama A&M University Saturday night, as the Lady Braves came from behind to defeat the Lady Bulldogs 58-57 at home.

Turnovers plagued both teams early but eventually Alcorn settled down and made some key stops on defense to turn things around.

“Defense was big for us tonight. The bench and several freshmen came together and made some big stops for us,” Lady Brave head coach Shirley Walker said.

After shooting 34.5 percent from the field in the first half, the Lady Braves trailed 28-27 at the intermission, but Alcorn State (14-10, 10-4) got a big lift in the second half from Rasaan Powell, who finished with 18 points to lead all Lady Brave scorers. Powell was limited to just five points in the first half.

Powell was backed by teammate Kiara Seldon, who chipped in10 points and led all Lady Brave scorers in the first half with seven points.

“The key for us was the leadership of Tanika Nunez,” Walker said. “She got everybody where they were suppose to be.”

Tina Huff led Alcorn State on defense by collecting three blocks in the game. After Alabama A&M (15-9, 11-2) shot 42.3 percent from the field in the first half, the Lady Braves’ defense stepped things up as the Lady Bulldogs cooled down and shot 34.6 percent from the field in the second half.

The Lady Braves improved their shooting in the second half to 50 percent from the field, and managed to out score Alabama A&M 31-29 in the second half to pull out the one point victory.

Alabama A&M was led in scoring by Rebekkah Barnes with 14 points, while teammates Felicia Drummond and Christian Malone each had 12.

The Lady Braves will have a short rest before they take on Alabama State at home on Monday.

“We must try to stay healthy, because after Alabama State we have Southern on the road, and that will definitely be tough,” Walker said.