LORMAN &045; It’s almost as if it’s happening in slow motion.

One by one Alcorn injuries occur, leaving coaches to attempt to keep things going with younger and inexperienced players. As the game wore on Saturday Arkansas-Pine Bluff moving closer and closer to their first win of the season, reality set in.

This thing is going to take some time.

With four starters out and another added to that list at the start of the second half, the Braves struggled on both sides of the ball in a 17-7 loss at home to UAPB. It was the Lions’ first win over Alcorn since the 2000 season.

For the second time this season, Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas refused to release players to the media.

&uot;I’m not making this as an excuse &045;y’all know me well enough to know I take the bull by the horns and ride with it,&uot; said Thomas, whose club dropped to 1-3. &uot;We have a lot of injuries that hurt us on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. We’ve lost a lot of starters.

&uot;You couple that with an inexperienced quarterback and an inexperienced secondary with a young, inexperienced linebackers, you go through a lot of growing pains at this particular stage.&uot;

The Braves were already without two potential all-conference starters and will be for most of the season, but things got hairy when running back Jeremy McCoy had to sit out with a hamstring injury, offensive tackle Bronson Carvalho at the last minute couldn’t go and No. 2 back Vernardus Cooper went down with a knee injury just after halftime.

It made for a long evening on defense at Jack Spinks, but not a long night. Arkansas-Pine Bluff kept putting the ball on the ground and kept the clock going en route to 274 yards rushing.

More importantly, the Lions dominated in time of possession &045; 43:49 to 16:11.

&uot;Our kids &045; we worked all week on running the football,&uot; UAPB head coach Mo Forte said. &uot;We knew they’ve got some great receivers and a quarterback who can throw the football. We were trying to keep them off the field. Our offensive line and backs did well, and our defense did a superb job the first half keeping them shut out.&uot;

The Lions’ defense deserves just as many accolades as the offense for keeping the Braves’ offense on the sideline and containing their passing game. The Braves finished with a meager 24 yards passing thanks to only two completions on 13 attempts.

And for the first time in 20 games, standout wide receiver Charlie Spiller did not catch a pass.

&uot;UAPB came in and played an outstanding game,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;They were well-prepared offensively and physically beat us on the line of scrimmage. We couldn’t control their running game and their passing game in the first half, and they jumped on top of us. As a result, our offense could not get on the field because they controlled the ball running and throwing the football very effectively.&uot;

The Braves had a breakthrough in the second half when Michael Shepherd &045; the No. 3 running back &045; broke away on a 71-yard run for a score on the first play of a drive near the end of the third quarter.

That trimmed the score to 10 at the 3:18 mark, but things never could get back on track. Shepherd finished with an impressive 127 yards on 15 carries, but he fumbled the ball twice.

The second came after the Braves stopped UAPB when Ken Bradford came up with an interception to give the Braves a little momentum.

&uot;I feel so bad for Shepherd,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;He had run the football pretty good. Then he fumbled the football twice. I’m not saying that to highlight him. I don’t point a finger at a player. I feel so bad for him because he had a real good game running the football.&uot;

Pine Bluff was well in control in the first half in the time of possession column thanks to two big drives of 93 and 94 yards that encompassed over 15 minutes. The second one did more damage as the Lions drove 94 yards on 17 plays to set up Mickey Dean’s 2-yard run for a touchdown.

The Lions nearly settled on a field goal on that drive when John Heflin connected on a 29-yarder, but the Braves were called for offsides on the play and gave Pine Bluff a first down to continue the drive.

On the first drive, the Lions went 14 plays and survived a holding call at midfield en route to the end zone. Myron Jefferson made a diving catch just short of the goal line on a pass from John Pierce at the ASU 3.

Dean ran it in on the next play for a touchdown.

Alcorn had only four possessions the first half and gained only two first downs. A UAPB personal foul call gave Alcorn one of those first downs.