LORMAN &045; Jason Cable sure feels old.

As the entire Alcorn squad gathered at midcourt following its 79-50 thumping of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Cable recalled he had been here before.

The occasion was Braves head coach Davey L. Whitney’s recording his 500th win as head coach at Alcorn. Cable, a senior, was part of a similar procession when Whitney posted his 500th career win in the building which shares his name.

No one really knew what was going on until the confetti filled the air after the buzzer sounded on the win that gave the Braves their second straight win in the Southwestern Athletic Conference to snap a four-game skid.

&uot;He didn’t tell me,&uot; said Alcorn post Lee Cook, who finished with 10 points and five rebounds. &uot;He had one 500th win, but I didn’t know what it was for. I just saw a bunch of confetti and balloons and thought, ‘Maybe this is what they’re going to do when we win.’ Maybe he thought if he would have told us we would have tried too hard.&uot;

The win was another milestone for the veteran coach, who had planned on retiring after last season until the administration convinced him to stay another season. The win also kept the fire burning for a team that struggled to an 0-4 start in conference after dropping their first two games at home &045; a place where they have dominated in past seasons.

For their efforts they received all the cake they could eat and an abundance of confidence.

&uot;Win 13 in a row &045; one by one,&uot; Cable said of the team’s focus now. &uot;We had two tough games on the road, and we wanted to switch the momentum in our favor. I hadn’t lost four SWAC games in three years. It’s kind of hard to swallow. We’re picking everybody up now.

&uot;It (500th) is a heck of an accomplishment for anybody to get 500 wins at one school as much as coaches are getting fired nowadays. To get your 500th win is a great accomplishment.&uot;

The game was doubly sweet for Whitney, who wasn’t even thinking of giving up with this year’s team after the poor start. Right now the Braves are in pretty good shape heading into this weekend’s road swing at Alabama State and Alabama A&M, and Whitney would enjoy notching wins No. 501 and 502 during the swing.

Not that he’s counting those, of course. To him, they would be wins No. 3 and 4.

&uot;What’s important to me is our team play well and whatever we were in win the ball game,&uot; Whitney said. &uot;My concern is that we play better and play tough. I guess for a lot of these people 500 wins are more important to them than me. What’s more important to me is the welfare of this team and coming out and winning. That’s all I’m thinking about right now.&uot;

The Braves did that against the Golden Lions, now at 0-15 on the season and ranked at the very bottom in the power ratings among Division I teams. The Braves got points from just about everyone on the floor as all 11 players suited up logged at least 13 minutes on the floor.

The only point where things looked somewhat bleak for the Braves came when Whitney called a timeout inside the 6:00 mark in the second half after Pine Bluff put together a 10-0 run to trim the lead to 61-44.

Alcorn answered with a 9-2 run, including a dunk from Rhau-Chavis Landfair and a 3-pointer from Fred Cole for a 70-46 lead.

&uot;We just had to get that first win under our belts,&uot; said Cable, who led the Braves with 15 points. &uot;We’ve got a couple young guys on the team. They’re learning how to play as a team now. They (UAPB) were putting three or four men inside. We were kicking it out and shooting the ball.&uot;

The Braves put it on Pine Bluff at the start of the second half after they took a 33-20 lead at the break. Pine Bluff kept it close in the first four minutes before Alcorn went on a 14-3 run to blow the game open.

Cable hit a 3-pointer &045; the first of five in the second half by Alcorn &045; for a 50-28 lead, and Cook finished it with a tip-in off a missed free throw from Cole for a 57-31 lead.

&uot;We started off the game like we were going to move the ball around,&uot; Cook said. &uot;If we got it (open look), then that’s when we were going in for the kill. The big men have been taking a lot of shots. We wanted the guards to get some shots. They were double-teaming the post, and when we kicked it out we got the shots. We wanted to keep it from being a one-sided game.&uot;

The inside game was the key in the first half against the Golden Lions, who didn’t have the size to match up inside with Alcorn. The Braves put together a 10-0 run midway through the first half as three free throws from Alleo Frazier at the 5:48 mark put the ASU lead at 28-11.

&uot;The last two ball games we’ve been so selective taking our shots,&uot; Whitney said. &uot;We were hitting the open man, and that’s the idea we’ve been trying to sell to our kids. This is a five-man game and not a one-man game. We’ve been getting balanced scoring, and we hope it will continue.

&uot;We’ve got to understand when they start doubling down (inside), we can force the issue. We’ve got to pass it out. We’ve got people that can shoot real well if they get time to shoot it. They can plant their feet and square up.&uot;