Texas Southern gains ground in the Southwestern beating Alabama St. 86-66

D'Aris Scarver scored 21 points and D'Angelo Scott grabbed 17 rebounds as Texas Southern walloped a back-pedaling Alabama State 86-66 on Saturday night.

Texas Southern (13-14, 9-6) was on top 29-13 with 7:42 left in the first half as Alabama State — loser of three of four games coming in — struggled to get the ball through the hoop. The lopsided first half ended with the Hornets falling even further back, trailing the Tigers 47-26.

Alabama State (15-11, 9-6) fell behind by 24 points with 11:02 remaining and narrowed the gap only slightly before the game ended.

Alabama State won the first game of the series, but Texas Southern, in evening the score, moved in to a tie for second with the Hornets in the Southwestern Athletic Conference with three conference games to play.

Luther Page scored 14 points for the Hornets.