Valley gives A&M their first conference loss

Box Score

ITTA BENA – It was going to eventually happen and the new look Devils of Mississippi Valley State University was the team that made it happen Sunday evening as they defeated the A&M men’s basketball team 79-68.

The Bulldogs were led by Jeremy Crutcher and Demarquelle Tabb with 16 points each while Brandon Ellis posted 13. Justan Banks pulled in seven rebounds and scored six points while Tabb finished with six boards himself.

The Bulldogs opened the scoring with a Tabb 18 foot jumper that gave A&M their only lead of the contest. Valley then tied the score at nine all at the 11:40 mark on a Cameron Dobbs lay-up. They then took the lead for good with a Matt Smith dunk to go ahead 11-9. The 10-0 run that started at the 12:50 mark helped the Devils earn their never ending lead.

A&M did not lie down and fought hard to stay within striking distance of the Devils, matching point for point throughout the remaining minutes of first half action only down one at half-time 25-24. Mississippi Valley’s 19-7 bench point lead was the Maroon & White’s achilles heel in the first half.

The second part of the game was not the negative play by the Bulldogs but the fatigue factor, as three games in five days and a double overtime match less than 48 hours before Sunday’s action, caught up with head coach Willie Hayes group.

AAMU shot 46 percent from the field on 16-33 and six of 11 from the three-point line for 56% all in the second half. MVSU took advantage of the miles on the Bulldogs player’s legs and built a double digit lead with 9:41 on the clock. Hayes and company cut that lead to seven twice but that would be the closest they would get as Mississippi Valley went on to claim their second Southwestern Athletic Conference victory of the year 79-68.

Valley outscored AAMU 16-10 in points in the paint, 17-9 in points off turnovers, and 26-3 in bench points.

Davon Usher led all scorers with 27 points while Darius Tomlin complimented that with 21 for the Devils.

AAMU will look for win number three in the league when they visit Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday, January 8^th. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

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