Box Score HOUSTON, Texas – Alabama A&M (4-2, 2-2 SWAC) fell short on the road to Texas Southern (5-7, 3-2 SWAC) 66-49 in a NCAA Division I men's basketball game on Monday, February 1 in the H & PE Arena.
 
Sophomore forward Jalen Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) led the Bulldogs with 14 points, six rebounds and a block while sophomore guard Garrett Hicks (Madison, Ala.) scored 10 points along with three rebounds. Freshman guard London Riley (Atlanta, Ga.) recorded eight points and four rebounds on the night.
 
After empty opening possessions from both sides, Michael Weather sank a three for Texas Southern to start, while Johnson began the scoring for A&M nearly two minutes into the game. After another score from the forward with 16:45 in the frame, the Bulldogs went into the first media timeout trailing 7-4.
 
Just over two minutes later after an A&M free throw, Jordan Gilliam made back-to-back threes to push the Tigers up 13-5. A Riley corner triple at the 12:43 mark would put an end to that run, however.
 
The Bulldogs then pulled within three as Johnson scored on an offensive rebound and tip-in with just under 10 minutes remaining to reduce the Texas Southern lead to just 13-10.
 
After a pair of free throws by the Tigers, freshman guard Dailin Smith (Colorado, Springs, Co.) responded for A&M with a floater, however, the Tigers responded with a score just before the under eight timeout to go up 17-12.
 
At the 6:28 mark, freshman forward Anjay Cortez (Charlotte, N.C.) made a jumper to reduce the lead back to 17-14 before the Tigers' Chris Baldwin responded on the next trip down the floor with a score of his own.
 
Four minutes later, the Bulldogs started on a six-point run with Hicks scoring five of the six points from a fadeaway jumper and wing three to gain their first lead of the half, 20-19, with 2:14 to play in the half.
 
TSU responded to close out the half with a five-point run of their own and took a 24-20 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.
 
Sophomore center EJ Williams (Cincinnati, Ohio) started off the scoring in the second half with a tough second chance basket inside on the opening possession before the Tigers scored four unanswered to go up 28-22 with 18:35 to play.
 
Following a pair of free throws from Johnson, Texas Southern went on a 13-0 run fueled by seven points from Weathers to go up 41-24 before Johnson crossed the double-digit scoring mark with just under 15 minutes remaining.
 
After another three-point swing, the Tigers stretched their lead to 44-26 and later 48-28 with 11:24 following a dunk by Baldwin; however, on the next trip down, A&M scored four unanswered on a drive and score by Smith and a fast break jumper from Hicks to pull the score to 48-32.
 
The Bulldogs cut the deficit to 12 at 53-41 with 5:50 to play, however the Tigers continued their strong play to win 66-49 and hand the Bulldogs their second straight loss.
 
Weathers led the way for the Tigers, nearly recording a triple double with 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Jordan Gilliam scored a game-high 15 points to go with five rebounds, while John Walker III scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds on the night.
 
The Bulldogs are back in action on Saturday, February 6 against Mississippi Valley scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and Monday February 8 scheduled for 7:30 p.m., both in Elmore Gym.