Morgan Beard
Staff Writer
The Jackson State University men’s basketball team was victorious in games against SWAC Texas schools Prairie View A&M Panthers (78-69) on Feb. 11 and the Tigers of Texas Southern University (71-62) on Feb. 13 at the Lee E. Williams Athletic and Assembly Center.
These victories have moved JSU to 4th place with 7-6 conference record in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play and 11-15 overall.
In the last meeting on Jan. 14, Prairie View defeated JSU (63-56). On Jan. 16 Texas Southern defeated JSU (67-44).
Yettra Specks, a senior guard from Monroe, La., led the Tigers in scoring on Saturday night. He scored a career high of 32 points with six three-point shots and 12 for 14 from the line.
After the victory Saturday night according to JSU Blitz, a gritty specks said, “I definitely felt the pressure to take the ball in my hands and put the game away.”
Junior guard Paris Collins from San Antonio, Texas, did not shoot particularly well. He scored eight points but made just 3 of 10 shots from the floor. He also grabbed 8 rebounds and led the team in assists with 5 and 3 steals.
Sophomore guard Eric Dennis from Dallas, Texas, also chipped in with 11 points. Senior forward Janarius Middleton from Greenwood, Miss., scored 12 points.
On Monday night, Specks led the team again with 24 points, hitting 13 of 14 from the line. Texas Southern is also the conference leader of the SWAC and this was the first time in three years that Jackson State defeated Texas Southern.
According to the SWAC.com, Specks was named men’s basketball player of the week for his performance in last two games. The Tigers were poised and focused against the conference regular season best. This was also Texas Southern’s second lost in conference play.
JSU started off fast with a 24-11 lead in the first half before TSU cut the deficit to a 36 -30 lead before the half. Junior guard Derrick Roscoe from Chicago, Ill., picked up his fourth foul after just seven minutes of action.
Sharpshooting senior guard Javres Brent, from Jackson, Miss., played just nine minutes because of foul trouble. Janarius Middleton had 14 points and 8 rebounds and Collins and Ed Dennis both chipped in 10 for JSU.
The Tigers out rebounded TSU 32-17 and JSU was not as hot from behind the arc as they were in Saturday’s win over Prairie View A&M. They did make 22 of 50 shots from the floor and hit 6 of 19 from beyond the arc.
According to JSU Blitz, a proud coach Wayne Brent said, “Yettra Specks called a meeting before practice last Friday and told the team he’d never got a chance to get a win over Texas Southern. So I was happy for him tonight to get a chance to beat them tonight.”
Be First to Comment