HOUSTON- Malcolm Riley had 21 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday, and top-seeded Texas Southern advanced past No. 8 seed Alcorn State 95-74 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals.
Texas Southern had a 19-2 run that spanned both halves to pull away to a 56-36 lead early in the second. The Braves got no closer than 17 points from there.
SWAC player of the year Madarious Gibbs scored 18 points for TSU, with Deverell Biggs and David Blanks adding 14 apiece. Chris Thomas had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
"Right now we're just trying to get back to playing the type of basketball we were playing in December," said TSU head coach Mike Davis. "We're showing signs of improvement offensively as well as defensively."
The Tigers now move on to Friday's semifinals to face the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal between the fourth and fifth seeds, Prairie View and Jackson State respectively. The semifinals are slated for Friday at 8:30 pm at the Toyota Center.
