JACKSON, Miss. – Troy Hupstead and Bryce Roberts both had impressive nights but Jackson State held on at the end as TSU fell 94-89 Monday night.
JSU jumped out to an 8-0 lead until Roberts' trey gave TSU its first points at the 16:55 mark. JSU would push it up to 13-3 a minute later but TSU woke up and went on a 19-8 surge over the next seven minutes en route to a 22-21 deficit with 8:44 left. Jackson State would respond with a big run of its own as they outscored TSU 19-11 over the next six minutes for a 41-32 lead with 1:44 left. JSU would remain ahead by double digits with 1:10 left but Roberts' trey with 57 seconds left cut the deficit to 45-38 at the half.
Texas Southern opened the second half with a vengeance as they outscored JSU 12-6 within the first five minutes to trail 51-50 with 15:33 left. TSU stayed on JSU heels from that point as they cut it to one point (60-59) once again but JSU answered with a trey to extend its lead back to 63-59. With 9:48 left, TSU once again cut the score to 65-62 but JSU responded with a 7-0 run to lead 72-65.
JSU would push the lead to 79-69 with 6:24 left and used that cushion as the game came to a close. With 26 seconds left, Alex Anderson cut the lead to 91-88 but JSU hit two free throws to lead 93-88. TSU would hit one additional free throw to draw within 93-89 with 12 seconds left but couldn't draw any close as JSU won its fifth straight game over TSU in Jackson.
Roberts led TSU with 26 points while Hupstead had a double-double of 23 points and 15 rebounds. Duane Posey added 12 with five rebounds.
TSU is back in action Saturday afternoon for a showdown against Alabama A&M at 2:30 p.m. inside the H&PE Arena.
