It was a tale of two halves as Texas Southern exploded in the second half en route to an 89-74 lead over Alabama A&M on Saturday afternoon inside the H&PE Arena.
TSU would take an early 7-3 lead following a Bryce Roberts' trey but the Bulldogs fought back and tied it at 9-all at the 14:18 mark. From there, TSU rode the three-ball over the next few minutes as they went on an 18-11 surge for a 27-20 lead following another Roberts' trey. However, the shots stopped falling at the same pace for the Tigers as the Bulldogs shot 9-for-13 from the field over the next seven-and-a-half minutes which fueled a 22-5 run and a 42-32 halftime lead.
TSU scored nine points to open the second half but the Bulldogs answered with 12 as Troy Hupstead scored eight of the team's nine points as AAMU led 54-41 at the first media timeout. Despite the deficit, TSU would slowly chip away at the lead over the next four minutes by playing tough inside as Hupstead led the way again with five hard-nosed points during the 11-3 run as they trailed 57-52 at the second media timeout.
Jaylen Wysinger's three-point play via a driving layup with 11:06 left saw TSU trim its deficit to 58-55. Alabama A&M would turn the ball over on its ensuing possession and Zytarious Mortle's step-back three-pointer tied it 58-all to cap off a 16-1 surge.
Alabama A&M's Sami Pissis' three-pointer at the 8:16 mark extended its lead to 62-60 but Hupstead answered with another hard-nosed layup in the paint for a 62-60 deficit as the teams approached the fourth media timeout. Immediately after the timeout, GSU missed the front end of a one-and-one and TSU tied it at 62-all on Duane Posey's bucket. The TSU defense once again caused havoc for AAMU with a turnover on its next possession which led to Wysinger's three-pointer and a 65-62 lead with 6:43 left.
With 5:49 left, Jordan Gorecki blocked an AAMU shot and TSU capitalized as Wysinger drove the floor for another three-point play as his free throw upped the lead to 68-62. AAMU would miss another front end of a one-and-one and TSU kept the pressure on as Posey jammed home a dunk for 70-62 lead which led to an AAMU timeout and the H&PE crowd to rise on its feet with 5:13 left.
Alabama A&M answered with free throws on its next possession but with time running down on the shot clock, Wysinger converted a tough layup to lead 72-64 but AAMU's Koron Davis answered with a trey for a 72-67 deficit entering the last minute media timeout.
With 3:13 left, AAMU once again succumbed to the TSU defense and Mortle added an exclamation mark with a thunderous dunk off his own steal as they led 76-70. However, AAMU remained within striking distance following a three-pointer and TSU would turn the ball over as it ultimately led to an AAMU jumper and a 76-72 lead with 2:18 left.
Mortle once again was the thorn in AAMU's side as he seized the momentum and nailed a three-pointer with 1:45 left. AAMU once again turned the ball over and Alex Anderson kept the dunk party going with a fast break dunk for an 81-72 lead with 1:20 left. The Bulldogs would once again turn the ball over on a critical possession with 1:24 left and would try to extend the game by fouling but it was too little too late as the Tigers won their third game in four attempts.
Wysinger led the way with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting while Hupstead added 17. Anderson scored 16 followed by 12 each from Roberts and Mortle. Posey grabbed a team-high nine rebounds while Anderson dished out five assists.
Due to the projected inclement weather in the Houston area on Monday, TSU is back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 27 against Alabama State inside the H&PE Arena at 1 p.m.
