Texas Southern broke up a tight game in the first half and pulled away from Alabama A&M in the second 30 minutes for a 75-62 victory on Wednesday in the opening round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
TSU will play the winner of the first-round game Thursday between No. 3 Prairie View A&M and No. 6 Alcorn State. That will be in the quarterfinals on Friday. Fred Sturdivant led Texas Southern with 14 points off the bench to lead the Tigers. Starters D'Angeleo Scott, Omar Strong and Aaron Clayburn added 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively for the No. 2-seeded Tigers.
Demarquelle Tabb of Alabama A&M was the high scorer in the game with 20 and Brandon Ellis scored 19.
The game was tied at 25-25 late in the opening half, but Texas Southern jumped on the Bulldogs right out ot the gate after halftime to salt away the victory.