Tigers pull away late to end two-game skid

Texas Southern appeared in danger of dropping its third consecutive game before pulling away late to defeat Mississippi Valley State 91-77 on Saturday night at H&PE Arena.

“I think the slow start was more (about the) back-to-back losses. We’re like 14 seconds away from being undefeated — we lost both games in under seven seconds,” coach Mike Davis said. “I think the slow start is feeling sorry for yourself after the last two games, but all that does is give them more energy.”

TSU was without Southwestern Athletic Conference leading scorer Demontrae Jefferson, who’s suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. To help make up for his absence, guard Donte Clark scored a career-high 41 points to carry the Tigers (4-15, 4-2 SWAC).

“Fantastic, that’s what we need from Donte,” Davis said. “I told him when I recruited him that I think he can get about three or four 40-point games, and tonight was the first one of I think more to come.”

Mississippi Valley State (0-19, 0-6) kept the Tigers within striking distance in the first half. Just under the 10-minute mark, the Delta Devils captured their first lead of game at 18-17. The Tigers struggled to disentangle from the Delta Devils throughout first half, trading the lead several times before falling behind. They trailed 46-42 at halftime.

Mississippi Valley State held onto the lead through the early minutes after the intermission, but with about 15 minutes remaining TSU forward Lamont Walker chased down and pinned what would have been a breakaway layup to the backboard.

The Tigers took possession and converted the stop into a bucket on the other end, recapturing the lead at 52-51. Despite another rejection from Trayvon Reed the following defensive series, the Delta Devils kept it close, threatening as TSU tried to establish momentum.

With a little more than six minutes left, the Delta Devils cut the margin to two, but TSU’s defense tightened, forcing turnovers and converting their extra possessions into points.

The Tigers extended the lead to 83-70 with four minutes remaining.

The Tigers will be without Jefferson for the foreseeable future, but Davis isn’t overly concerned.

“We’re going to wait and see what we have right now,” he said.