Vance scores 23, Alcorn St beats NAIA Blue Mountain 83-57

LORMAN, Miss. (AP) — Marquis Vance scored 23 points, on 8-of-9 shooting, and grabbed eight rebounds and Alcorn State beat NAIA-member Blue Mountain 83-57 on Tuesday night.

Denzel Dulin and Avery Patterson scored 14 apiece, while Reginal Johnson added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Braves.

Alcorn State (2-2) scored the first 10 points and never trailed. The Toppers pulled within two on a layup by C.J. Barnes but went the final 7-plus minutes of the half without making a field goal as the Braves opened a 40-23 lead at the break.

Alcorn State made 29 of 59 (55.8 percent) from the field, outrebounded Blue Mountain 37-24 and had 11 steals.

Jay Howard led the Toppers with 22 points and Conner Helvig scored 13.

The gamed served as an exhibition for Blue Mountain, which beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 77-74 in triple overtime Monday night.