LORMAN &045; This one wasn’t going to get away.

Not the game against Alabama State. Not another home contest. And not even solid footing in the SWAC standings.

DeAndre Jones wasn’t thinking about all of that.

He was going to dunk this time.

He missed on a dunk midway through the second half in what would have been a sure crowd-pleaser. So when he got it again alone on a fast break later, he made sure it was going down.

The crowd enjoyed it, and it was one of the final blows against the Hornets as the Braves took a 77-70 win Saturday at the Whitney Complex.

&uot;John Chandler, my other 2-guard, looked for me and found me. I needed to get one,&uot; said Jones who finished with 13 points. &uot;He’s always looking for me like that. I should have went up with two hands and not with one (the first time). I normally make those.&uot;

Jones had a chance to top it late in the game when he got an alley-oop pass from Brian Jackson, and by that time the Braves (4-10, 3-4) were well on their way to their first home win in the SWAC.

Buoyed by Jackson’s 22 points, the Braves led by 15 early in the second half before putting it away late.

&uot;We talked about it,&uot;&160;Alcorn head coach Sam West said.&160;&uot;If we can execute our man-to-man or zone offenses, people can’t stop us. It doesn’t mean we’re going to score the bucket, but if we execute we’ll get a high-percentage shot. That’s what we’re trying to do.&uot;

Fortunately for the Braves they had a high percentage shooting from different areas of the court &045; Jackson canned four 3-pointers in the second half &045;&160;including the free throw line.

Jackson drained his third 3-pointer of the second half with 15:29 left for a 56-43 Alcorn lead.

&uot;It’s ironic that some teams we play prior to us don’t shoot the ball very well,&uot;&160;Bama State head coach Rob Spivery said. &uot;Tonight against our zone, we would make them shoot over the zone. And they shot very well tonight. Brian Jackson had an excellent shooting game.&uot;

But the Hornets didn’t go away easily, and much of it was due to Spivery’s switch to a man-to-man defense. The Hornets (4-11, 1-5) kept fighting and got the deficit down to four with 4:46 left when Malcolm Campbell hit two free throws.

The Braves answered with two Dion Callans free throws and Jones’ first dunk for a 72-64 lead.

Alabama State got it back down to four with 1:25 left on two Campbell free throws, but Jones came with his second dunk with 34 seconds left to virtually put the game away, 75-67.

&uot;We had a long talk and good practices (this week),&uot; Jones said. &uot;It was just a matter of time before we got it together. We just turned it up on defense (at the end). We go into lulls sometimes offensively and defensively. We just turned it up. We callmed down after a timeout and got through it.&uot;

Even with 13 seconds left Alexander Oliver converted a three-point play for the final 77-70 score, but Spivery noted his club had the chances to get over the hump.

They finished the game with 17 turnovers, and a couple turnovers in the second half turned into Alcorn fast breaks.

Callans dunked one home off a steal with 11:39 left for a 62-51 lead to answer an Alabama State 3-pointer.

&uot;We had a chance, but unfortunately we did not make plays,&uot; Spivery said. &uot;We had turnovers and gave the ball back. They scored off our turnovers. It’s very unusual us giving up 77 points in a ball game.&uot;

Both teams battled in the first half until the Braves turned it up a notch with a minute left to finish on a 9-2 run.

After Callans put in two free throws with 1:30 left, Jackson swiped the in-bounds pass from Antquon James and slammed it home for a basket and a 35-31 lead nine seconds later.

Almaad Jackson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 40-33 Alcorn lead at half.

&uot;They had no idea where we were going, and that’s the kind of basketball we’re trying to play,&uot; West said.&160;&uot;Fast break, get it in there and if not, kick it out and get a good shot.&uot;