LORMAN &045; You can almost make a game out of it: match the Alcorn State basketball player with his respective ailment.

Trey Johnson, stomach virus. Brian Jackson, stomach virus. Jerist Roberts, fractured finger. DeAndre Jones, strained knee. Ray Dotson, strained knee.

Dion Callans, shoulder, groin and a cold.

But there is good news &045; everyone is expected to play Saturday at Alabama State.

&uot;I don’t know what’s going on,&uot; Callans said after the Braves won Monday without both starting guards. &uot;We’ve got players getting sick and players hurting themselves. It’s one of those times the team has got to be tough and overcome all of our injuries and sicknesses. (My injuries) have been bothering me the whole season, but I’ve played through it.&uot;

Callans and the Braves played Monday without starting point guard Trey Johnson and shooting guard DeAndre Jones. Others played through their ailments Monday, but Johnson and leading scorer Brian Jackson didn’t work out with the team on Wednesday.

Jones, however, did for the first time.

&uot;We’ll be fine,&uot; Alcorn head coach Samuel West said. &uot;God will show up and show out for us. We’ll be fine. DeAndre needs a couple of days to see how he reacts to it. If he reacts to it OK, he’ll do it. But his attitude was great today. He ran hard as long as he could. I think his knee gave him a little problem but not much.&uot;

Even if the Braves for some reason have players out for Saturday, you can bet they’ll rest easier after Monday’s 66-62 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. With Johnson and Jones out and John Chandler and Corey Jackson starting in their places, the Braves had to fight to take the home win and stay in the race for the top seeds in the SWAC tournament.

David McCollum, a sophomore guard who hasn’t started a game this season, came off the bench Monday to lead the team with 11 points in just 16 minutes on the floor.

&uot;That second unit stepped in and did a great job,&uot; West said. &uot;They wanted to play all year, and I finally found some playing time for them. They did a great job. I was really proud of all of them, especially David McCollum and how he shot the basketball. Those guys really had to play hard and step it up to another notch.&uot;

On Wednesday Jones said he felt fine following his first time back on the floor in about a week. The sophomore from Quincy, Fla., also missed Saturday’s game against Mississippi Valley while nursing a torn meniscus in a knee, but on Wednesday he returned to practice after getting cleared to play.

&uot;I went to the doctor yesterday, and he cleared me to play,&uot; Jones said. &uot;I’m going to take care of it after the season. It’s not that bad. I felt like I could play on it against Arkansas, but I didn’t. It’s been hurting me ever since the Southern game (Jan. 31). I hurt it when I landed after a dunk. As soon as I landed, I went to the training room. There was a knot on my knee, and I knew something was wrong.&uot;

Now Jones and the Braves have to go on the road this weekend in the hopes of maintaining the standing in the top half of the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings.

The Braves have wound up playing better on the road this season with a 4-3 mark away from the Whitney Complex and 3-3 in it.

&uot;We’ve not played well at home this year and played better on the road,&uot; West said. &uot;That’s strange, but I’m doing everything I can to change that. We’ve got more people coming to the games, and you want to play well to make them come back.&uot;

But going on the Alabama road trip may be another story. The Braves will face Bama State on Saturday and travel to Normal to visit Alabama A&M on Monday.

&uot;That is the toughest road trip out of all of SWAC basketball,&uot; Callans said. &uot;We gave Coach Whitney his first win at Alabama last year. You know it’s tough if he only has one win.&uot;