LORMAN &045; He’s the most experienced player on the team and the one his coaches want to be a team leader, but it’s been tough for DeAndre Jones here lately.

He can attest like anyone on the Alcorn Braves basketball team that last week’s road trip of losses at Mississippi Valley and Arkansas-Pine Bluff was like a kick in the teeth. The team was already nursing its wounds from getting swept at home the week prior, and now the Braves find themselves 4-9 in conference with five games left to play.

The Braves host Alabama A&M Saturday and Alabama State Monday with their chances of making the SWAC tournament are fading.

&uot;It seemed like against Valley &045; I don’t know &045; we just had no chance,&uot; Jones said of the 81-42 mashing two nights before losing to UAPB for the first time in over a dozen times. &uot;From the tip, we lost it. We came back against Pine Bluff and had a better offensive showing, but defensively we couldn’t stop them. After we lost to Valley, we found out we still had a chance if we beat Pine Bluff.

&uot;After losing to Pine Bluff, that really dropped out spirits. We hang our heads after any loss, but it seems like that hurt a little more.&uot;

It was the latest setback for a team that’s had plenty of them this season. Just about every position on the floor can included in that inconsistent category, and it’s led to more downs than ups as the Braves are on the verge of sitting on the outside looking in at the SWAC tournament picture.

Their backs may be against the wall from here on out &045; next week at Southern and at Texas Southern and Prairie View the following weekend to end the season.

&uot;I realize we’re all hurting and disappointed,&uot; Alcorn head coach Samuel West said. &uot;We never give up, and we never quit. We have to ban together, circle the wagons and come out swinging. The two losses at home were the ones that disappointed us. We never bounced back from the Jackson and Grambling State losses.&uot;

Jones came through the best he could in the UAPB loss with 25 points, but the team struggled in other areas and couldn’t get the job done against an improved Golden Lion team.

The 25 points was a season-high for Jones, who stepped up in the place of shooting guard Delvin Thompson when he had an off night from the field. The loss was the Braves’ fourth straight in conference and sixth in their last seven games after they put together their best game of the season in a 69-67 win over Southern at home Jan. 29.

&uot;It just seems like we find a way to lose,&uot; Jones said. &uot;We’re just trying to find one positive thing late in the game. It’s been real tough. Knowing we can do better and it’s not showing on the court, it’s been real tough. All we can do is keep working.&uot;

Jones’ presence on the floor Monday was a welcome sight for a coach who’s trying to mold him into a team leader. Jones is the most experienced player on a team filled with newcomers and young players as he played significant minutes as a freshman when the Braves lost in the SWAC championship in 2003.

Jones is behind Thompson in scoring at 10 points a game and is second on the team in rebounding (4.5 a game) despite having the most turnovers (73).

&uot;DeAndre is playing better than the DeAndre of old,&uot; West said. &uot;I just wish he would step up even more. He’s doing a decent job, but there’s so much more he can do. I think he (leads) all the time in his own way. You can’t talk about it. You have to do it.&uot;

In tough times like the Braves are in now, leadership from within may be a saving grace. It’s just a role Jones is still acclimating himself to.

&uot;That’s the role coach wanted me to take,&uot; Jones said. &uot;I’m trying to do everything I know. The only thing I know is I tell them you always have to keep working. No matter how bad it gets &045; even if we don’t make the tournament &045; all I know is to keep working. Hopefully we’ll get there before the tournament.&uot;

The junior from Florida is doing that after an off-season where he initially decided not to return to Alcorn. Reports during the summer were Jones and Trey Johnson would not return in 2004-05, but Jones found his way back after meeting with his family and deciding the best thing was to finish this thing out.

He admitted he sought other options &045;Morehouse, Clark Atlanta, West Florida and even Delta State &045; before deciding to return.

&uot;It was a combination of things,&uot; Jones said. &uot;I didn’t want to come back and play under Coach West, and my sister needed me for family reasons in Atlanta. After talking with my sister and family, I decided to come back. I’m not a quitter. I didn’t want to quit the team. My family told me to stick it out here. I knew we could do great things this year. We just haven’t put a full game together.&uot;

Yet if there’s a bright spot to everything, it’s been the team’s history in recent seasons to come out swinging after getting their backs put to the wall. Last season the Braves were down to their last breath before finishing the season with two wins, getting into the tournament and pulling the upset of top-seeded Valley.

The year before the Braves got into the tournament championship after a rocky start in conference, and the year prior they won the tournament and put up a solid fight against Stanford in the NCAA Tournament.

&uot;It’s not over until the tournament,&uot; West said. &uot;I hate that the season has come down to this. We have to make the tournament, and hopefully we’ll jell between now and the tournament. We’re not going to give up. Because of inexperience, lack of leadership and injuries, (we’re) not playing smart basketball.&uot;

Jones remembers that loss to Stanford &045; it was one of the main reasons he came to Alcorn. And he knows none of that is out of his club’s realm if they can put a full game together and finish the season strong.

&uot;It’s like the trainer told me &045; the morale is low around here,&uot; Jones said. &uot;I don’t feel this team feels like our backs are against the wall. We think we can win. We feel once we can get into the tournament, we’ll turn it on. Hopefully we’ll go out there and fight. We’ll have to step up, leave it all out there on the court and do something we haven’t done all year.&uot;