Rodriguez scores 18, Texas Southern beats Alcorn State 74-58
HOUSTON (AP) Jose Rodriguez made 10 of 12 free throws and finished with 18 points to help Texas Southern beat Alcorn State 74-58 Monday night.
Orlando Coleman, Chris Thomas and Malcolm Riley added 12 points each, while Derrick Griffin and David Blanks scored 10 apiece for Texas Southern (3-11, 2-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Griffin, a freshman, also had 13 rebounds, giving him five double-doubles in eight career games.
Alcorn State (3-10, 1-1) trailed by just three, 32-29, at halftime, but the Tigers used a 23-6 run to open the second half, pushing their lead to 20 on Riley's putback of a missed 3 by Coleman with 11:46 remaining.
The Braves never threatened thereon.
Texas Southern made 10 of 25 from 3-point range; the Tigers have made 23 3s in their two conference games this season.
Octavious Brown led Alcorn State with 19 points and a season-high 11 rebounds.
