Box Score GREENWOOD, Miss. (Jan. 4) - The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Men's Basketball Team came up short in their conference opener as Mississippi Valley State defeated the Golden Lions, 66-60, here Monday night at the Leflore County Civic Center.
 
MVSU took advantage of six UAPB turn overs to jump out to an 8-0 lead, capped off by a Marcus Romain layup with 17:56 left in the contest.
 
UAPB tied the contest at 10-10 with a 10-2 run on a Trent Whiting layup with 10:14 to go in the half.
 
MVSU countered with an 11-5 run to take a 21-15 lead on a Jabari Alex layup with 4:12 remaining.  The Delta Devils then extended their lead to 11 points as they went into the break with a 31-20 lead over the Golden Lions.
 
UAPB finished the first half shooting 35 percent (7-of-20), whereas MVSU shot 43.3 percent (13-of-30).
 
In the first five minutes of the second half, MVSU jumped out to a 40-27 lead as they outscored the Golden Lion 10-7, capped out by a Ta'Jay Henry layup with a 15:01 remaining in the half.
 
The Golden Lions answered with a 14-6 run to cut MVSU's lead to 46-41 on a Deshon Bayless free throw with 6:31 remaining in the half.
 
MVSU pushed their lead back to 10 points with a 15-10 run to make the score 61-51 on Rashaan Surles three pointer with 1:47 remaining in the game.
 
UAPB (2-13, 0-1 SWAC) had three Golden Lions to score in double-figures with Charles Jackson with a team high 13 points, followed by Bayless and Thaddeus Handley with 12 points each.  Ghiavonni Robinson led the team on the boards with five. 
 
MVSU (1-14, 1-0 SWAC) was led by Romain with a game high 20 points, followed by Isaac Williams with 15 and Henry with 10.  Henry led the team in rebounds with six.