- Head Coach Lewis Jackson reacts during a time out against Huntingdon
MONTGOMERY, Ala.—Luther Page led four Alabama State players in double digits with 22 points as the Hornets beat Huntingdon 94-69 in an exhibition opener for both teams.
“We have been going for almost 30 days now and it was good to get out and see another opponent,” Head Coach Lewis Jackson said. “We now have something to gauge ourselves by so it was good to get out and play.”
DeMarcus Robinson, making his debut in a Hornet uniform, scored 21 points and also dished out five assists. Jamel Waters scored 14 points and Bobby Brown added 11. Waters had a game-high seven assists as ASU finished the game with 18 assists against only nine turnovers.
Page hit all eight of his field goal attempts and hit five of eight from the free throw line as ASU finished the game shooting 47.1 percent from the field.
The Hornets struggled from beyond the three point line only hitting five of their 21 attempts (23.8%). ASU hit 22 of their 33 free throw attempts for 66.7 percent.
ASU finished the game out rebounding the neighborhood visitors 44-38. Page and Maurice Strong had seven each while Billy Ingram had six.
“Some of the good tonight was we got out and ran hard,” Jackson said. “We got out and had some easy baskets in transition and that is something we have been working on, getting the ball out fast and going. We shared the ball a little bit and had a good number of assists.”
ASU was able to build a 42-33 first-half lead behind the one-two scoring punch of Page and Robinson. Page had 16 in the first half, knocking down all five of his field goal attempts. Robinson added 13.
ASU shot 42.1 percent from the floor and held the visiting Hawks to 37.1 percent. Huntingdon did win the first half rebounding battle 25-23.
“Some of the bad things we know, we are not boxing out, our transition defense and communicating and hedging on the screens,” Jackson said. “Again, it was good we got to play because now we can go back and look at the tape and see some of the things we are not doing well and improve on those things and we can get better as well.”
