UVU downs Alcorn State in Alabama

MOBILE, Ala. — Utah Valley University's Jordan Swarbrick tied career-highs with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Justin Baker tied career-highs with 19 points and eight rebounds as the Wolverines snapped a three-game losing streak with a 68-53 victory over Alcorn State on Thanksgiving Day to close out the South Alabama Thanksgiving Classic.

UVU's Jourdain Scoubes recorded a career-high 15 rebounds, and Aaron England tallied a career-high 13 points in improving the Wolverines to 2-3.

"I am very pleased that we pulled out a hard-fought victory. We knew it was going to be tough," UVU head coach Dick Hunsaker said. "We are still working on getting better and we have a long ways to go as a unit and a team. It's going to be a matter of how unselfish we remain as we as move to get better."

The Wolverines, who picked up their first win since beating North Dakota State to open the season, trailed 7-2 with 16 minutes left in the first half before Swarbrick drilled a jumper and England nailed a 3-pointer to tie the score at 7-7.

From there the Wolverines went on 13-4 run to lead by nine at 20-11 with 9:08 left in the half.

Alcorn State (0-8) trimmed the lead to two points with six minutes left in the half, but that was as close as the Braves would get for the rest of the game. UVU led 34-27 at the break.

Swarbrick scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half with the help of four 3-pointers, and Scoubes, who had seven points in the game, recorded eight of his game-high 15 rebounds.

Baker, who played only three minutes in the first half, scored all of his points in the second half on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the foul line. Utah Valley led as many as 14 three times in the half before winning by 15.

The Wolverines connected on eight 3-pointers in the game in shooting 37.3 percent from the field while holding the Braves to 34.5 percent shooting from the floor.

UVU committed a season-low 11 turnovers and connected on a season-high 22-of-25 foul shots. The Wolverines also outrebounded the Braves 43-30.

Corey Claitt led the Wolverines with seven assists while adding nine points and six rebounds.

UVU returns home to host Northern New Mexico Saturday at 2 p.m.