MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The University of Tennessee Southern men's basketball team opened Southern States Athletic Conference Championship play with a 77-64 win over eighth seed Thomas on Thursday. The Firehawks advance to the SSAC Semifinal and will meet the winner of fourth seed William Carey and fifth seed Mobile on Friday.

#12 UT Southern (25-4) opened to a 7-0 run in the first three and a half minutes. Brady Brown and Brandon Brown both combined to hit the first three field goals of the game. Thomas (12-18) would hit a three from the corner to cut into the Firehawk lead. UTS would extend their lead to 10 at the under 12 media timeout. The Nighthawks would cash in on some Firehawks turnovers to pull to within four with under six minutes left in the half. UTS would out score TU 17-8 to lead at the half by 13.

The Firehawks continued to pick through the Nighthawks defense extending the lead to 17 with 12 minutes to go. Mark Vance's layup with 10:26 remaining gave the good guys their largest lead at 60-40. Thomas, with their season on the line, caught their second wind and shaved the Firehawk lead down to 12 with seven minutes remaining. UTS would continue steady play down the stretch to keep the lead around 13. UT Southern led in rebounds 44-28.

Three Firehawks scored in double figures. Brady Brown led with 17 points and nine rebounds. Brandon Brown logged his first Firehawk double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. Kendall Wright tossed in 15 points powered by a perfect seven of seven from the free-throw line.

PROGRAM HISTORY

Adarion Hudson entered tonight's game nine points shy of becoming the first Firehawk to score 2,000 career points. Hudson completed the quest with 33 seconds left making a free-throw. He currently has 2,000 points, 723 assists, and 314 steals in his career. He is the category leader in all three stats.

Brady Brown also set a record for three-point field goals made in program history tonight. Brown went three of six from distance in tonight's win over Thomas.

NEXT UP

UT Southern will continue the SSAC Championships on Friday, March 1^st, at 7:00 p.m. The Firehawks will meet the winner of fourth seed William Carey and fifth seed Mobile. UTS split the season series with WCU. The Firehawks took the win in Pulaski, 90-71, and WCU took a wild win in Hattiesburg, 76-69. Mobile was not on Firehawks conference schedule this season.

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