FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
BATON ROUGE - Alcorn has an invitation to the Dance, and a dress is not required.
Wallace Harris scored 22 points Saturday to lead Alcorn State past Southern University for their first Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament championship since 1984.
Alcorn State (22-6) advanced to the NCAA Tournament and snapped Southern's school-record 20-game homecourt winning streak.
The Braves led by as many as 22 points in the first half, then held on after Southern (21-7) trimmed the margin to three points midway through the second half.
Alcorn pulled away in the first half with a 33-12 run capped by Harris' inside basket for a 39-18 lead with 5:40 remaining. Reuben Stiff, who was named the tournament's most valuable player, made a layup with eight seconds left for a 54-32 halftime lead.
Southern rallied in the second half but never got closer than three points at 66-63 on small forward Aaron Bates' 3-pointer from the wing with 10:17 to play.
The Jaguars closed to four points in the final minute at 85-81 on Devan Clark's 3-point play with 32 seconds remaining, but Alcorn scored the next four points on two free throws by forward Karl Jones with 27 seconds left and Harris' dunk with 11 seconds to play.
In addition to Harris' 22 points, Eddrick Wheaton scored 15, Terrance Cameron added 13 and Jones had 11.
Southern, who reached the conference's championship game for the first time since 1993, had five players in double figures. Bates and Dionte Harvey each had 16, Kendrick Davis added 13, Adarrial Smylie had 12 and Clark 11.
With the SWAC championship under their belts, the Braves also earned an automatic bid to the 1999 NCAA Tournament, affectionately known as 'The Big Dance.' Dave "The Wiz" Whitney returns the Scalpin' Braves to the Big Dance, snapping a 15-year tourney drought for Alcorn.
The Braves' first round opponent will be named Sunday.