Grambling State 69, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 68
PINE BLUFF, Ark. – The Grambling State University men’s basketball team had four players in double figures and survived a late Arkansas-Pine Bluff rally as the Tigers edged the last unbeaten team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) with a 69-68 win on Saturday night at the H.O. Clemmons Arena.
Grambling State (9-12 overall, 5-3 SWAC) led by as many as 12 points in the second half, but Arkansas-Pine Bluff (7-15, 7-1) got a 3-pointer by Joe’Randle Toliver with three seconds left to cut the Tiger lead to 69-68. Anthony Gaston was fouled and sent to the free-throw line, where he missed both shots, but grabbed his own rebound with two seconds left to give Grambling State the thrilling win.
The Tigers during this five-game win streak, which began on Jan. 8, have defeated Alcorn State, Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern, Jackson State and now Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Ivy Smith, Jr. scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half to pace Grambling State. Smith also added five steals, four assists and three rebounds. Shirmane Thomas registered a double-double of 13 points, 11 rebounds, with four steals and one assist. Gaston tallied 10 points, seven boards, three assists and one steal, while Jason Perry-Murray recorded 10 points and a pair of rebounds.
Charles Jackson led the way for Arkansas-Pine Bluff with 14 points, three steals and two rebounds. Travon Harper tallied 10 points, seven boards and a pair of assists, while Martaveous McKnight registered nine points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Texas Southern 58, Alabama A&M 56
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. –Brian Carey made a 3-point play and Donte Clark scored four points in the final 4:03 as the Tigers rallied past the host Bulldogs late to pull out a road victory at the T.M. Elmore Gymnasium.
Clark and John Perry scored 14 points apiece and Carey added 12 points for Texas Southern (5-16, 5-3 SWAC).
10 different Bulldogs scored, but none reached double digits for Alabama A&M (2-19, 2-6 SWAC).
Andre Kennedy had seven points, 11 rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal to lead the Bulldogs.
Mississippi Valley State 72, Jackson State 67
ITTA BENA, MS – Saturday’s game lived up to the rivalry hype with the Delta Devils toppling second place Jackson State 72-67.
The Delta Devils (1-20, 1-7 SWAC) held on late down the stretch to pull out the win in a fashionable manner. Kylan Philips led the way with 23 points, which 16 of the 22 came in the second half. The second half was a nail biter, and it wasn’t until the last minute of the contest that a definite winner was clear when Dante Scott sank back to back pairs of free throws, after being silent the majority of the game.
Maurice Rivers had 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting with six rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block while Darius Austin added 12 points for the Tigers (9-12, 6-2 SWAC), who have now lost back-to-back conference games after opening with a six-game win streak.
Southern 61, Alcorn State 48
BATON ROUGE, LA. – Southern made five three-pointers early in the second half to leap in front and snag a 61-48 result from the Alcorn State University men’s basketball program Saturday at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
The Braves (7-15, 3-6 SWAC) trailed by 14 mid-way through the second half when they chipped into the deficit and got it down to five points, but the Jags (9-13, 5-4 SWAC) ended the game on an 8-0 run to hang on.
Junior Dante Sterling netted a game-high 16 points and five rebounds. He was a perfect seven-of-seven from the free throw line, and his seven makes were a career-high.
Also in double-figures, sophomore Maurice Howard registered 13 points and four rebounds. He got the start after senior Avery Patterson was a scratch due to injury.
Sophomore Tyler Carter secured a career-high nine rebounds.
The Jags were paced by Jared Sam who recorded a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds. Chris Thomas had 12 points and Emanuel Shepard scored 11 points.
Prairie View A&M 86, Alabama State 80
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Prairie View A&M men’s basketball team notched its second victory in a row and their first road victory of the SWAC season as they defeated Alabama State 86-80 Saturday evening at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
Five Panthers scored in double figures led by Zachary Hamilton who netted 21 points on 53.8 percent shooting from the floor in 32 minutes of game action. Shaquille Preston and J.D. Wallace each tallied 15 points, Troy Thompson added 13 points on 40 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Dennis Jones chipped in with 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds in 33 minutes.
As the contest began both teams traded baskets, Hamilton would bury a 3-pointer to give the Panthers an 8-5 advantage with 15:51 remaining in the first half. The Panthers would go on to play lockdown defense and convert scoring opportunities on the offensive end outscoring the Hornets 17-6 in the following minutes. The run was keyed by timely buckets by Hamilton, Preston, Wallace and Jones. With 9:55 remaining in the half Prairie View led 25-11. The Panthers would remain in firm control of the contest as the half came to its conclusion, leading by as many as 17 points, with both teams heading into the locker room for halftime, Prairie View led 42-26.
PVAMU kept their vice grip on the contest as the final half of the game began. However, Alabama State would slowly climb back into the game, cutting the Panther advantage to 59-52 with 11:27 left in the contest. The Panthers responded by outscoring Alabama State 9-2 in the following three minutes of game action to give the Panthers a 66-52 cushion.
Prairie View would continue to play well widening the gap to as a many as 16 in the second half thanks to strong play on both ends of the floor from Hamilton, Wallace and Thompson. Alabama State later cut the Panther lead to less than 10 with two minutes remaining, but it was too little too late for the home team, as the Panthers put the nail in the Hornets coffin with converted free throw attempts down the stretch.
Courtesy: SWAC
