The Southern Jaguars kept their hot streak alive defeating Grambling State 81-73 to maintain their hold on first place in the SWAC.
Southern improved to a perfect 5-0 in the SWAC — its longest conference winning streak since 2020 when the Jaguars won seven straight.
Grambling State, on the other hand, drops to 3-2 in SWAC play snapping a three-game win streak in the process. The Tigers played this game without their second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Carte’are Gordon.
Leading the way for Southern was graduate guard Brion Whitley who scored a season-high 32 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field including five three-pointers.
P.J. Byrd followed suit with 18 points on an efficient 5-of-6 shooting, connecting on all three of his 3-point attempts adding eight assists and three steals.
𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫! 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 ✅
𝟓-𝟎 | 𝐒𝐖𝐀𝐂#ExperienceTheStandard #SouthernIsTheStandard #ProwlOn | #GoJags | #WeAreSouthern pic.twitter.com/eD7CcrqLL8
— Southern University Jaguars (@SouthernUsports) January 15, 2023
Cameron Christon paced Grambling State with 25 points on 11-of-20 shooting while Shawndarius Cowart recorded a triple-double with 12 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists.
In the first half, Southern led for the majority of the period peaking with a 10-point lead with 3:43 remaining before halftime.
Grambling started the second half going on a 17-6 run to take a four-point lead their first lead since the opening minute of the game. Grambling forced eight Southern fouls going 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in that stretch.
Both teams exchanged the lead back-and-forth until the final three minutes when Southern outscored Grambling 14-6 to secure the victory.
