Grambling State maintained control from the opening tip and never looked back in clinching an 87-72 win against seed Bethune-Cookman in the quarterfinals game of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bartow Arena in Birmingham.
The Tigers extended their overall winning streak to 10 straight. Their record now stands at 23-8.
Grambling State had four players who recorded double figures.
Jourdan Smith posted a game-high 23 points on 10 of 13 shooting. Co-SWAC Player of the Year Cameron Christon followed him on the stat sheet with 19. Jonathan Aku had 15 and Tra’Michael Moton contributed with 12.
“That’s our thing – share the sugar. Pass the ball and make sure everybody can get a taste. Sharing the ball means everything to us,” said Grambling State head coach Donte’ Jackson, the SWAC Co-Coach of the Year.
“I’m proud of my team. We’ve been here before and had the long face going home. They know what this means. It’s business – they came to take care of it.”
Grambling State connected on 54.1% shooting from the field. The Tigers were equally prolific in their 3-point shooting, hitting 63.6%.
Bethune-Cookman was held in check by Grambling State’s pressure. It never found a way to operate within the flow of its halfcourt sets.
𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙀𝙓𝙏 𝙍𝙊𝙐𝙉𝘿➡️
‼️𝗧𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗡‼️#GramFam | #ThisIsTheG | #SWACTournament2023🐯🏀 pic.twitter.com/sSUbXHAazB
— Grambling State Men’s Basketball (@gmensbasketball) March 8, 2023
The Wildcats exceeded their scoring average of 67.7 points per game. However, these numbers were tallied in the closing minutes.
“When you think of games and matchups, this was the worst matchup for us of all the teams,” Bethune-Cookman head coach Reggie Theus said.
“Grambling is long. We don’t really have a post presence, so it makes the game very difficult. That’s a lot of pressure on our guards to have to play every night from 30 feet without having someone to throw the ball to in the post. It’s a need for our team and something we have to address.”
Kevin Davis led Bethune-Cookman with 21 points. Dhashon Dyson added 20 and Zion Harmon finished the game with 12.
Grambling State next faces the winner of No. 3 seed Jackson State-No. 6 seed Prairie View A&M in the semifinals on Friday, March 10 at 8:30 p.m. CST.
Courtesy: SWAC
