HOUSTON, Texas (Football) – It was a tale of two halves in Houston on Saturday night as the Grambling State University Tigers (10-1) took on, the back-to-back defending Southwester Athletic Conference (SWAC) champions,  Alcorn State University Braves (5-6) in the 2016 SWAC Championship game. The Tigers were able to hold off the Braves win the title, 27-20.

The first half of the game was all Alcorn as the Braves were able to rattle of 17 unanswered points over the Tigers. ASU's first touchdown came with 6:12 left in the first quarter as Lenorris Footman ran 15 yards to the endzone and Haiden McCraney drilled one through the uprights, 7-0. In the second quarter, McCraney hit a 27 yard field goal to set the score at 10-0 with 11:56 left. The last score of the first half came when De'Lance Turner sliced through Grambling's Golden Curtain for 69 yards to find his way to the end zone and McCraney made the point after with 10:44 left in the second quarter, 17-0.

Alcorn limited the Tigers' quarterback DeVante Kincade to three of seven for 64 yards and he was sacked four times. Chad Williams and Martez Carter combined for one three catches and 67 yards. Grambling's running game was halted to just 15 carries for 96 yards.

To begin the second half, Carter jump started the G-Men with a 75 yard kick return. Verlan Hunter and Kincade linked up with 12:47 left in the third quarter for the first Grambling touchdown and Jonathan Wallace made the point after, 17-7. Lyndemian Brooks scored for the Tigers with 8:06 left in the third quarter and Wallace made the point after to set the score at 17-14.
Samuel Reese kicked up Grambling's energy when he sacked Footman, forced a fumble and recovered it with 4:12 left in the third quarter. The Tigers drive looked to stall after a 3^rd and 19 but a flag on Alcorn's Michael Brooks for a horse collar tackle on Kincade breathed new life into Grambling's offense. The Tigers capped off an 11 play, 22 yard drive with a punt at the 13:00 mark of the fourth quarter.

The tide of the game began to turn in GSU's favor when the Braves' Michael Ajumobi dropped a pass in the end zone and Alcorn picked up a delay of game penalty. The stalled drive was finished with McCraney making a 41 yard field goal with 9:46 left in the game, 20-14.

The G-Men came alive with clock winding as Kincade and company began their march down the field. With 7:25 left in the game, Martez Carter caught a 26 yard pass from Kincade, fumbled the ball at the two yard line, and Dominique Leake saved the day by catching the ball in the end zone to knot the score at  20. Abubbaker Conteh's point after was blocked by Alcorn's Ramonte Bell and ran back by Terry Whittington to Grambling's 20 yard line. The G-Men defense held firm and didn't allow Footman and the Braves to move the ball. The Braves would punt the ball away for 37 yards with 5:21 left in the fourth quarter.

Kincade and the Tigers strung together a four play, 71 yard drive to score a touchdown and point after to set the score at 27-20 with 3:34 left in the game.
As time wound down, the Braves had two more possessions but both wouldn't be enough to defeat the G-Men.

Kincade was 15-of-22 for 232 yards, two touchdowns and was sacked a SWAC Championship record of eight times. Chad Williams was the leader for the Tigers receivers with six catches for 103 yards. Carter was the anchor for the Grambling offense with 14 carries for 136 yards and one touchdown. Carter was also named SWAC Championship Offensive MVP for the Grambling and set the SWAC Championship record for all-purpose yards with 348 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, De'Arius Christmas led the way with 9.5 total tackles, one sack for five yards, one tackle for loss of five yards, and one pass break up. He was also named the SWAC Championship Defensive MVP for Grambling.

ASU's Footman ended the night going 14-of-24 with one interception and was sacked four times. Turner was the leading rusher for the Braves with 16 carries for 126 yards and one touchdown.  In the receiving department, Norlando Veals had four catches for 86 yards. Darien Anderson was the defensive leader with 8.5 total tackles, one sack for three yards, one tackle for loss of three yards, one fumble recovery, and one quarterback hurry.

Grambling will face North Carolina Central University on Dec. 17 at noon (ET) in Atlanta, Ga. for the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl.