Box Score GREENVILLE, N.C. | The Grambling State University men's basketball team led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but the Tigers couldn't put East Carolina away as the Pirates picked up a 76-68 victory on Thursday night in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
 
Grambling State (4-8) led 31-19 with 3:51 left in the first half, but East Carolina (6-5) proved to be too much in the second half, outscoring the Tigers, 48-37, to get the victory.
 
DeVante Jackson led Grambling State with 21 points, on 8-of-15 shooting, with four rebounds, one assist and one block. Ivy Smith, Jr. added 20 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals. Shirmane Thomas finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, including nine on the defensive end, with four assists and one steal.
 
B.J. Tyson led three East Carolina players in double figures with 20 points, six boards, three assists and one steal. Isaac Fleming added 18 points, including 8-of-11 from the foul line, three rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Dimitri Spasojevic registered 16 points and seven rebounds.
 
Turning Point
ECU opened the game on an 11-2 run, capped by a B.J. Tyson layup with 15:09 left.  Grambling State quickly answered and responded with a 14-0 run over the next six minutes as Axel Mpoyo scored on a layup to give the Tigers a 16-11 advantage with 9:32 remaining in the first half.
 
The Pirates cut the margin to 21-17 after an Isaac Fleming free throw with 6:18 left, but the Tigers responded with a 10-2 run, capped by an Ivy Smith, Jr., jumper to take their largest lead of the half, 31-19, with 3:51 remaining.
 
ECU closed out the half on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 31-28 at the break.
 
Grambling State came out of the break and took a 38-32 advantage after a DeVante Jackson 3-pointer with 16:58 remaining, but back came ECU as the Pirates trimmed the margin to 40-39 after a Shawn Williams trey with 15:56 left.
 
ECU took a 47-44 lead after a Dimitri Spasojevic layup with 12:51 left, but Smith's 3-pointer tied the game at 47 just six seconds later and GSU got some distance from buckets by Shirmane Thomas and Smith to push the advantage to 51-47, with 10:59 remaining.
 
The Pirates responded with a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to grab a 59-53 advantage with 6:29 remaining. The Tigers cut the margin to 60-58 with 4:35 left, but against ECU answered and pushed the advantage to 66-58 after a Fleming layup with 3:22 remaining.
 
The Tigers closed the gap to 71-67 after a Smith layup with 1:27 remaining, but that would be as close as Grambling State would get as the Pirates sealed the game at the free-throw line in the final 50 seconds.
 
Inside the Numbers
* Grambling State shot 27-of-65 (41.5 percent) from the floor and 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) from the free-throw line.
* ECU was 24-of-52 (46.2 percent) shooting and 25-of-40 (62.5 percent) from the charity stripe.
* The Tigers tallied 34 rebounds, with 20 coming off the defensive glass.
* The Pirates registered 41 rebounds, including 14 on the offensive end.
* Grambling State tallied 30 points in the paint, 25 bench points and 22 points off 16 ECU turnovers.
* East Carolina finished with 36 points in the paint, 18 bench points and 18 points off 18 GSU turnovers.
* The score was tied three times and there were eight lead changes.
 
News and Notes
* Grambling State completed its fourth straight road game.
* The Tigers have one more road game remaining in 2017 as GSU visits Seattle University on Dec. 28.
* Grambling State opens Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play on Monday, Jan. 1 with a 2 p.m. top-off against Alabama A&M.
 
Up Next
Grambling State has one more game remaining on its 2017 slate as the Tigers visit Seattle University on Thursday, Dec. 28. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. (Central).
 
Follow Grambling State Athletics
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