Box Score PHOENIX, Ariz. | Jason Perry-Murray scored 13 points and made 6-of-7 field goals as the Grambling State University men's basketball team dropped an 87-53 road decision to Grand Canyon on Saturday night at the GCU Arena.
 
Murray led the way for Grambling State (3-6) with a double-double of 13 points and a career-high 12 boards in 16 minutes of action. Ivy Smith, Jr., who was the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Player of the Week, tallied 12 points, including 8-of-8 from the foul line, with three steals, two assists and two boards.
 
Keonta Vernon paced Grand Canyon (6-2) with 19 points, including 8-of-8 from the field, with six rebounds and one steal. Joshua Braun registered 13 points, including three 3-pointers, five boards and one block, while Matt Jackson recorded 12 points, two steals and a pair of rebounds.
 
Turning Point
Grand Canyon opened the game on a 7-2 run, capped by a Keonta Vernon layup with 16:58 remaining in the first half. However, Grambling State used a 10-5 run over the next four minutes to cut the deficit to 13-12 after a Shirmane Thomas bucket with 12:27 left.
 
The Lopes extended the margin to 19-12 after a Oscar Frayer layup with 9:36 left, but again the Tigers closed the gap to 19-15 after a Thomas three-point play with 9:19 remaining.
 
Grand Canyon closed out the first half on a 20-6 run to take a 39-21 advantage into the break.
 
The Lopes put the game away early in the second half as the Tigers went cold from the field. Grand Canyon used a 12-1 run over a four-minute span to take a 56-30 advantage with 13:05 left.  Grambling State could not recover from the big deficit in the loss.
 
Inside The Numbers
* Grambling State shot 19-of-53 shooting (35.8 percent) from the floor and 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) from the free-throw line.
* Grand Canyon was 32-of-58 (55.2 percent) from the field and 12-of-19 (63.2 percent) from the charity stripe.
* The Lopes made 11 3-pointers, while the Tigers connected on just two from beyond the arc.
* Grambling State tallied 30 points in the paint, 18 bench points, 15 points off 12 Lopes turnovers and 13 second-chance points.
* The Lopes finished with 44 bench points, 38 points in the paint, 26 points off 21 Tiger turnovers and five second-chance points.
* There was just one lead change.
 
News & Notes
* This was the first meeting in the series between the Tigers and Lopes.
* Grambling State began the month of December with wins over Georgia Tech and Tougaloo.
* The matchup with Grand Canyon was the first of five straight road games to close out the 2017 portion of the Tiger schedule.
 
Up Next
Grambling State returns to action on Tuesday with an in-state opponent as the Tigers visit Louisiana-Monroe. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
 
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For complete coverage of Grambling State athletics, please follow the Tigers on social media at @GSU_Tigers (Twitter), /gramblingstateathletics (Facebook), @gramblingathetics01 (Instagram) or visit the official home of Grambling State Athletics at gsutigers.com.
 

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