Box Score

BATON ROUGE, La. | The Grambling Tigers erased a 13-point first-half deficit to defeat Southern 61-56 at the F. G. Clark Activity Center. The victory marks the third Southwestern Athletic conference win in a row for Grambling.

"After the game we went in the locker room and there was excitement because this was such a big game," said Coach Donte Jackson. "Because when you think Grambling, some people think Southern, so the HBCU SWAC rivalry is huge. Everybody was thrilled in the locker room. In the end it's about finding a way."

In the first half, Southern buried a total of nine 3-pointers and seemed to take control of the game with a 40-29 lead at the break. However, after Grambling made crucial second-half adjustments, Southern missed all eight of  their second-half attempts from behind the arc. Grambling's suffocating defense in the latter half allowed just 16 second-half points for the Jaguars while scoring 32 points of its own, completing the sensational comeback.

"It is wonderful to have a great group of guys overall and to have four seniors (Ivy, Devante, AJ and Travon) that have been here before," said Coach Jackson. "When I walked in the locker room at halftime, everyone was sitting there calm. There was no finger pointing or anything like that. We just talked about being better transitionally on defense and having everyone account for their man."

Grambling (9-7, 3-0 SWAC) produced three scorers in double-figures as Devante Jackson and Cameron Christon both finished with 13 points apiece while teammate Anthony Gaston chipped in with 11. Terreon Randolph generated a game-high 10 rebounds in the victory.

"Overall it was a total team effort," said Coach Jackson. "Trevell Cunningham came off the bench and was key for us, and Kelton Edwards hit some big shots down the stretch. I like the way our team responds to adversity."

The Jaguars were led by sharpshooter Brendon Brook who did not miss a single shot all night as he went 3-of-3 from downtown and made all three of his free throw attempts.

Inside the Numbers
> Grambling State shot 40 percent (18-of-45) from the floor and 91 percent (21-of-23) from the charity stripe
> Southern was 19-of-49 (39 percent) from the field and 9-of-11 (82 percent) from the foul line
> GSU registered 29 rebounds, including 26 on the defensive glass
> Southern pulled down 24 rebounds, with four coming on the offensive end
> The Tigers finished with 22 points in the paint, 13 bench points, six second-chance points and five fast break points
> The Jaguars recorded 14 points in the paint, 16 bench points, four second-chance points and seven fast break points

Up Next
The Tigers continue conference play on Monday, January 13 as they travel to Lorman, Miss. to face Alcorn State University. Tip-off against the Braves is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Davey L. Whitney Complex in the second of two games of the SWAC doubleheader.

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