By: Habtom Keleta-Asst. AD for Media Relations
Box Score HUNTSVILLE, Ala. | The Grambling State Tigers had a golden opportunity to make an impact for the fourth seed in the conference tournament, but on Thursday night the Tigers suffered a heartbreaking 58-57 loss to Alabama A&M at the hands of a tip-in at the buzzer in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.
Grambling (16-14, 10-7 SWAC) led 48-42 with 5:42 left to play as senior point guard
Ivy Smith, Jr. nailed a three-pointer to give the Tigers a cushion. The Tacoma, Wash. nativeÂ
leads the SWAC in both steals per game and assists per game.
Alabama A&M responded with a 16-9 run to close the game in front of their home crowd.
Grambling trailed by two points with 14 seconds left when
Kelton Edwards buried a 3-pointer which gave Grambling a one point lead. Moments later, Bulldogs guard Cameron Alford shot 3-pointer that missed the rim, and just before time expired, Bulldogs forward Jalen Johnson tipped the ball into the rim for the upset victory.
Smith, Jr. led Grambling with 16 points, six assists, four steals and two rebounds while teammate
Cameron Christon added 10 points and five rebounds in the loss.
Travon Bunch chipped in with four points and six boards for the Tigers. Â
The Bulldogs were led by Garrett Hicks who scored a game-high 23 points in the upset victory.
Inside the Numbers
> Grambling State shot 41 percent (20-of-49) from the floor and 80 percent (12-of-15) from the charity stripe
> Alabama A&M was 22-of-55 (40 percent) from the field and 9-of-16 (56 percent) from the foul line
> GSU registered 30 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass
> Alabama A&M pulled down 37 rebounds, with 15 coming on the offensive end
> The Tigers finished with 24 points in the paint, 25 bench points, nine second-chance points and six fast break points
> The Bulldogs recorded 28 points in the paint, 11 bench points, 14 second-chance points and six fast break points
Up Next
The Tigers continue conference play on Saturday, March 7 as they travel to Montgomery, Ala. to face Alabama State in the final game of the regular season. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Dunn Oliver Acadome.
WHAT'S AT STAKE AROUND THE SWAC
The conference is gearing up for an exciting final day of regular season play which has huge implicatinos for SWAC tournament seedings.
 H2H = Head-to-Head
Seeds #1 Prairie View A&M, #7 Alabama State and #8 Alabama A&M have been determined.
Prairie View A&M has clinched the #1 seed and will host #8 seed Alabama A&M in the quarterfinals.
In the event Southern and Texas Southern finish with identical records Southern owns the H2H tiebreaker by virtue of point differential.
If Southern defeats Prairie View A&M they will secure the #2 seed and host #7 Alabama State; a loss would drop the Jaguars to the #3 seed if Texas Southern wins its final regular season game versus Alcorn State.
Texas Southern will secure the #2 seed with a Southern loss and a win versus Alcorn State and would host #7 Alabama State in the quarterfinals.
Seeds #4 through #6 are undetermined with Grambling State, Alcorn State and Jackson State currently holding identical 10-7 conference records.
Grambling State will secure the #4 seed with a win versus Alabama State and losses by Alcorn State and Jackson State.
Alcorn State will secure the #4 seed with a win versus Texas Southern and losses by Grambling State and Jackson State.
Jackson State will secure the #4 seed with a win versus Alabama A&M and losses by Alcorn State and Grambling State.
In the event of a three-way tie between Grambling State, Alcorn State and Jackson State with either 11-7 or 10-8 conference records Alcorn State would claim the #4 seed, Jackson State would be the #5 seed and Grambling State would be the #6 seed.
Jackson State owns the H2H tiebreaker over Grambling State by virtue of point differential.
Alcorn State owns the H2H tiebreaker over Grambling State by virtue of point differential.
Jackson State owns the H2H tiebreaker over Alcorn State by virtue of point differential.
Follow Grambling State Athletics
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