CARBONDALE, Ill. | The Grambling State University men's basketball team wrapped up non-conference play on Tuesday evening, falling to Southern Illinois 75-64 at the Banterra Arena. 
 
Tra'Michael Moton led GSU with 13 points, five rebounds and two assists, while AJ Taylor poured in 11 points, with four boards, a team-high three blocked shots and one assist. Eric Parrish registered 12 points, a team-high six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Terron Randolph added 10 points, five boards, two assists, one block and one steal.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Southern Illinois (8-5) raced out to a 12-4 lead after a layup by Marcus Domask with 15:50 remaining in the opening half
- The Salukis pushed the advantage to 19-6 after a 3-pointer by Domask with 13:12 left
- Grambling State (3-10) closed the gap to 19-10 after a pair of free throws by Tra'Michael Moton with 12:11 remaining
- However, Southern Illinois used a 12-3 run over the next five minutes to extend the advantage to 31-13
- A Cameron Christon bucket cut the margin to 33-21 with just under five minutes left in the half
- Southern Illinois closed out the first half on an 8-4 run to take a 41-25 lead into the break
- The Salukis extended the margin to 49-33 after two free throws by Domask with 14:42 remaining
- A pair of free throws by Anthony D'Avanzo gave the Salukis their largest lead of the night, 59-39, with 9:27 left
- Grambling State trimmed the deficit to 70--57 after a Moton layup with just over two minutes to play
- The Tigers never got any closer than 11 points during the final two minutes
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Grambling State shot 45.1 percent (23-for-51) from the floor and 80.0 percent (16-for-20) from the free-throw line
- The Tigers recorded 40 points in the paint, 38 bench points, 14 fastbreak points, 10 points off 13 Southern Illinois turnovers and one second-chance point
- Southern Illinois shot 34.5 percent (20-of-58) from the field and 75.7 percent (28-of-37) from the charity stripe
- Marcus Domask led the way for the Salukis, posting 24 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and one steal
- Ben Coupet Jr. tallied 17 points and five boards
- Lance Jones finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, a team-high four steals and three assists.
- SIU tallied 26 points in the paint, 19 bench points, 17 fastbreak points, 15 points off of 14 Grambling State turnovers and 12 second-chance points
 
UP NEXT
Grambling State returns to the friendly confines of the Frederick C. Hobdy Assembly Center, opening Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play versus Prairie View A&M on Monday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

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