BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | The Grambling State University men's basketball team suffered a pair of cold-shooting spells as the Tigers fell to Texas Southern, 73-54, during the 2022 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Men's Basketball Tournament Semifinals on Friday afternoon at Bartow Arena.
Texas Southern (17-12), which won all three meetings against Grambling State this season, advances to the 2022 Cricket SWAC Men's Basketball Tournament Championship Game as the second seed and will face the winner of Alcorn State (top seed) or Alabama A&M (fifth seed) at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Bartow Arena. Grambling State concludes its season with a 12-20 record.
Grambling State went scoreless for a five-minute stretch during the first half and another to begin the second half as Texas Southern pulled away for the victory.
Shawndarius Cowart paced Grambling State with 20 points, on 8-of-15 shooting, along with seven rebounds, three steals and one assist. A'Mari McCray added 10 points and seven boards.
PJ Henry did all is damage in the first half, scoring 18 points, along with seven rebounds and one steal to lead Texas Southern. Brison Gresham tallied 11 points, two boards, two blocked shots and one steal, while Bryson Etienne registered 11 points, three boards and three assists. John Jones recorded 10 points and four rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Grambling State raced out to a 7-3 advantage after a Tra'Michael Moton jumper with 17:17 remaining in the first half
- Texas Southern tied the game at 7, but Grambling State used an 11-3 run over the next five minutes to grab an 18-10 lead after a Shawndarius Cowart jumper with 10:03 left
- TSU erased the deficit by using a 10-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by PJ Henry, to grab a 20-18 advantage with just over eight minutes to play
- Grambling State went cold from the floor shooting, going nearly five minutes without a bucket, as Texas Southern built a 30-21 lead with 3:13 remaining
- A Cameron Christon 3-pointer snapped the cold-shooting spell as GSU trailed, 30-24, with just under three minutes left in the half
- Texas Southern, which led 35-24, used a 13-0 run between the final 2:57 of the first half through the first 3:54 of the second half in building a 43-24 advantage
- TSU's defense continued to force turnovers and missed shots, while on the offensive end, extending the lead as AJ Lawson drained a 3-pointer to push the advantage to 50-26 with 14:42 remaining
- Grambling State continued to play from behind as TSU ran the lead to 55-29, but closed the gap to 55-31 after a free throw by Moton with 12:10 left.
- GSU never got any closer than 19 points during the final 10 minutes as Texas Southern advanced to the conference championship game
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Grambling State shot 33.0 percent (19-of-58) from the field and 72.0 percent (13-of-18) from the free-throw line
- Shawndarius Cowart registered 20 points, seven rebounds and one assist
- A'Mari McCray added 10 points and seven boards
- The Tigers finished with 22 points in the paint, 15 points off 17 Texas Southern turnovers, 14 fastbreak points, seven bench points and six second-chance points
- Texas Southern shot 44.0 percent (28-of-63) from the field and 100 percent (7-of-7) from the charity stripe
- PJ Henry poured in 18 points and seven boards
- Brison Gresham registered 11 points, two boards and two blocked shots
- Bryson Etienne added 11 points and three boards
- John Jones tallied 10 points and four rebounds
- TSU finished with 32 points in the paint, 23 fastbreak points, 23 bench points, 11second-chance points and nine points off 13 Grambling State turnovers
QUOTES BY GRAMBLING STATE HEAD COACH DONTE' JACKSON
Overall Statement
"Hats off to Texas Southern. They came out and played extremely well. We had several different battles with them throughout the year and they were all close games. Today, they came out and shot the ball extremely well. We didn't shoot the ball well and that was the difference in the game."
FOLLOW GRAMBLING STATE ATHLETICS
For complete coverage of Grambling State athletics, please follow the Tigers on social media at @GSU_Tigers (Twitter), /GramblingStateTigers1901 (Facebook), @gramblingathletics (Instagram) or visit the official home of Grambling State Athletics at gsutigers.com.
