BATON ROUGE, La. | Shawnadrius Cowart notched a triple-double, but it wasn't enough to lift the Grambling State men's basketball to victory as the Tigers lost 81-73 at the F.G. Clark Activity Center to Southern University on Saturday afternoon.

Cowart stuffed the stat sheet racking up 14 rebounds, 12 points and 10 assists. He added two steals. 

Cameron Christon also had a strong performance, scoring a team-high 25 points, Christon's 25-point performance matched a season-high and was one short of tying his career-high which was set on March 11, 2021 versus the Jaguars. He also snagged four rebounds.

Grambling State (10-7 overall, 3-2 SWAC) shot a higher percentage from the floor than Southern (9-9, 5-0). The Tigers went 41.4 percent of its shots, compared to SU's 38.3 percent. However, it was Southern's ability to knock down 3-pointers that served as the difference. The Jaguars we 10-of-26 from long distance (38.5 percent). GSU struggled from behind the arc, draining just 18.2 percent (4-of-22) of its attempts. 

GSU who trailed seven at halftime, rallied back early in the second half, but ran out of steam in the final minutes of the contest. 

In the first half, The Tigers and Jaguars battled back and forth. GSU was held a 16-14 lead with 10:37 to go in the first half. Southern then went on an 18-6 run, building 32-22 lead at the 3:43 mark. The Jaguars led 38-31 at the half. 

The Tigers exited the locker room with a different energy, opening the second half with 17-6 run over the first seven minutes, pushing in front of SU 48-44 with 13:00 to play. 

After Southern cut the gap back down to one, Cam Christon drained a midrange jumper extending GSU's lead to 50-47 with 12:07 to go. The Jaguars knocked down back-to back threes to go up 53-50 with 11:06 left.

With 8:31 remaining as SU clinging to a 55-54 lead, Quintin Murrell splashed 3-pointer, pushing GSU back in the lead 57-55. 

After SU tied the game at 58-58, Grambling State had a chance to take a two-point lead, however two missed free throws kept the game tied. SU scored the next four points to go up 62-58 with 6:15 to go. 

The Tigers tied the game twice down the stretch, but wasn't able to regain the lead.

Brion Whitley paced Southern, pouring in a game-high 32 points. 

UP NEXT 
Grambling State returns to action Jan. 21 as the Tigers take a trip to Itta Bena, Miss. to take on Mississippi Valley State. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. 

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