ITTA BENA, Miss. | The Grambling State University men's basketball team snagged a hard-fought 65-61 victory over Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opponent Mississippi Valley State on Saturday night at R.W. Harrison HPER Complex.

The Tigers held the lead from wire-to-wire, never trailing in the contest. 

Jonathan Aku led the Tigers offensively, scoring a team-high 13 points to go along with six rebounds, five blocks and two assists. Cameron Christon was the only other Tiger to score in double-digits with 12 points. He also grabbed five rebounds, two assists and one steal. 

Grambling State (11-7 overall, 4-2 SWAC) shot out of the gates quick, opening a 17-3 lead over the first six minutes of play. Quentin Murrell gave GSU is largest lead of the half, 28-8, with 10:07 to go. 

Mississippi Valley State (2-19, 1-6) settled down, embarking on a 17-1 of its own, pulling within four points of the Tigers, 29-25, with 3:18 left in the half. A pair of free throws and a layup by Christon stretched GSU's advantage to 33-25 at the 2:18 mark. Virshon Cotton received an alley-top pass from Christon, making the score 35-26 with under 20 seconds to play. 

The Tigers led 35-27 at the half. 

Much like the beginning of the contest, GSU quickly opened up a double digit lead, 42-30 with 15:02 to go in the game. However, the Delta Devils continued to battle, making the Tigers sweat on the second half. 

With Grambling State leading 49-44 with just over eight minutes left, a 3-pointer from Kadar Waller pulled MVSU within two points. 

GSU opened up a 56-49 lead on a dunk by Aku with 6:09 to go, but once again the Tigers couldn't completely shake free from the pesky Delta Devils. A pair of layups from Danny Washington and Tyronn Mosley trimmed the lead to 56-53 with 5:056 remaining.

MVSU pulled within two points, 63-61, with 24 seconds.

After GSU missed the backend of a one and one, MVSU's Waller recovered the rebound and frantically pushed the ball up court. Aku made one of the biggest plays of the game by stepping in front of Waller in the lane and drawing a charge with 10.2 seconds left.

Shawndarius Cowart iced the game away at the charity stripe, securing the 65-61 triumph. 

As a team, GSU shot 44.7 percent from the field, going 21-of-47 from the floor. The Tigers knocked down 6-of-15 (40.0 percent) from behind the arc and went 17-of-34 (50.0 percent) from the free throw line.

The Tigers outrebounded the Delta Devils 39-34.

UP NEXT

Grambling State travels to Pine Bluff, Ark. to take on the University of Arkansas-Pine bluff on Monday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at H.O. Clemmons Arena

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