MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Virshon Cotton scored a career-high 22 points to help lead the Grambling State University men's basketball team to a 73-60 road victory over Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opponent Alabama State on Saturday afternoon at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.

Cotton, who did most of his damage from behind the arc, going 5-of-9 from deep, led four Tigers into double-figures in the contest. The Milwaukee, Wis. native shot 7-of-13 from floor, snagging four rebounds and dishing two assists in the process. 

Jourdan Smith (12), Shawdarius Cowart (11) and Cameron Christon (10) were the other GSU players to score at least 10 points. 

Carte'are Gordon made his impact on the contest as well, not necessarily through scoring, but by dominating the boards. Gordon pulled down 11 rebounds paired with six points. 

Grambling State (14-8 overall, 7-3 SWAC), who led for just over 39 minutes, shot 49 percent from the field (25-of-51) while holding ASU to just 36 percent. 

Alabama State (6-17, 4-6) held its only lead of the afternoon, when it led 3-2 early in the first period. A 3-pointer by Christon put the Tigers up 5-3 at the 18:01 mark. GSU eventually opened up a 12-point advantage, 30-18, with 5:27 to go. 

After an extended delay due to an injury on the court, the Hornets settled down, trimming the the Tigers' lead to 33-27 at the half. 

Alabama State pressured the GSU early in the second half, pulling within one point, 37-36 with 16:30 to play. 

Leading 41-39, Grambling State gave itself a nine point cushion to work with, using a quick 7-0 run capped by another trey from Cotton, extending the lead to 48-39 with 13:43 remaining. 

The Tigers continued to wear the Hornets down for the remainder of the contest. GSU opened up it's largest lead the day, 73-55, on two more threes from Cotton with 2:03 to go.

Antonio Madlock paced the Hornets with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double. 

UP NEXT

Grambling State travels to Huntsville, Ala. for a Monday night match-up versus Alabama A&M. The contest is set for a 7 p.m. start. 

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