GRAMBLING, La. | The Grambling State University men's basketball team couldn't fend off a late surge by Texas Southern, falling 54-52 at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Center on Monday evening.
GSU led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but TSU muscled its way past the Tigers with a slew of clutch shots and defensive stops down the stretch. Grambling State was in the lead for 35 minutes of the contest.
The loss dropped Grambling State to 4-11 overall and 1-1 in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play. TSU improved to 3-10 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Grambling State got off to a strong start, building an 18-10 lead midway through the first half. Texas Southern GSU's lead down to two points, 18-16, but Grambling responded with a 7-0 run of its own to nab a 25-16 advantage with 4:58 remaining until halftime.
GSU would take a 27-21 lead in the half.
In the second half, Grambling State maintained control of the scoreboard eventually grabbing its largest lead of the game at the 9:58 mark with a deep pull-up three-pointer from
Terrence Lewis that made the score 40-31.
With GSU ahead 43-32, a three-pointer from Jaylen Wysinger kickstarted Texas Southern's rally with 8:25 to play. TSU continued to chip away at GSU's lead until it forged ahead 46-45 on Zaire Hayes three with 3:22 left.
GSU had opportunities down the stretch to reclaim the lead but couldn't get back on top of TSU, falling 54-52.
Grambling State had two players score in double-figures.
Tra'Michael Moton contributed 11 points, six rebounds, two steal and an assist while
Jalen Johnson added 10 points to go along with five rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Hayes led Texas Southern with a game-high 16 points.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Grambling State went 21-of-60 from the floor (35.0 percent) including 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) from behind the arc and 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) from the charity stripe.
- Texas Southern connected on 18-of-53 of its field goal attempts (34.0 percent), 5-of-13 from three-point range (38.5 percent) and 13-of-15 from the free throw line (86.7 percent).
- GSU scored 14 points off 13 turnovers. TSU scored 15 points off 12 turnovers.
- Grambling State outrebounded the Texas Southern 38-36
- GSU finished with 26 points in the paint, 12 second-chance points, 11 fast break points and 30 points from the bench.
- TSU tallied 18 points in the paint, 16 fast break points, six second chance points and 19 bench points.
UP NEXT
Grambling State travels to Daytona Beach, Fla. To take on Bethune Cookman on Saturday, January 13
th. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. EST at Moore Gymnasium.