HATTIESBURG, Miss. | Grambling State could not hold onto a late second-half lead on the road Monday night, falling 68-60 to Southern Miss inside Reed Green Coliseum. The Tigers led by as many as five with under eight minutes to play, but the Golden Eagles closed the game on a 23-10 run to hand Grambling its second straight road loss.

Roderick Coffee III led the Tigers with 16 points, hitting three three-pointers and adding five rebounds and four assists. Antonio Munoz delivered one of his best performances of the season with 14 points, three rebounds and three steals, while Rickey Ballard contributed eight points on a perfect 2-for-2 night from long range. Randarius Jones added six points and a team-high eight rebounds.

GSU (3-6) opened the game by trading blows throughout a first half that featured seven ties and eight lead changes. The Tigers built a 31-26 advantage in the final minute after a dunk from Munoz and two free throws from Jones before Southern Miss (6-4) hit a late three to make it 31-29 at the break.

The Tigers maintained control early in the second half. Coffee's three at the 18:40 mark and Ballard's triple moments later pushed the lead to 37-33. Grambling later surged ahead 50-45 with just under eight minutes left following a Munoz dunk in transition.

Southern Miss responded with a series of timely buckets, highlighted by baskets by Tylik Weeks and Curt Lewis. Weeks finished with a game-high 19 points, while Isaac Taveras added 18 points and nine assists for the Golden Eagles.

Grambling shot 37.3 percent from the field and 7-for-13 from beyond the arc, but Southern Miss countered with 48.2 percent shooting and a 40-24 edge in points in the paint. The Tigers also struggled at the free-throw line in the final minutes, going 6-for-14 in the second half.

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