By Curtis Ford, Grambling State Associate AD for Athletic Communications
GRAMBLING — In a game that came down to the final shot, the Grambling State University men’s basketball team survived a scare from Alabama A&M, defeating the Bulldogs 74-73 on Thursday night at the AAMU Events Center.
The win moved GSU to 17-13 overall and 14-3 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). AAMU dropped to 9-21, 8-9 in the SWAC.
Tra’Michael Moton led five Tigers into double figures, scoring 17 points with six steals, four rebounds and two assists. Jalen Johnson tacked on 14 points, Jourdan Smith added 13 points, Antwan Burnett contributed 12 points and Kintavious Dozier scored 10 points.
The Tigers jumped out of gates quickly, sprinting out to a 17-6 lead less than six minutes into the contest. Jourdan Smithcapped the early spurt with an emphatic dunk. Smith continued to showcase his strength at the basket with another jam with 8:20 on the clock to make it 26-16 in favor of GSU.
That would be Grambling State’s final field goal of the first half as Alabama A&M was able to carve into GSU’s lead, using an 8-0 run to make it 26-24 Tigers with 4:51 remaining.
Grambling State picked up the slack at the free throw line, going 7-of-8 at the charity stripe to close to half and sit in front 33-28.
The second half was where the pace picked up, as both teams traded blow for blow all the way until the final buzzer sounded.
AAMU grabbed its second lead of the game with 13:50 on the clock to take a 42-41 lead. One minute later, Jalen Johnson nailed a step back jumper to push the Tigers back in front 43-42.
As the lead shifted back and forth between the teams, Alabama A&M nabbed its largest lead of the game 59-56 on a pair of free throws by Cameron Tucker with 6:24 to play. GSU’s Johnson responded with a layup while drawing a foul on the Tigers’ next trip up the court. He sank the free throw to complete the three-point play, tying the game 59-59.
With the score tied at 61, Antwan Burnett converted a three-point play to give GSU a 64-61 cushion under four minutes to go.
A layup by Tucker with 1:07 remaining gave the Bulldogs a 71-69 lead. Moton was fouled on a three-point attempt with 34 seconds left but was only able to convert one of his three free throws. Moton made up for the misses on Alabama A&M’s next possession, forcing a steal a breaking away for what looked to be an easy layup.
Moton was fouled hard by Tucker on the attempt, with the officials upgrading the foul to a flagrant 1, giving him two more shots at the charity stripe which he converted to put the Tigers ahead 72-71.
Leading 74-71 with eight seconds to go, Moton fouled AAMU’s Dylan McClean on three-point attempt. The Tigers maintained a slim 74-73 lead after he sank two of three attempts from the line. Burnett snagged the rebound on the missed free throw, but a jump ball was called with possession belonging to the Bulldogs.
Smith blocked AAMU’s final shot attempt to preserve the win for Grambling State
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Grambling State went 22-of-45 from the floor (48.9 percent) and 28-of-33 (84.8 percent) at the free throw line.
- Jourdan Smith poured in 13 points, four rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block,
- Antwan Burnett tallied 12 points, six boards and one assist.
- Kintavious Dozier chipped in 10 points, four rebounds and two steals.
- Alabama A&M shot 44.8 percent (26-of-58) and 78.3 percent (18-of-23) from the charity stripe.
- AAMU held a 32-30 rebounding advantage.
- The Tigers finished with 34 points in the paint, 23 points off 15 AAMU turnovers, 16bench points, 12 fastbreak points and 11 second chance points.
- The Bulldogs scored 36 points in the paint, 33 bench points, 19 points off 18 GSU turnovers, 16 fastbreak points and 11 second chance points.
- Omari Peek led Alabama A&M with a game-high 22 points with five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
UP NEXT
Grambling State closes the regular season in Montgomery, Ala. when the Tigers lock horns with Alabama State on Saturday, March 9. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.