The last minute didn’t go Grambling’s way Saturday, with Texas Southern burying a jump shot with three seconds left for a 75-73 victory that halted the four-game win streak by the Tigers basketball team.
The Lady Tigers started the afternoon in style at the Fred C. Hobdy Assembly Center, as expected, smacking TSU by 19 after posting a 21-point win in Houston last month.
The normal second step in SWAC basketball weekends, tonight’s scheduled home games against Prairie View, have been postponed. Grambling will go on the road for its next action upcoming Saturday at Jackson State.
In Saturday’s men’s game, Grambling rallied well but couldn’t hold on to a brief lead down the stretch. Coach Donte’ Jackson’s squad came from 12 down and snagged a late three-point edge, but Texas Southern regained the lead with 41 seconds remaining and didn’t trail again.
The Tigers had owned the final minute during their winning streak, with clutch play giving Grambling the edge in three of the wins. It didn’t pan out Saturday, partly because GSU went 3 of 6 on the free throw line in crunch time after making an impressive 20 of 23 beforehand.
Grambling (9-9 overall, 7- 4 in the SWAC) tied the game at 65 and went up 70-67 with 2:17 left, but Texas Southern closed on an 8-3 burst capped by Jordan Gilliam’s dagger for the win. The Tigers didn’t get a shot away in the final three seconds, turning it over instead.
Senior Prince Moss posted a team-high 15 points and added five rebounds for the G-men. Classmate Trevell Cunningham had 14 points, seven assists and six assists. Sophomore Tra’Michael Moton scored 13 and dropped six dimes. Junior Cameron Christon added 11 points.
Texas Southern (7-7, 4-2) avenged a close loss on its homecourt last month.
There was no dramatics involved for the Grambling women (7-7, 6-4) in a solid 65-46 victory over TSU. The Lady Tigers gradually widened the margin, leading 32-26 at halftime and bringing an 11-point advantage into the final period, when the visitors could only hit 16 percent of their shots and were unable to threaten.
Justice Coleman led Grambling with 14 points, with Alexus Holt (12) and Candice Parramore (10) also scoring in double figures.
Lady Tigers junior center Jasmine Forte moved into third place on the school blocked shots list as she swatted a pair of shots to up her career total to 91. Forte also collected 11 rebounds in just 12 minutes of work. She entered the day ranked 22nd nationally with a 2.5 blocks average this season.
Next weekend’s slate sends Grambling to Jackson State on Saturday, with the men’s game at 4 to be carried on NBA TV. The Tigers get next Monday off while the Lady Tigers will come home to face JSU again that night.
Grambling photo attached – courtesy TayTapes870/GSUTigers.com