Courtesy of GSU Athletic Communications
The Grambling State University men’s basketball team picked up its first Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) win of the season with a 79-72 triumph over Florida A&M on Monday night at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
Antwan Burnett paced GSU (4-14 overall, 1-3 SWAC) with a team-high 18 points to go along with three steals, two rebounds and two assists.
Chilaydrien Newton tied a career-high, scoring 17 points in 19 minutes of action. He added three assists and a pair of rebounds.
Grambling State shot 52.2 percent from the field (24-of-46). The Tigers connected on 4-of-12 from behind the arc and was 27-of-35 at the free throw line.
GSU played from in front for most of the night, only trailing briefly in the first half. With FAMU leading 10-9 with just over 13 minutes to go in the period, the Tigers used a 15-6 run sparked by an emphatic dunk by Emeka Nnaji to craft 24-16 lead with 7:45 remining in the half.
Grambling State continued to pour it on the Rattlers in the first half, opening a double-digit advantage, 31-21, on a bucket by Mikale Stevenson with 4:19 on the clock. The Tigers carried a 39-30 lead into halftime.
In the second half, GSU grabbed its largest lead of the game, 63-47 on a driving dunk by Newton with 8:07 to play. The Rattlers didn’t go down easily, however.
Florida A&M (3-11, 0-3) embarked on an 8-0 run to cut GSU’s lead down to single-digits, 63-55, with 5:08 to go. With 1:06 left in the game, FAMU cut GSU’s lead down to 71-67, but couldn’t get any close as the Tigers wrapped up the game at the free throw line in the closing moments.
Grambling State travels to Baton Rouge, La. to take on arch-rival Southern on Saturday, January 18th. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at F.G. Clark Activity Center.
