HAMMOND, La. – Drake Wilks scored on a putback with 3.7 seconds left, lifting Grambling State to a 68-67 non-conference win over Southeastern Louisiana Saturday afternoon in the University Center.
Wilks's basket culminated a 22-point second-half comeback for the Tigers (4-7). Southeastern (6-5) could not get off a shot before the buzzer.
Senior guard
Joshua Filmore led the Lions with 16 points. Senior forward
James Currington and senior guard
Jabbar Singleton contributed 11 points each. Junior forward
Moses Greenwood had a team-high eight rebounds while junior guard
Marlain Veal had six assists. The Lions shot 50 percent for the game, including 61.5 percent in taking a 46-27 lead into the half.
Anthony Gaston finished with a game-high 18 points for Grambling. DeVante Jackson had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Ivy Smith Jr. added 13 points and four assists. The Tigers shot 39.3 percent, 44.1 percent in the second half, but out-rebounded Southeastern 41-29, including 18-10 on the offensive boards. The Tigers were also 13-of-14 (92.9 percent) from the line while the Lions were 14-of-28 (50 percent).
Grambling pulled to within 67-66 on a 3-pointer by Gaston with 44 seconds left. Shirmane Jackson forced a steal on the ensuing possession, giving the Tigers the ball with 15 seconds left. Jackson missed a jumper from the top of the key but Wilks got the rebound. Wilks missed the putback but got it back and scored to make it 68-67 with 3.6 seconds left.
After a Southeastern timeout, senior guard
Eddy Polanco raced the ball up the court but had the buzzer go off before his desperation shot from the right wing missed short.
Southeastern had matched its biggest lead of the game, at 49-27, on a layup by senior forward
Jordan Capps with 18:58 remaining. Grambling began to gradually chip away at the deficit, getting to within 56-44 on a three-point play by Jackson with 8:45 left. Veal pushed the lead back to 59-44 on a layup with 7:56 remaining but a 3 by Wilks opened an 8-0 run for the Tigers. Two Smith free throws made it 59-52 with 5:57 remaining.
Currington hit the front end of a one-and-one to keep the lead at 62-56 with 3:05 left. Gaston hit a jumper to make it 63-60 with 1:40 remaining. Filmore scored off an assist from Veal but Gaston was fouled on a 3 on the ensuing possession and hit all three free throws to cut the margin to 65-63 at the 1:06 mark. A Currington jumper gave Southeastern had a 67-63 lead with 48 seconds left.
Filmore had a pair of 3s and Veal had one as Southeastern got out to a 12-0 lead at the 17:18 mark. Grambling got on the board as Jackson dunked in an inbounds by Smith with 16:30 left. But Singleton knocked down another 3 and Currington scored off a putback to extend the lead to 23-6 with 11:16 remaining.
Polanco drove the lane to make it 25-8 at the 9:36 mark. A pair of 3s by Gaston pulled the Tigers to within 28-16 with 6:50 remaining. But Filmore drilled a 3 from the left corner off a cross-court pass from Singleton, then added another off a Veal assist to give the Lions a 36-16 lead with 5:15 left in the half.
Polanco grabbed a steal and fed Currington for a layup, then scored off a steal by Capps to push the margin to 41-20 with 2:08 remaining.
Grambling cut the deficit to 49-33 on a Jackson putback with 16:57 left. But Greenwood drained a long hook shot from the right wing and Singleton hit a 3 from the left corner to make it 54-34 at the 13:59 mark.
NOTES:
It was the first time this season Southeastern lost when leading at the half. The Lions had been 5-0.
Veal moved into third place on the Lions' career steal list with his 121
st, passing Amir Abdur-Rahim (2001-04).
Grambling cut Southeastern's lead in the series 7-3 with its first win in Hammond since 1996.
QUOTES:
Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner:
"Obviously disappointing. Just an absolute collapse in the second half. We just had opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to win the game. We couldn't make a free throw. We were 14 out of 28 from the line and it became very frustrating. We were just out of it in the second half. We obviously lost our intensity level at halftime. I think we got very content with ourselves and that is something we have to address. Grambling didn't change anything other than they did what we expected. We knew they were a good team and would come out and play with a lot more intensity and come after us. I thought we just kind of backed off. We kept trying to find somebody who could get out there and get done something done for us and it didn't happen in the second half. We ruined a great first half but you play basketball for 40 minutes and not 20. It was a great example of a team getting too comfortable and another team not quitting and that's what happens."
UP NEXT:
Southeastern heads west to take on in-state rival UL Lafayette Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Cajundome in Lafayette.
BOX SCORE
Grambling State 68, Southeastern La. 67
GRAMBLING STATE (4-7)
GASTON, Anthony 5-12 5-5 18; JACKSON, DeVante 7-10 2-2 16; SMITH, JR., Ivy 5-12 2-2 13; WILKS, Drake 3-7 0-0 8; MPOYO, Axel 2-6 2-2 6; PERRY-MURRAY, Jason 1-5 2-3 4; THOMAS, Shirmane 1-2 0-0 3; JONES, Diontae 0-3 0-0 0; JACKSON, Bobby 0-2 0-0 0; WRIGHT, Kareem 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 24-61 13-14 68.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (6-5)
Filmore, Joshua 5-9 2-4 16; Currington, James 5-6 1-3 11; Singleton, Jabbar 3-5 3-4 11; Capps, Jordan 3-8 2-6 8; Veal, Marlain 2-9 3-7 8; Greenwood, Moses 3-4 1-2 7; Polanco, Eddy 2-3 2-2 6; Charleston, Keith 0-2 0-0 0; West, D'Angelo 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 23-46 14-28 67.
Grambling State............... 27 41 - 68
Southeastern Louisiana........ 46 21 - 67
3-point goals--Grambling State 7-16 (GASTON, Anthony 3-5; WILKS, Drake 2-4; THOMAS, Shirmane 1-1; SMITH, JR., Ivy 1-2; JONES, Diontae 0-2; WRIGHT, Kareem 0-2), Southeastern Louisiana 7-18 (Filmore, Joshua 4-7; Singleton, Jabbar 2-3; Veal, Marlain 1-4; Polanco, Eddy 0-1; Charleston, Keith 0-1; Capps, Jordan 0-2). Fouled out--Grambling State-SMITH, JR., Ivy, Southeastern Louisiana-Veal, Marlain. Rebounds--Grambling State 41 (JACKSON, DeVante 11), Southeastern Louisiana 29 (Greenwood, Moses 8). Assists--Grambling State 9 (SMITH, JR., Ivy 4), Southeastern Louisiana 14 (Veal, Marlain 6). Total fouls--Grambling State 26, Southeastern Louisiana 19. Technical fouls--Grambling State-THOMAS, Shirmane; TEAM, Southeastern Louisiana-Veal, Marlain. A-425
