HAMMOND, La. – DeVante Jackson scored 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Grambling State University past the Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball team, 81-70, Wednesday night at the University Center.
 
The Lions (1-2) shot just 12-for-20 from the free throw line while GSU was 26-for-36 from the charity stripe. The Tigers also outrebounded SLU, 37-33.
 
SLU had four players score in double figures led by Ty Brewer with 15. Junior Brandon Gonzalez chipped in with 13. Senior Von Julien added 12 while sophomore LaQuan Butler added 10.
 
The Tigers (3-0) were led by Jackson while Anthony Gaston added 17 points and Ivy Smith Jr dropped 12.
 
The Lions and Tigers battled for the better part of 40 minutes as GSU held a 39-35 lead at halftime. After Grambling built a 51-39 lead with 16:10 left in the game, SLU battled back to cut the lead the GSU lead to two, 64-62, with 6:21 left.
 
The Tigers responded with a 10-0 run to take a 74-62 lead with 2:18 to go and they would hold on for the win.
 
The Lions finished the game shooting 26-for-59 (44.1 percent) from the field but shot just 12-for-32 (37 percent) in the second half.
 
"It just wasn't our night." said SLU men's head basketball coach David Kiefer. "Sometimes the ball just isn't going to go in but we missed three uncontested lay ups when the game was right there for us. We just have to build a culture here game-by-game. I thought we played hard but we just didn't play tough and that hurt us tonight."
 
The Lions will look to get back on track Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. when they the University of Mobile to wrap up the three-game home stand.
 
The Southeastern Sports Network will offer a free video stream of Sunday's game and fans can tune into to 90.9 KSLU for the play-by-play. Tune in online at www.LionSports.net or the Lions' Gameday Experience app for Android or iOS devices. Fans can also watch on Southeastern's YouTube channel (SLUathletics) with any mobile, tablet or smart TV device (e.g., Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV and Roku).
 
HARDWOOD CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the basketball program are encouraged to join the Hardwood Club.  Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letterwinners.  All membership fees and donations to Hardwood Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern basketball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Basketball, follow @LionUpMBB and @DavidKieferSLU on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.