ATLANTA, Ga. | Quincy McGriff registered 10 points as the Alabama A&M University men's basketball team fell behind by double digits in the first half and could not recover in falling to Grambling State, 73-56, during the opening round of the 2025 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday at the Gateway Center Arena.
Grambling State (11-21), the eighth seed, advances to meet top seed Southern on Wednesday as the Jaguars swept the season series. Alabama A&M, which entered the tournament as the ninth seed, concludes the season at 10-22.
McGriff led the Bulldogs with 10 points, one rebound and one assist, while
AC Bryant and
London Riley each added nine points.
Mikale Stevenson paced Grambling State with 17 points, including three 3-pointers, along with three assists and two boards. Kintavious Dozier added 16 points, six assists, two boards and two steals, while P.J. Eason tallied 12 points, seven boards, two steals and one assist.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Alabama A&M got a dunk by
Saliou Seye with 15:30 remaining in the opening half, giving the Bulldogs a slim, 5-4, lead, but Grambling State used an 8-0 run, capped by a Dozier dunk as the Tigers took control of the game at 12-5 two minutes later.
A Riley triple cut the deficit to 15-12 with 10:39 left, but the Tigers seized control with a 14-0 run, capped by an Antwan Burnett 3-pointer as Grambling State led 28-12 with 8:35 remaining.
The Bulldogs trimmed the margin to 26-20 after a
Dylan Mclean bucket with 5:26 left.
However, that would be as close as AAMU would get during the final five minutes of the first half as GSU stretched the lead to 41-27 on an Eason putback with 1:06 remaining.
A McGriff bucket ended the half with the Bulldogs trailing, 41-30.
It would be much of the same in the second half as Bryant's trey cut the deficit to 53-44 with just over 11 minutes to play.
Each time Alabama A&M closed the gap, Grambling State had an answer and extended the advantage to 61-47 with 5:30 remaining after a Dozier layup.
AAMU never got any closer than 12 points down the stretch as the Tigers advanced to the quarterfinals.
GAME NOTES
- Alabama A&M shot 33.3 percent (17-of-51) and 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from the free-throw line
- The Bulldogs grabbed 31 rebounds, with 24 coming off the defensive glass
- Quincy McGriff registered 10 points, one rebound and one assist
- AC Bryant and London Riley each added nine points
- Alabama A&M finished with 28 bench points, 10 points in the paint, six fastbreak points, five points off nine GSU turnovers and five second-chance points
- Grambling State went 28-of-57 from the floor (49.1 percent) and 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) from the charity stripe
- The Tigers grabbed 34 rebounds, including 27 on the defensive end
- Mikale Stevenson registered17 points, including three 3-pointers, along with three assists and two boards
- Kintavious Dozier added 16 points, six assists, two boards and two steals
- P.J. Eason tallied 12 points, seven boards, two steals and one assist
- Grambling State finished with 32 points in the paint, 30 bench points, 18 points off 14 AAMU turnovers, nine fastbreak points and eight second-chance points
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