OMARI

[PointGuard]

WEEK #5

Dec. 13: Cleveland State Vikings (3-4) @ Grambling Tigers (6-2)

We win this one 68-54. But it was an uninspiring effort by both teams. We held the lead except for about 5 minutes in the middle of the 1st half. But by halftime we were ahead 33-25. We pretty much had a 10-15 point lead throughout the 2nd half while the ugly play persisted. C Correy Parker scored 15 and grabbed 8 rebounds. SG Lonnie Robertson scored 11 while PF Etan Benton and SF David Heyward each had 10 points.



SWAC Awards: Player of the Week was John Christian of Florida A&M and Freshman Player of the Week was Ricardo Douglas of Texas Southern.

[PointGuard]

WEEK #6

Dec. 20: Grambling Tigers (7-2) @ Kansas City Kangaroos (4-5)

After we gained an early lead, we lept ahead of the Kangaroos, taking a 49-30 halftime lead. Our lead grew to as much as 23 points early in the 2nd half. Our guys went on cruise-control at that point and Kansas City narrowed the lead, but we were never threatened. SG Lonnie Roberton led us with 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and 3 blocks. SF Keith Bowie had 16 points and 7 boards and SF David Heyward added 10 points.



SWAC Awards: Although we only played one game this past week, SG Lonnie Robertson was named the SWAC Player of the Week. Arkansas Pine Bluff’s Bryant Weekes was the conference Freshman Player of the Week.

[PointGuard]

WEEK #7

Dec. 27: Grambling Tigers (8-2) @ San Diego Toreros (4-7)

We lost this game 65-59. The lead switched back and forth 15 times, but we let the Toreros get hot in the final 3 minutes in a game we probably should have won. San Diego got to the line 10 more times (and scored 9 more points there) than us. Topping our scoring were: SG Lonnie Robertson with 14 points and C Correy Parker with 10.



SWAC Awards: Alabama A&M’s Jevin Gilbert was named the Player of the Week while Thomas Johnson of Alabama State was the Freshman Player of the Week.

[PointGuard]

SWAC Team records upon completion of pre-conference play



Grambling Team & Player Stats at end of pre-conference play

Team:

W-L Record: 8-3; Home Record: 2-0; Away Record: 6-3; NET Ranking: 55



Players:

[PointGuard]

WEEK #8

Jan. 3: Grambling Tigers (8-3, 0-0) @ Alcorn State Braves (5-6, 0-0)

A disappointing 68-65 OT loss on the road. After a poor start that put us down 12-6, we went on a 14 point run. Solid D and +15 in rebounding led us to a 34-25 halftime advantage. We scored the first 7 points in the 2nd half. But then our guys acted as though they had the game in the bag...which they didn’t, particularly since we were ice cold from the field. Alcorn State began cutting into our lead and with 2 minutes to go they went ahead by 1. With the game tied, we called a time out with 6 seconds to go and ra our set play, but missed the shot sending the game to overtime. The game was extremely close throughout the OT, but with the Braves up by 1 point we had to foul with 9 seconds to go. Alcorn State made both shots. We got off a 3 attempt as time was expiring, but it went off the front rim and we were saddled with the loss. SG Lonnie Robertson finished with 21 points with PF Etan Benton, SF Keith Bowie, and C Correy Parker each scoring 10 points. Bowie also had 11 rebounds.



Jun 6: Grambling Tigers (8-4, 0-1) @ Mississippi Valley Delta Devils (2-10, 1-0)

We turned things around with a 70-42 road win. Mississippi Valley has a horrible record but had opened SWAC play with a 91-64 beatdown of Jackson State. And they played tough in the 1st half during which there were 8 lead changes. We came away with a 26-23 halftime lead. But the Delta Devils hard fought play finally got our guys to realize we had to turn our play up several notches. And we did in the 2nd half, steadily pulling away to stomp Mississippi Valley. SF Keith Bowie led our scoring with 15 points while PG Josh Williams popped in 11 points and C Correy Parker had 10 points.



SWAC Awards: SF Keith Bowie was named the conference Freshman Player of the Week for the second time based on his scoring 26 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, dishing out 6 assists, and making 2 steals and 3 blocks in our 2 games this week. The SWAC Player of the Week was Mississippi Valley’s Gerald Clark.

[PointGuard]

WEEK #9

Jan. 10: Alabama State Hornets (4-9, 1-1) @ Grambling Tigers (9-4, 1-1)

Finally a home game and we posted an 83-72 victory. But our defense was porous in the first half which allowed Alabama State to take a 44-38 lead to the locker room. I chewed the guys out during the intermission. They came out in the 2nd half with a new fire defensively to overtake and then pull away from the Hornets. SG/SF Brad O’Neil dropped in 13 points. SG Lonnie Robertson had 11 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists, and SF David Heyward added 10 points. We’re now in a 5-way tie for 2nd place, a game behind first place Alcorn State.

[PointGuard]

WEEK #10

Jan. 17: Grambling Tigers (11-4, 3-1) @ Southern Jaguars (5-10, 2-2)

We came away with a convincing 85-62 victory. The entire first half was tightly contested, but a 10-0 run during which SF David Heyward dropped in 8 points gave us a lead that resulted in a 33-29 advantage at the half. We came out in the 2nd half playing exceptionally well and achieved our first double-digit lead with 14 minutes remaining. Our lead exploded to 18 three minutes later and things looked rosy. The Jaguars’ starters whittled our lead to 11 but the effort left them gasping for air which sent them to the bench. We then steadily pulled away for a solid road win. SF Keith Bowie scored 17, PG Josh Williams had 15 points, 4 assists and 3 steals, SF David Heyward tossed in 12 points, and C Correy Parker scored 10 points plus pulled down 9 boards. The victory left us alone in 2nd place, one game behind thus far undefeated Alcorn State.



Jan. 20: Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions (4-12, 2-3) @ Grambling Tigers (12-4, 4-1)

We won this game 91-71. The first half was a challenge. Even though there were only 3 lead changes, it was close all the way and we led by just a 47-41 score at halftime. But our D then coalesced making the 2nd half a walk in the park. Our 40-20 rebounding advantage sure didn’t hurt either. C Correy Parker scored 15 points to go along with 7 rebounds, SF Keith Bowie had a nice double-double with 14 points and 11 boards, SG Lonnie Robertson hit for 11 points, and PF Etan Benton had 10 points and 8 rebounds.



SWAC Awards: Alabama State’s Eddie Bellairs was the Player of the Week. But our SF Keith Bowie was the conference Freshman Player of the Week for the 3rd consecutive week and 4th time this season. Keith scored 31 points, pulled down 16 rebounds and dished out 6 assists in our 2 games this week. He’s now averaging 11.1 ppg and 5.5 rpg this season.

The top 4 teams in the SWAC are: Alcorn State (6-0); Grambling (5-1); Prairie View (4-2); and Alabama A&M (4-2).

Top 10 in the Polls: 1. Kansas; 2. Kentucky; 3. Gonzaga; 4. Duke; 5. Indiana; 6. Virginia Commonwealth; 7. UCLA; 8. Wisconsin; 9. West Virginia; 10. Xavier.

[PointGuard]

Week #11

Jan. 24: Grambling Tigers (13-4, 5-1) @ Prairie View Panthers (10-8, 4-2)

Our win streak extended to 6 as we rolled past Prairie View 77-64. Going up against Prairie View on their court presented a challenge. We needed to top the talented Panthers to remain just a game behind 1st place Alcorn State and alone in 2nd place. We blew by Prairie View by hitting 14 of 19 from 3-point range to take a 54-34 lead to the locker room. David Heyward hit all 6 of his 3’s and scored 22 first-half points. Lonnie Robertson poured in 4 of 6 three’s and Keith Bowie hit 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. Josh William drilled another 3 to begin the 2nd half. But then our 3-point shooting fell apart as we missed our next 5 efforts and hit just 3 of 15 in the 2nd half. Prairie View nibbled away at our lead, but even though our offense had a tough time with their 2-3 zone, we were able to hold on for an important victory. SF David Heyward topped our scoring with 25 points. SG Lonnie Robertson dropped in 16 points. And SF Keith Bowie added 10 points.



Jan. 28: Jackson State Tigers (4-15, 0-7) @ Grambling Tigers (14-4, 6-1)

We drubbed hapless Jackson State 84-58. But actually much of the game was close with 16 lead changes. We took control early and steadily built a big lead. Scoring in double figures for us were: C Correy Parker-15; SF Keith Bowie-12; SF David heyward-12; PF Etan Benton-10.



SWAC Awards: This week SF David Heyward grabbed the conference Freshman Player of the Week award away from Keith Bowie who had earned in the past 3 weeks. David scored 37 points by knocking down 13 of his 19 FGA’s (including 11 of 15 from 3 point distance) in our two games. The Player of the Week award went to Jon Christian of Florida A&M.

[PointGuard]

Recruiting

Not unsurprisingly, the SAT scores that came out this week knocked several excellent players off our recruiting list. That included 2 to whom we had offered scholarships. But we sultill have 3 recruits who have pending scholarship offers from us. Now we just have to convince them that we’re the place to come. We also need to refocus our attention on our entire list to see to whom we should make our 2 other scholarship offers.

[PointGuard]

Week #12

Jan. 31: Alcorn State Braves (13-6, 8-0) @ Grambling Tigers (15-4, 7-1)

We lost to the Braves 68-65 in overtime when we played on their court. This is our chance for some payback that will move us up into a tie with them for 1st place in the conference standings. We came into the game with a 7 game win streak but Alcorn State had won 9 straight games. Alcorn State scored the first bucket, but we quickly moved past them and by the end of the half we were on top 49-30. We extended our lead to as much as 25 points in the 2nd half and romped over the Braves 82-60. We topped them in all team stats. SG Lonnie Robertson was our leading scorer with 16 points followed by SF David Heyward with 12. So now it’s up to us to continue winning if we want to finish atop the SWAC standings.



Feb. 3: Grambling Tigers (16-4, 8-1) @ Alabama A&M Bulldogs (11-9, 5-4)

We came away with a hard-fought 85-78 road victory. The score was close the entire game. But after trailing 41-36 at halftime and being behind for much of the 2nd half, we took control over the final 8 minutes to slip by the pesky Bulldogs. We were outshot 55% to 47%, but held advantages at the free throw line (+10 points), rebounding (+3), and turnovers (7 fewer). SG Lonnie Robertson led us to victory with 28 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 steals. C Correy Parker contributed 17 points. PF Adam Scott came in off the bench to score 8 points, grab 4 boards, and dish out 2 assists in just 8 minutes on the court. We’re now riding a 9 game win streak.



SWAC Awards: SG Lonnie Robertson was named the SWAC Player of the Week based on his 44 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals and 1 block in our 2 game the past week. Lonnie hit 14 of 26 FG’s, 7 of 15 from beyond the arc, and 9 of 10 at the free throw line. The conference Freshman Player of the Week was Bryant Weekes who plays for Arkansas Pine Bluff.

With 8 games remaining during the regular season, here’s our stat leaders:

PPG: SG Lonnie Robertson—15.2; C Correy Parker—11.2; SF Keith Bowie—10.8; SF David Heyward—7.6; PF Etan Benton—7.1; SG/SF Brad O’Neil—5.6
RPG: C Correy Parker—6.8; SF Keith Bowie—5.3; PF EtaIn Benton—4.3; SG Lonnie Robertson—3.4; PF Anthony Ervin—3.3
APG: PG Mario Kelly—3.6; PG Josh Williams—2.4; SG Lonnie Robertson—2.4; SG/SF Brad O’Neil—1.9; SF Keith Bowie—1.4
Top 3 point shooters: SF David Heyward (59.6%); PG Josh Williams (54.3%); SF Keith Bowie (38.7%).
Thus far this season we’re averaging 77.3 ppg (56th best in Division 1) and giving up 67.6 ppg (53rd best in Division 1). We’re averaging 34.5 rpg (54th best in Division 1) and our NET Ranking is 57th best.