OMARI

[PointGuard]

Nov. 15: Towson Tigers (0-0) vs Grambling Tigers (0-0)

Towson went 25-10 and got to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tourney last season and they look to be a strong team again, particularly on the inside. Since Towson was the first Division 1 team my Dad coached, he’s flown back here to watch this game and will also travel with us when we play at Chattanooga later this week. I had him give our team a pep talk before this game. He told the team to not worry about individual performance but rather working well together as a team and to use this opener as a way of building teamwork that’ll lead to success throughout the season.

We got off to a shaky start, falling behind 9-1 in the first 2-1/2 minutes. We got our act together to score the next 10 of 11 points. They scored 8 straight points, but then we took control to blaze to a 49-32 halftime advantage. Our 2nd half was just as good as was the first half. We tromped Towson 91-66. Great offense and satisfactory defense. PF/C Aleem Charles had 20 points and 9 boards. PG Brian Fox hit for 19 points plus had 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. C Correy Parker scored 15 and PF Brody Rowland added 11 points. We scored 50 points in the paint and our bench outscored Towson’s 28-7. Towson’s two big men Miranda and Mendez) combined for 41 points, but we did a good job controlling the rest of their team.

[PointGuard]

Nov. 18: Grambling Tigers (1-0) @ Chattanooga Mocs (0-1)

We got off to a strong start and quickly established a double-digit lead that we held throughout much of the first half. But we let the Mocs offense catch fire and they puled ahead 36-35 at the half. The lead flipped back and forth throughout the 2nd half, but we fell apart in the final 5 minutes and Chattanooga whipped us 85-70. Scoring double figures for us were C Correy Parker with 17 points and PG Brian Fox with 11 points.

[PointGuard]

Nov. 22: Grambling Tigers (1-1) @ Oregon State Beavers (1-0)

We trailed 37-25 at the end of the 1st half, primarily due to some gawd-awful shooting…we hit just 29% of our FG’s, 17% of our 3’s, and 50% of our FT’s. We were outscore by 9 points at the foul line. Our horrible shooting continued throughout the 2nd half as well and we got bludgeoned 85-56. PF/C Aleem Charles had 18 points and 9 boards; PG Brian Fox scored 12; and C Correy Parker scored 11 while hauling down 9 rebounds. Our subs got outscored 37-9 by the Beavers’ bench.

[PointGuard]

Nov. 25: Grambling Tigers (1-2) @ South Carolina Gamecocks (3-0)

Following 2 road losses, we are going from the frying pan to the fryer by taking on unbeaten South Carolina on their court. Their wins have been by margins between 15 and 27 points. We began the game by hitting just 2 of our first 17 FGA’s. That put us into a 22-8 hole. We struggle the remainder of the half and trailed 38-27 at the break. We shot better in the 2nd half, but the Gamecocks did also. We never seriously challenged and fell 75-62. SF David Heyward was our only player to score in double figures and he had just 10 points.

[PointGuard]

Nov. 29: Grambling Tigers (1-3) @ Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (2-2)

We got off to a good start, to a lead early that we maintained throughout the first half to lead 40-34 at the break. And our offense drove us to a 21 point lead before settling for a solid 87-71 victory. We knocked down 54% of our FG’s and 41% of our 3’s plus were +10 on the boards. Aleem Charles had his best game of the season with 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists. Brian Fox scored 15 points, Brody Rowland hit for 12 points, Jon Benoit had 11 points and 4 assists, and Correy Parker and Brad O’Neil each scored 8 with Parker pulling down 5 boards and O’Neil adding 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. The Ragin’ Cajuns’ SG Ben Brown dropped 22 points on us, but we kept the rest of the team in check. Nice to kick an instate opponent’s butt, particularly on their court.

[PointGuard]

Dec. 2: Grambling Tigers (2-3) @ Saint Louis Billikens (3-3)

We put on an offensive display in our previous game. But tonight, in a game in which we were decided underdogs, it was “D”, baby! We kept hands in the faces of the Billikens’ faces for all 40 minutes. And we bird-dogged them to force them to make 19 turnovers. At the half the game was tied at 29-all. But we held Saint Louis scoreless for the first 7 minutes of the 2nd half to forge a 12 point lead and take their fans out of the game. We then held on to come away with an exciting 59-56 win. Jon Benoit led our scoring with 12 points and Correy Parker had 10 points and 7 rebounds. Rico Carty had an atrocious offensive game, but he redeemed himself by hauling down 10 boards. INJURY: Aleem Charles suffered a broken finger which is a big blow to us since he’ll be out of the lineup for 5-6 weeks. Ouch!

[PointGuard]

Dec. 6: Grambling Tigers (3-3) @ Davidson Wildcats (4-3)

We need to crack Davidson’s 3-2 zone which has been pretty effective this season. And their C Brett Shehan is averaging 17.1 ppg and 7.9 rpg, so we can’t let him break out. The Wildcats’ 3 losses have been to #10 ranked Tennessee in a pre-season tourney and on the road to Utah and Brigham Young. We hit a dry spell in the middle portion of the first half and with the Wildcats shooting well, they were able to take a commanding 45-31 halftime lead. We tried tightening our defense in the 2nd half with absolutely no success and dropped this game by a final score of 82-64. We let Davidson hit 52% of their FG’s including 46% of their 3’s. We turned the ball over 21 times. The only thing we did well was to control the boards 38-28. Brody Rowland had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Correy Parker had 12 points and 7 boards. Brad O’Neil and Rico Canty both scored 10 points. The Wildcats’ C Brett Shehan killed us with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals.

[PointGuard]

Dec. 9: Grambling Tigers (3-4) @ Washington State Cougars (4-3)

The Cougars’ record isn’t impressive, but their offense has been…they’re the 27th highest scoring team in the nation. And 4 of their 5 starters are averaging between 12 and 17 ppg with their 5th starter averaging 9 ppg. We’ll need to exploit what has been a porous defense to have a chance in this game. And “O” it was. We kept up for 2-1/2 minutes at which point the game was tied 9-9. But 2 minutes later we trailed 17-9. We got back to knocking down shots, but the Cougs’ continued to nail shots and we struggled to put a dent into their lead until the final 4 minutes of the half. Then led by PG Jon Benoit’s 12 points we rallied to edge ahead 43-42 as time expired at the half. Our offense sputtered early in the 2nd half and with 11-1/2 minutes remaining we trailed 57-46. Washington State was just too much for us, inflicting a 78-62 defeat on us. 20 turnovers and 39% shooting will do that a team. Jon Benoit scored 17 points and added 5 assists and 3 steals while Rico Canty had 11 points and 8 boards. But the Cougars’ PG Ryan Galloway dropped in 26 points plus had 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

[PointGuard]

Dec. 13: Grambling Tigers (3-5) @ Mississippi Rebels (3-6)

12 minutes of brilliant D (holding the Rebels shooting to just 25%) and good O led to our carving out a 28-12 lead. We lost our mojo during the final 8 minutes of half but still had a decent 43-28 halftime advantage. Ole Miss put us on our heels by scoring the first 7 points of the 2nd half. I was worried, but we recovered with a vengeance, and with 11 minutes remaining we were up 60-40. The Rebels trimmed our lead but we held on for a very solid 80-69 victory. We were led by PG/SG Jon Benoit who scored 20 points and dished out 5 assists. PF Brody Rowland, SF Ukko Noronen, and SG Brad O’Neil each scored 10 points.

[PointGuard]

Dec. 16: Grambling Tigers (4-5) @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-4)

Our offense sizzled throughout the first half as we stormed out to a 57-39 halftime advantage. We eased up in the 2nd half but still ended up hitting 64% of our FG’s (including 59% of our 3’s) for the entire game. We knocked off Rutgers on their court 91-75. We had 12 players scoring, led by Rico Carty scoring 16 with Jon Benoit contributing 13 points and 6 assists, Correy Parker hitting for 12 points, and walk-on Antawn Detmer (who was filling in due to Aleem Charles' injury) adding 11 points in 10 minutes of court time.