OMARI

[PointGuard]

Feb. 10: Bethune-Cookman Wildcats—81, Grambling Tigers--67

There were 8 lead changes very early in the game, but then the Wildcats took control and by the end of the half we were behind 35-28. Bethune-Cookman’s lead grew to as much as 24 points in the 2nd half. We just took an old-fashioned beat down from the Wildcats as their star C Michael Pointer scorched us for 38 points, hitting 16 of 19 from the field. For us, SG Melvin Dickens led our scoring with 16 points with PF Drew Bekale adding 12 points. [7-17, 2-10]

[PointGuard]

Feb. 14: Mississippi Valley Delta Devils—72, Grambling Tigers--59

We trailed most of the 1st half but closed to within 32-30 at halftime. But the Delta Devils simply had more firepower that us in the 2nd half and we lost at home as our shooting (35%) continued to falter and we failed to control the ball (23 turnovers). Our starting guards, Mario Kelly and Melvin Dickens both scored 13 points and PF Drew Bekale has 12 points and 7 boards. [7-18, 2-11]

[PointGuard]

Feb. 17: Grambling Tigers—75, Alabama State Hornets—63

We’ve been using the 3-2 zone more as we’ve progressed through the latter stages of our schedule and tonight it worked well at throwing the Hornets off-balance and held their shooting to just 39% from the field (including a meager 14% from 3 point distance). We grabbed a very early lead and moved out to a 41-35 advantage at the end of the first half. We pulled away to a 20 point lead midway through the second half and then cruised to an easy road victory. PF Drew Bekale scored 15 and SF Brandon Harper and C Rob Adkins both scored 14. PF Aubrey Johnson continues to be injury prone…this time he sprained his ankle. [8-18, 3-11]

[PointGuard]

Feb. 21: Texas Southern Tigers—97, Grambling Tigers—83

Although we stuck with Texas Southern for 10 minutes, they ultimately were just too much for us to handle. By the end of the first half we were down 49-35. The deficit grew to 23 points before we cut a little into their lead late in the game. SG Rodney Clagget dropped in 26 points against us. Leading our scoring were: C Rob Adkins-15; PF Drew Bekale-14; SF Brandon Harper-13; SG Melvin Dickens-11, and SG/PG David Jamison-10. [8-19, 3-12]

[PointGuard]

Feb. 24: Southern Jaguars—88, Grambling Tigers—70

Even though we were hosting Southern, we were big underdogs against the first place Jaguars. We never led in this game and trailed by about 10 points throughout most of it, before fading further behind in the final 3 minutes. We were simply outplayed. SF Brandon Harper, C Rob Adkins, and SG Melvin Dickens each scored 11 points and PF Drew Bekale and SF Garick Weaver both added 10 points. [8-20, 3-13]

[PointGuard]

Feb. 28: Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions—86, Grambling Tigers--76

OK, that settled it. We’re the worst team in the SWAC. With this loss we locked up last place in the SWAC. We stuck with the Golden Lions for just 8 minutes and then let them move past us. By halftime we were down 47-36 and we never could significantly cut into their lead in the 2nd half. SF Brandon Harper had 15 points and 5 boards; PF Aubrey Johnson scored 14; SG Melvin Dickens put in 11 points while grabbing 5 rebounds; and PF Drew Bekale had 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks. [8-21, 3-14]

[PointGuard]

Mar. 3: Grambling Tigers—81, Prairie View Panthers--71

Well…at least we finished our regular season with a win. But let me tell ya, it wasn’t easy. Although there were a few lead changes in the first half, the Panthers were in command most of the way and held a 45-35 halftime advantage. Then the two teams fought it out throughout the first 14 minutes of the 2nd half. After 15 lead changes, our D solidified and we finally were able to pull away in the final 6 minutes. Our efforts were led by SG Melvin Dickens who hit 7 of 10 FG’s including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc to score 19 points. SF Brandon Harper continued his strong performance in our recent games by scoring 14 points and grabbing 6 rebounds while dishing out 3 assists. C/PF Anthony Erwin had 10 points and 5 rebounds. PF Aubrey Johnson came off the bench to add 8 points and 8 boards. [9-21, 4-14]

[PointGuard]

Southwestern Athletic Conference Final Standings

[PointGuard]

SWAC Tournament

#5 seed Alcorn State Braves—76, #12 seed Grambling Tigers—72



We jumped out to a 13 point lead in the early stages of the 1st half but that dwindled to 38-36 at halftime. The 2nd half was close the entire way with 6 lead changes. The final lead change occurred with 3 minutes remaining and we were unable to close the gap. We really lost this game due to the refs who called 8 more fouls on us and sent the Braves to the foul line 20 more times where they scored 15 more points that us. Foul trouble limited C Rob Adkins playing time to just 14 minutes. C/PF Aubrey Johnson scored 13 points and pulled down 6 boards; SG Melvin Dickens had 12 points and 5 assists; and SF Brandon Harper scored 10 plus had 4 steals. Nice effort by my guys but our season is now finished. Brutal season (9-22)…I think harder to take as a coach than if I were a player.

Texas Southern won the championship by beating upstart Arkansas-Pine Bluff 88-78 in the championship game.

[PointGuard]

Post-Season Tournament Championship Games

CIT: UCLA—71, Bethune-Cookman—67

CBI: Arkansas—95, Vanderbilt—85

NIT: Wisconsin—65, Nevada—55

NCAA: Kentucky—76, Wichita State—73