Omari Peek finished one point shy of tying his career high as the Alabama A&M University men's basketball team could not hold on to a late lead as the Bulldogs fell, 74-73, to Grambling State in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game on Thursday night at the AAMU Event Center.
Alabama A&M (9-21 overall, 8-9 SWAC) led 71-69 with just over a minute to play, but Grambling State rallied down the stretch and held off a last-second shot by Peek in picking up the road win.
Peek scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, along with a team-high five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Cameron Tucker scored six of his 10 points from the foul line, and four boards.
Tra'Michael Moton paced Grambling State (17-13, 14-3) with 17 points, including 10 from the foul line, along with six steals, four rebounds and two assists. Jourdan Smith poured in 13 points, four boards, two steals, one assist and one block, while Antwan Burnett tallied 12 points, six boards and one assist. Kintavious Dozier chipped in 10 points, four boards and a pair of steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Grambling State opened the game on a 13-6 run, capped by a Jourdan Smith layup with 15:16 remaining in the first half
- The Tigers extended the margin to 17-7 after a dunk by Smith, but back came the Bulldogs as Williams Tavares sank a free throw and Chad Moodie threw one down as AAMU trimmed the margin to 17-9 with exactly 14 minutes to play
- Grambling State pushed the lead to double figures, 22-11, after a triple by Tra'Michael Moton with 11:15 remaining
- A trey by London Riley, along with free throws by Cameron Tucker, closed the gap to 22-16 with 9:37 left
- However, back-to-back dunks by Jonathan Aku and Smith stretched the advantage to 26-16 with 8:20 remaining
- Alabama A&M, which went more than five minutes without a field goal, used a 7-0 run, capped by an EJ Williams layup as the Bulldogs pulled to within two, 26-24, with just under five minutes to play
- Grambling State went the final 8:20 of the half without a field goal, doing most of the damage at the foul line as the Tigers took a 33-28 lead into the break
- As GSU's struggles continued, Grambling State continued to trim the margin as Tavares drained a jumper to cut it to 37-34 with 16:29 left
- A layup by Antwan Burnett gave the Tigers its first field goal since the 8:20 mark of the first half, extending the margin to 41-36 with just over 15 minutes to play
- However, back-to-back jumpers by Jayland Randall, along with a layup by Peek, gave the Bulldogs their first lead, 42-41, with 13:50 remaining
- The two teams continued to go back-and-forth as Peek completed a three-point play, tying the game at 52 with just under eight minutes left
- Alabama A&M got free throws by Moodie and Tucker as the Bulldogs grabbed a 59-56 advantage with 6:24 remaining
- Back came Grambling State, taking a 64-61 lead after a three-point play by Burnett with 3:56 left
- A dunk by Randall and a layup by Tucker gave the Bulldogs a 71-69 lead with 1:07 remaining
- Moton was fouled on a three-point attempt, making one of the three foul shots as the Tigers pulled to within 71-70 with 34 seconds left
- After a timeout, Moton stole the ball and drove to the bucket, but was fouled hard by Tucker with 21.8 seconds remaining
- Tucker was whistled for a flagrant 1 foul as Moton went to the charity stripe where he sank a pair as Grambling State took a 72-71 lead
- With GSU leading 74-71, Dylan Mclean was fouled attempting a 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining
- Mclean made the first two, but missed the third and a loose ball tie-up gave the Bulldogs the ball with an opportunity to win with 4.3 seconds left
- Peek got the ball on the in-bound pass but his shot was blocked and the Bulldogs could not get off another attempt
GAME NOTES
- Alabama A&M shot 44.8 percent (26-of-58) and 78.3 percent (18-of-23) from the free-throw line
- The Bulldogs grabbed 32 rebounds, including 14 on the offensive glass
- Omari Peek scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, along with a team-high five rebounds, four assists and three steals
- Cameron Tucker scored six of his 10 points from the foul line, and four boards.
- The Bulldogs finished with 36 points in the paint, 33 bench points, 19 points off 18 GSU turnovers, 16 fastbreak points and 11 second-chance points
- Grambling State went 22-of-45 from the floor (48.9 percent) and 28-of-33 (84.8 percent) from the charity stripe
- The Tigers grabbed 30 rebounds, with 22 coming off the defensive glass
- Tra'Michael Moton registered 17 points, six steals, four rebounds and two assists
- Jourdan Smith poured in 13 points, four boards, two steals, one assist and one block,
- Antwan Burnett tallied 12 points, six boards and one assist
- Kintavious Dozier chipped in 10 points, four boards and a pair of steals
- The Tigers finished with 34 points in the paint, 23 points off 15 AAMU turnovers, 16 bench points, 12 fastbreak points and 11 second-chance points
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M wraps up the regular season with Senior Night against Southern on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. from the AAMU Event Center and streamed on Bulldogs All-Access.