title image via Dominique Williams
Courtesy of Curtis Ford, Associate AD for Athletic Communications
Antwan Burnettscored a game-high 21 points and Chilaydrien Newton notched a career-high 17 points, but it wasn’t enough to lift Grambling State to victory as the Tigers fell to Cal-Poly 82-79 on Tuesday night at the Mott Athletics Center.
GSU (1-5) erased a 17-point deficit and tied the game in the second half but couldn’t push ahead to grab its first road win of the year.
Burnett scored his 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including going 3-of-6 from behind the arc. He added six rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Newton was nearly unstoppable, doing most of his damage from long-range going 5-of-6 from deep. He was 6-of-8 from the field, grabbing two boards.
Ernest Ross (16 points) and Kintavious Dozier(12 points) also scored in double figures. Ross snagged eight rebounds, racked up four blocks and had an assist. Dozier also grabbed eight boards while dishing six assists and making two steals.
With the score tied 7-7 with 15:21 to go in the first half, Ross splashed a 3-point to give the Tigers a three-point lead, 10-7, and sparked a 10-3 run for GSU. That run gave the Tigers its largest lead of the first period, 17-10, with 12:43 on the clock.
After Cal-Poly (4-4) trimmed GSU’s lead to 17-16, Newton stroked a three that gave the Tigers that pushed the Tigers lead to 20-16.
The Mustangs utilized a 26-5 run to grab a commanding 42-25 lead with 3:06 remaining in the half. The Tigers rattled off eight consecutive point to pull back within single digits with 13 second until halftime, but a buzzer beating bucket by Guzman Vasilic gave Cal-Poly a 44-33 lead heading into the break.
Grambling State went into comeback mode in the second half. Trailing 60-50 with 12:07 to play, the Tigers went on a 15-6 run, capped by a corner three by Newton, cutting the deficit to 66-65 with 7:34 on the clock.
After a three by Cal-Poly, Dozier put the team on his back, sinking back-to-back jumpers to tie the game 69-69 with six minutes left.
The Mustangs eventually regained the lead, pushing it to 76-71, but another 3-pointer by GSU, this time from P.J. Edwards, made it a 76-74 game with 3:20 to play.
With Cal-Poly in front 80-76 with less than a minute to play, Ross drained a deep triple to made it a one-point game with 56 second remaining.
After forcing a missed shot on the other end of the floor, Grambling State had an opportunity to take a late lead, but Dozier’s driving layup was off the mark. The Mustangs sank a pair of free throws to make it 82-79 and escape with the win.
Cal-Poly had five players reach double figures with Isaac Jessup and Owen Koonce both scoring 17 points apiece.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Grambling State shot 47.5 percent from the field (29-of-61) and 50.0 percent (13-of-26) from three-point range. The Tigers were 8-of-14 at the free throw line (57.1 percent).
- GSU grabbed 34 rebounds.
- The Tigers committed 11 turnovers.
- Grambling State scored 25 bench points, 24 points in the paint, 15 points off turnovers, eight fastbreak points and eight second chance points.
- Cal-Poly shot 50.8 percent from the floor (32-of-63) and 40.9 percent from behind the arc. The Mustangs were 9-of-12 at the charity stripe (75.0 percent)
- Cal-Poly grabbed 37 boards.
- The Mustanges committed eight turnovers.
- Cal-Poly scored 44 points in the paint, 19 bench points, 18 fastbreak points, 12 points off turnovers and seven second chance points.
UP NEXT
Gramling State returns home to host Arkansas Baptist on Dec. 3 at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
