Tigers claim 3rd straight league title
Texas Southern has that championship DNA.
When it comes to the SWAC basketball tournament, it is time to shine for the Tigers.
On Saturday night, TSU won the conference tournament for a third straight year and in the process gained its third straight automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. It was a stirring three-game run at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala., for the Tigers.
Victory did not come easy after a fast start. The Tigers led throughout but had to hold on to defeat Grambling State 61-58, denying GSU its first NCAA Tournament bid.
The Tigers (14-20) led by as many as 17 points — 22-5 — and were tied just once late at 43-43 with 7:15 remaining in the game. But TSU derailed GSU’s comeback attempt in a meeting of Tigers.
Losers of its final three games of the regular season, TSU turned it on in Birmingham under coach Johnny Jones.
And Tigers guard P.J. Henry turned it on late in a game in which he struggled shooting. After starting 1-of-13 from the field, TSU’s sparkplug hit two late 3-pointers and scored seven crucial points over the remaining three minutes, 18 seconds.
TSU captured its 11th conference tournament championship in its sixth
straight title-game appearance. The 2020 championship game was not played because of COVID-19. The Tigers are 11-7 in SWAC championship games.
Grambling missed 11 of its first 12 field goals and had to play catch-up the remainder of the game.
Second-seed Grambling (24-9) set a program record for most wins in a season. The G-Men had wins this season over Vanderbilt (64-62) and Colorado (8374).
Henry was 5-of-18 from the field. But when the Tigers needed him the most, he delivered. The 5-10
point guard made four of his last five field-goal attempts and finished with 19 points.
John Walker III added 14 points and Davon Barnes collected 13 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, who outrebound their opponent 46-35 and led 31-18 at halftime.
Jonathan Aku collected 11 points and 10 rebounds for Grambling.
Picked in preseason to finish first in the SWAC, eighth-seed TSU took down top-seed Alcorn State (66-62) and Alabama A&M (74-61) in reaching the tournament final. TSU
is 10-2 against Grambling in postseason, with GSU’s last tournament win over the Tigers coming in 1988.
Grambling, which shared the regular-season title with Alcorn State, swept the season series with the Tigers, winning 85-72 at the H&PE Arena and 65-46 at Grambling. The G-Men defeated Bethune-Cookman (87-72) and Jackson State (78-69) in reaching the final.
TSU had the advantage of extra rest. The Tigers tipped off their semifinal game on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Grambling’s semifinal game did not start until
six hours later.
In his fifth season at TSU, Jones has a 26-8 record in games played in March. Donte’ Jackson was going for his 100th coaching win at Grambling.
Despite Henry missing 11-of-12 first-half shots, TSU led 31-18 at the break, outrebounding GSU 28-13 over the first 20 minutes.
TSU started fast, taking advantage of Grambling’s poor shooting and foul trouble. Less than three minutes in, the Tigers were ahead 8-1 with Walker scoring six of the points.
Shortly after, the Tigers enjoyed their largest advantage at 17 points. Conference player of the year Cameron Christon picked up his third foul with 9:29 before the half. A pair of free throws by Henry put TSU up 22-5 at the 9:29 mark.
Christon occupied the bench for all of nine minutes of the half, scoring only four points. Christon made his team’s first field goal at the 13:23 mark, making it a 13-4 score. Aku, a 6-11 post, was called for his second foul less than four minutes into the contest. Starting forward Joshua Phillips was also saddled with early fouls, picking up three in the first half.