Golden Lions fall short in shootout

GRAMBLING ST. 63, UAPB 39

GRAMBLING, La. — Arkansas-Pine Bluff quarterback Ben Anderson put up fancy passing statistics for the Golden Lions Saturday afternoon, but it was not nearly enough to beat Grambling State at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium.

Grambling defeated UAPB 63-39 in a Southwestern Athletic Conference game, overcoming Anderson’s 467 yards passing by scoring 49 points during a 26-minute stretch spanning the second and third quarters.

UAPB (1-5, 0-4) led once, at 3-0, on Tyler Strickland’s first-quarter field goal with 6:48 to play in the first, but Grambling quarterback Johna Williams completed a 73-yard touchdown pass to Verlon Hunter to give the Tigers a 7-3 lead 16 seconds after UAPB’s field goal, and the Tigers ( 5-3, 5- 0) never trailed again.

Williams completed 19 of 27 passes for 377 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also rushed 10 times for 52 yards and 2 touchdowns.

UAPB outgained Grambling 570-503, had more first downs — 30-22 — and held the ball nearly twice as long as the Tigers — 38:43 to 21:17 — but had two passes intercepted and lost a fumble, which Grambling’s Rando Giovanni returned 21 yards to give Grambling a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter.

UAPB made it 14-10 with 8:48 to play in the half on an 8-yard pass from Anderson to Willie Young, but Grambling built its lead to 28-18 at halftime, then scored three touchdowns in the first 10:25 of the third quarter to open a 49-18 lead.

Marvante King was one of three UAPB receivers with six receptions. King’s receptions accounted for 182 yards and 1 touchdown. Wesley Hawthorne caught six passes for 76 yards and Young’s receptions went for 47 yards.

Hunter caught two passes for Grambling, and both of the receptions were good for touchdowns — the 73-yard catch in the first quarter and a 38-yard reception at the 1:54 mark of the second quarter.

In other games involving Southwestern Athletic teams, John Gibbs Jr. threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another and Alcorn State coasted to a 40-25 victory over Texas Southern in Lorman, Miss. The Braves (6-2, 4-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) opened a 40-7 lead on the Tigers (52, 3-2) when Arron Baker scored on a 21-yard run 5:33 before halftime. …

Prairie View A&M (3-4, 3-3) quickly took the fun out of the Mississippi Val

ley State (2-6, 1-5) homecoming as the Panthers dominated start to finish in a 52-19 road victory at Rice-Totten Stadium in Itta Bena, Miss. Junior running back Johnta Hebert opened the game with a 95-yard kickoff return and the Panthers never looked back.