Tonight’s matchup between Jackson State and Grambling State will be missing Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Player of the Year, DaeShaun Ruffin, who is on the sideline in a walking boot who is ruled out for the game. The last time Jackson State played Grambling State, JSU lost 66-69, and Ruffin scored 38 points. The JSU Tigers came out with a different kind of energy, with their falling teammate being hampered with his injury, was not able to find ways to keep the game close and press Grambling State late in the game to win.
The game remained close, with both teams going on runs that allowed them to build a lead. Grambling State grabbed a 7-point lead with 11 minutes left in the game, trapping the Jackson State ball handlers, forcing turnovers. Jackson State’s hustle plays that won’t show up on the stat sheet were beating Grambling State to 50/50 offensive rebounds. Jackson State’s 16 offensive rebounds compared to Grambling State’s 10 were key in the game. Jackson State Head Coach Mo Williams was assessed a technical foul for arguing with the officials about what he thought were some non-calls that JSU wasn’t getting, but Grambling State was, because of the number of fouls JSU had called against them in the first half of the game.
Grambling State shot 10 of 14 free throws, while Jackson State shot 5 of 8 in the first half with the score 27-28 in Jackson State’s favor on a last-second three-pointer by Grambling State’s Roderick Coffee III, who scored 9-points and grabbed 4 rebounds. Even though the foul shot disparity by the end of the game, it was Jackson State guard Dorian McMillian who got hot at the right time, helping Jackson State get back in the game, scoring 13 consecutive points, giving Jackson State a three-point lead. Jackson State McMillian scored 15 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, along with Delyle Williams, who scored 13 points and had 6 rebounds, and Jayme Mitchell Jr scored 12 points, adding 6 rebounds. The free throws for the game evened out as the game continued, but Coach William had seen enough at that point in the game.
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Grambling State’s ability to pack the paint with their big front court couldn’t keep Jalen Tatum from driving to the paint late in the game after Rickey Ballard fouled out of the game. Jackson State’s Jalen Tatum’s late drive to the basket with 24 seconds left in the game gave them a one-point lead, but Tatum missed the free throw to increase the lead to two points. Tatum had not made a free throw all night, was fouled with 3 seconds left, and made 2 free throws to push JSU’s lead to 3 points with 3 seconds left in the game. Jalen Tatum scored 18 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and had 4 steals for the game. Grambling State had four players scoring double digits. Jamil Muttilib scored 10 points, 5 rebounds, and Devyn Franklin scored 10 points, 7 rebounds. Derrius Ward scored 11 points and 5 rebounds.
Jackson State beat Grambling State 68-65, moving on to play Florida A&M tonight at 8:30 pm.