Texas Southern holds off Grambling to clinch automatic berth
Grambling State guard Tra'Michael Moton (5) shoots as Texas Southern guards Jordan Gilliam (11) and PJ Henry (3) defend during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament, Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Birmingham, Ala. Credit: AP/Butch Dill
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — PJ Henry scored 19 points and Texas Southern denied Grambling its first NCAA Tournament berth with a 61-58 win on Saturday in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.
John Walker III scored 14 points and Davon Barnes 13 for Texas Southern (14-20) which clinched its third straight SWAC postseason conference tournament and became the first SWAC eighth seed to win the tournament.
Reserve Zahad Munford scored 12 points for Grambling (24-9), Jonathan Aku scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Tramichael Morton scored 10.
Henry started 1-for-13 shooting before going on a 4-for-4 stretch — which included three 3-pointers — to help put an end to Grambling's rally. His 3 with 6:08 left broke a 43-all tie and Texas Southern led for the remainder. Grambling needed a 14-3 run to forge the tie.
Grambling played catchup all day and didn't score a field goal until a little more than 6 1/2 minutes in when Cameron Christon reduced the deficit to 13-4.
Texas Southern finished the regular season with three straight losses before ending the skid with an opening-round win over top-seeded Alcorn State, then beat No. 5-seed Alabama A&M in the semis. Grambling was the No. 2 seed. It was Texas Southern’s eighth trip to the SWAC championship game in the last nine years.
The loss was a disappointing end for Grambling which set a season program record in wins and entered with an 11-game win streak.
Grambling State guard Zahad Munford (2) drives to the basket around Texas Southern guard PJ Henry (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament, Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Birmingham, Ala. Credit: AP/Butch Dill
The Tigers went 2-1 against Power 5 opposition, including a 64-62 win at Vanderbilt which lost in the SEC tournament semifinals earlier in the day.
