Arkansas-Pine Bluff suffered a close 60-55 loss to Grambling Saturday night at H.O. Clemmons Arena. Junior guard Quincy Roberts finished with a game-high 24 points for the Tigers, including 13 from the line, in a gritty performance against heavy defensive pressure from the Golden Lions.

Underclassmen came up big for the Tigers as the game was deadlocked down the stretch. Sophomore guard Rondale Livas, who finished the game with 12 points, scored a contested lay-up with less than a minute left to push Grambling's lead to four. The Golden Lions turned the ball over on the following possession, and freshman guard David Copeland iced the game with two free throws to take a three-possession lead.

UAPB (2-19, 1-7 SWAC) had a poor shooting performance against Grambling (3-15, 3-5 SWAC), going 0-16 from beyond the 3-point line and shooting just under 37 percent from the field overall. This was yet another contest in which free throws determined the outcome, as Grambling went 23-of-32 from the line while the Golden Lions were 11-18.

“I'm not going to stop them from shooting, because shooters have got to have that luxury of feeling comfortable enough to take shots,” UAPB head coach George Ivory said. “We just didn't make shots. If you make shots, you won't even be in that position.”

Sophomore center Daniel Broughton got into early foul trouble coming out from halftime and missed a considerable amount of the second half. As a result, the Golden Lions had a 10-minute scoreless stretch, while the Tigers went on a 14-0 run to recapture the lead at 46-43 with seven minutes left in the game. Roberts scored 16 points in the second period, including two three point baskets during the run.

“When Daniel gets in foul trouble, that hurts us a lot down low. It seemed like we hit a dry spell right there,” Ivory said. “He's a guy down low that can really do a lot of damage.”

Senior guard Savalace Townsend got his first two points of the game for UAPB with a thunderous highlight dunk. Townsend took off just inside the free-throw line and over a defender to close an early deficit to 16-19 with just over eight minutes left in the first half. The result was a 6-0 run, featuring another big fast-break dunk by UAPB's Lazabian Jackson, to take the lead at 23-19.

Townsend also had a block with less than two minutes remaining to help the Golden Lions confidently end the first half with a 34-28 lead. However, the Golden Lions didn't seem to handle the boost of energy well, as the momentum quickly swung back into Grambling's favor following Broughton's departure in the second half.

Townsend finished with 11 points and five assists, while Broughton had seven points in his limited time. Both players had six rebounds. Junior forward Mitchell Anderson led the Golden Lions in scoring with 12 points.

“I thought they gave a great effort, but we can't go long stretches without scoring,” Ivory said. “Outside of that, offensively we just hit a stalemate.”
UAPB faces off against Jackson State at 7:30 pm on Monday evening at H.O. Clemmons Arena.