Grambling State rallies from 14 down, beats Montana State in OT

Field Level Media|published: Wed 20th March, 21:27 2024

Mar 20, 2024; Dayton, OH, USA; Grambling State Tigers forward Antwan Burnett (4) goes to the basket defended by Montana State Bobcats guard Jed Miller (24) in the first half at UD Arena. credits: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

DAYTON, Ohio — Jimel Cofer scored all 19 of his points in the second half and overtime to rally Grambling State from 14 points down and past Montana State 88-81 in a First Four battle of Midwest Region No. 16 seeds Wednesday night.

Grambling (21-14), in its first NCAA Tournament game in school history, advanced to play No. 1 seed Purdue, which will look to atone for last year's second-ever loss by a No. 1 seed to a No. 16 seed when Farleigh Dickinson pulled off the shocking upset.

Grambling outscored Montana State 52-28 in the paint. The Tigers rallied from deficits of 13 points in the first half and 14 in the second half to take a 70-67 lead with two minutes left in regulation.

But Montana State answered with back-to-back clutch threes from Brian Goracke and Robert Ford III to tie the game.

Eddie Turner III converted a pair of free throws with 51.3 seconds remaining to give Montana State its final lead at 72-70.

Cofer, who didn't play in the first half, came off the bench for the Tigers and scored 13 points in the second half, including his layup with 34 seconds left to tie the game.

Overtime mirrored the end of regulation as Grambling took a 78-75 lead only to see Ford drain his fifth 3-pointer with 2:02 left to forge a tie.

But two free throws from Antwan Burnett with 1:43 left put Grambling ahead for good. A thunderous put-back dunk with 55 seconds remaining by Jourdain Smith off a Tra'Michael Moton missed layup brought Tigers fans to their feet.

The explosion was part of an 8-0 Tigers run that put the game out of reach.

Ford led all scorers with 26 points for Montana State (17-18). Ford was 9-for-13 from the field, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Goracke added 15 points, including four threes for the Bobcats, who were appearing in their third straight NCAA tournament after upsetting Montana in the Big Sky championship final last Saturday.

Antwan Burnett and Jourdan Smith (game-high nine rebounds) scored 18 points apiece for Grambling.

Walker missed a layup nine seconds remaining while Moton's jumper was short off the iron as the buzzer sounded, sending the game to overtime.

—By Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media