The two teams met to start the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) season back on Jan. 4 with the Hornets picking up a 68-51 road win.
 
ASU (16-11/10-6) enters the game tied for second place with Texas Southern entering the final two games of the season.  For the Hornets to have any chance of grabbing the second seed in the upcoming SWAC Tournament next week they have to win their final two games and hope the Tigers of TSU fall in one or both of their games.
 
Grambling State (4-21/3-13 SWAC) will either be the ninth or 10^th seed in the tournament, but are coming off a 72-70 win at Mississippi Valley State.  The Tigers enter the game with ASU playing their best basketball of the season winning three of their last six games.
 
GSU has seen several close games go against them this season as they have lost seven games by seven points or less with six of those coming in conference action.  They have four losses by two points or less.
 
"You can't look at Grambling's record and think you are going to win," Head Coach Lewis Jackson said.  "Right now they are playing very good basketball and have several players that can hurt you.  They are one of those teams if you look at them on film they have gotten better each time they have stepped on the court."
 
Antwan Scott is one of the top scorers in the league averaging 15.8 points per game.  A'Torri Shine is not far behind him averaging 14.4 while last year's SWAC Freshman of the Year Terry Rose, averages 9.5 per game.
 
GSU is third in the league averaging 6.3 three point field goals made per game.  They have four players that have hit 20 or more three point field goals led by Rose's 47 and Scott's 40.
 
"They have some guys that are good shooters from the outside and we have to find them at all times," Jackson said.  "That is something we have been struggling to do the past few games.  Grambling does a good job of getting into the lane and dishing out to the open players who do a good job of knocking down the outside shot.  We have to be fundamental on defense, keep them from driving the lane and stay on their shooters all of the time."
 
ASU had a different starting lineup for the first time this season when they defeated Prairie View in overtime in their last game.  The Hornets may stay with the new lineup that saw Bobby Brown, Tony Armstrong and Terrance LeFlore make their first starts of the season.
 
Brown made the most of his first start with the second double-double of his career by scoring 22 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds.  Armstrong added 10 points and LeFlore chipped in with two.
 
Moving DeMarcus Robinson, Luther Page and Brandon Graham to the bench did nothing to hurt their performances as the three players combined for 24 points and five rebounds.  Billy Ingram also made a big impact off the bench contributing 11 points, two rebounds and three assists.
 
"Shaking up the offense may have helped us in both the starting lineup and in those players coming off the bench," Jackson said.  "Bobby had a tremendous game and Tony continues to get better as a scorer around the basket.  Off the bench those guys that usually start gave us a spark and most of them were on the floor at the end of the game and in the overtime period when we needed them.  None of the guys got down and you could tell they were in it to help the team and they all played a part.  Now we have to do this again so we can try and get into the tournament as the second seed.  It is all about seeding now and it is big to have that first day off if you are one of the top two seeds."
 
Live stats along with the live video feed can be seen at bamastatesports.com.  The game can be heard live on WVAS FM 90.7.