GRAMBLING, La. | Alabama State got behind early, trailing the entire contest before falling to Grambling State 93-66 at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) action Thursday night.

Alabama State (11-17, 9-8 SWAC) is a four-way tie for third in the conference and would need some help to host a quarterfinal game in the conference tournament. The highest the Hornets could finish is fourth, while the lowest is sixth.

Tobi Ewuosho led Alabama State with 18 points in the start, hitting 6-of-9 shots from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Reginald Gee finished with 14 points and Leon Daniels 10 in the loss. The Hornets shot 37.9 (22-of-58) percent from the floor and just 16.7 (4-of-24) percent from beyond the arc.  They also shot 85.7 (18-of-21) percent from the free throw line, while forcing 14 Grambling State turnovers.

Meanwhile, Grambling State (15-15, 9-8 SWAC) shot 67.3 (35-of-52) percent from the floor; including 75 (18-of-24) percent in the second half. The Tigers shot 61.1 (11-of-18) percent from beyond the arc and 92.3 (12-of-13) percent from the free throw line.

DeVante Jackson paced six players in double figures with 19, while Ivy Smith added 18 points and three assists. Dallas Polk-Hillard added 16 points and six rebounds for Grambling State in the win. Meanwhile, Axel Mpoyo and Nigel Ribeiro each added 11, while Zavier Peart chipped in 10.

Quotable
"Everybody is shooting lights out against us, and our defense isn't really good right now. We are struggling defending the basketball, and their guards are able to hit shots and then the bigs are able to get down in the post deep. We just have to get tougher on defense." – Alabama State head coach Lewis Jackson on hot-shooting of the opponents over the last three games

"We miss AJ (Farrar) tremendously, but we still have to get some other things corrected. We are just in a funk right now; our guards aren't playing well on the perimeter. We are having to Jacoby (Ross) more at the point, and our posts are battling but getting beat." – Jackson on team's play

"We just have to bounce back after this game. We have to forget about it and get ready to play Jackson State. They have a good ball club, and we need to find a way to bounce back. We need some guys to step up, we are at the end of the season now." – Jackson on playing Jackson State Saturday

Follow the Hornets
For complete coverage of Alabama State University men's basketball, follow the Hornets on social media @BamaStateMBB (Twitter), /BamaStateSports (Facebook) and @BamaStateSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Alabama State athletics at BamaStateSports.com.