GRAMBLING, La. | TJ Madlock led three players in double figures in a 74-68 loss to Grambling State in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) road contest at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center on Saturday.
 
Madlock finished with 22 points, while CJ Hines added 17 and Isaiah Range 11 for Alabama State (11-12, 6-4 SWAC). Ubong Okon led Alabama State with 10 rebounds, while Micah Octave added nine rebounds in the loss.
 
Meanwhile, Grambling State (11-12, 8-2 SWAC) had three players in double figures led by Kintavious Dozier with 21 points and seven rebounds. He was joined by Tra'Michael Moton with 13 and Jalen Johnson with 12. Jourdan Smith added 11 points and six rebounds for the Tigers.
 
With the loss, the Hornets fall two games back of Grambling State in the standings.
 
Alabama State finished the night shooting 38.5 (25-of-65) percent from the floor and 24.0 (6-of-25) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 70.6 (12-of-17) percent from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Grambling State shot 38.3 (23-of-60) percent from the floor and 35.3 (6-of-17) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 68.8 (22-of-32) percent from the free throw line.
 
How It Happened

• After Alabama State built an early 7-3 lead, Grambling State went on a 23-4 run over a span of 9:50 to take a 26-11 lead into the media timeout with 7:43 to play. The run ended on a Hines layup with just over seven minutes to play on a steal by Octave.
• The Hornets got it to single digits with 30 seconds remaining in the half after a pair of free throws by Hines before Grambling State knocked down a three with just under five seconds to play in the half.
• Madlock and Hines combined for 20 points in the first half for Alabama State as the Hornets fell behind 36-24 after shooting 34.5 (10-of-29) and knocking down just two three-pointers.
• Alabama State opened the second half on a 13-3 run to pull within two at 39-37 with 17:01 to play in the game after a Range three-pointer forced a timeout.
• The Hornets took their first lead since the 15-minute mark of the first half when they led 9-8 after Madlock connected on one of two free throws following a media timeout (41-40/15:35 to play). Following that run, Grambling State answered with an 8-2 run to take a 48-43 lead at the under-12 media timeout.
• The Tigers were able to push the lead back to double digits before a media timeout at 4:00 with Grambling leading 62-53. The lead grew to 10 at 63-53 before Octave converted a three-point play to knock the deficit down to seven (63-56).

Alabama State Notes

• Kendal Parker started for the first time this season and the second time in his career with Isaiah Range coming off the bench for the first time this season.
• Okon and Jonathan Aku met for the first time in the court despite living just over 13 hours apart in their native Nigeria.
• Octave recorded a first half steal giving him at least one steal in 22 of 23 games this season and extended his streak to four consecutive games after having his streak snapped at Prairie View A&M.
• Okon recorded another blocked shot and has recorded two or more blocked shots six times this season. He extended his streak to nine consecutive games with a block and has recorded at least one block in 14 of 15 games.
• Hines recorded three or more assists for the 12th time this season.

Up Next
Alabama State stays on the road traveling to Baton Rouge (La.) to face Southern. The game tips off at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12 due to Mardi Gras.
 
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