Donald Hewitt
Blue & White Flash / Staff Writer
In a season that’s seen its share of ups and downs, very little went wrong for the Jackson State University Tigers basketball team Saturday night.
JSU cruised to a 77-38 win over Grambling State University at the Lee E. Williams Athletics & Assembly Center. JSU (7-16) improved to 6-8 in SWAC play with the win. Grambling remained winless for the season, dropping to 0-14 in league play and 0-23 overall.
JSU swept the regular-season series, winning the first game 57-46 on the road. The win came on a night where Jackson State won the turnover battle 12-5, leading to a 16-4 advantage in points off turnovers. Jackson State shot 6 of 14 from beyond the arc compared to Grambling State’s 2 of 8.
In this contest, the Tigers were looking for a spark to come in and make up for the production lost in the absence of guard Dundrecous Nelson, who was out due to concussion like symptoms. The spark came from multiple bench palyers but the player who stepped up with the biggest contribution was junior transfer Jeff Stubbs, who scored a career high 22 points.
Stubbs went 8-12 from the field, that included 4-5 three-point range shots and 2-2 from the free throw line. He also pulled down four rebounds and dished out two assists.
Kelsey Howard followed with 15 points on 6-11 shooting from the floor. Phillip Williams added 10 points and seven rebounds. Williams went 5-5 from the field.
JSU opened the game on a 29-3 run that saw the Tigers score every way imaginable – drives to the basket, 3-pointers, free throws and off of Grambling turnovers.
Grambling, meanwhile, continued their season-long shooting woes, hitting just two of its first 10 attempts from the floor and missing all four of its 3-point tries. GSU shot just 19 percent from the field in the first half. Steven Dandridge scored 11 points, Terry Rose had 10 points and six rebounds and Peter Robertson scored 10 for Grambling State (0-16, 0-7).
The Tigers return to play when JSU travels to Mississippi Valley State on Saturday, Feb. 23 in a big Conference game as the Tigers continue to finish the season strong.
