Grambling St. 73, Alcorn St. 71

2/12/2008 1:10 AM

GRAMBLING, La. (AP) -Anthony Williams scored 21 points to help Grambling State hold off a furious late second-half rally by Alcorn State and incrase the Tigers' winning streak to five after a 73-71 Southwestern Athletic Conference win on Monday night.

The Tigers (6-12, 6-5) took control of the game early in the first half and led by as much as 17 en route to a 41-27 halftime advantage.

Alcorn State came out of the blocks early in the second half, benefiting from a sluggish GSU by outscoring the Tigers 19-10 over the first six minutes to cut its deficit to 51-46.

Grambling, however, rebounded and brought its margin back up by 10, 58-48, with the help of a 7-2 run with 12:23 left in the game. However, the Braves (3-21, 2-9) stayed within striking distance by going inside and rode the back of James Kendrick over the next several minutes to close within three, 59-56, at the 9:04 mark. Kendrick finished with 18 points.

With 2:47 left in the game, Tony Jackson nailed a 3-pointer to knot the contest at 67-all.

Grambling freshman Jared Riley countered and put the Tigers ahead by two, but the Braves answered and tied the game at 70 at the 1:22 mark.

Duran Diaz was fouled with 1:06 on the clock and made the free throw to move the Tigers up 73-70. Alcorn trimmed it to 73-71 with 42 second left after a free throw by Anthony Ford, who had 12 for the Braves.

After three timeouts in a row, Alcorn missed the potential game-tying shot to close regulation. As the buzzer went off, Alex Owumi was fouled but he missed the first free throw which sealed the win for Grambling. Owumi led Alcorn with 23 points.

Andre Ratliff added 12 for the Tigers, while Diaz had 11.