Smith Jr. lifts Grambling St. past Louisiana-Monroe 66-61

MONROE, La. (AP) - Ivy Smith Jr. posted 15 points and Grambling State edged Louisiana-Monroe 66-61 on Tuesday night.

JD Williams made a layup with 1:26 to play to pull Louisiana-Monroe within 62-62 before Smith hit a jumper late in the shot clock to push the lead back to three.

Trevell Cunningham then stole the ball and raced to the other end for a layup to push the lead to 66-61 with a half-minute to go. The Warhawks missed their next shot but got the rebound and turned the ball over, allowing the Tigers to pull out the win.

A 23-8 lead in the middle of the second half allow Grambling to erase a seven-point deficit to take a 58-50 lead with 7:27 to play.

DeVante Jackson had 12 points for Grambling State (5-5) and Kelton Edwards added 11.

Jalen Hodge had 22 points for the Warhawks (4-3). Williams and Michael Ertel combined for 23 points, almost 13 below their combined averages on 7 for 22 shooting.

Grambling State plays Rust College at home on Saturday. Louisiana-Monroe faces Stephen F. Austin on the road on Saturday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com