The Ole Miss men’s basketball team defeated Grambling State 66-64 on Friday, advancing to 2-0 on the season.

Both teams were coming off big wins earlier in the week. Grambling scored 93 points in their Monday outing against Southern University of New Orleans. 

Moreover, the Tigers have high hopes this season: they won the Southwestern Athletic Conference last season (SWAC) and brought back three of their starting guards, all former JUCO standouts who proved they can hang in Division I last season. 

It was all Grambling in the first five minutes. The Tigers came out shooting, burying their first five field goals. Grambling Guard Kintavius Dozier scored a pair of triples along with a strong finish at the rim.

After going down 13-6, the Rebs woke up. Guard Jaden Murray had a pair of nice takes; forward Malik Dia dropped a defender and then hit a step-back three.

Towards the middle of the half, both offenses stagnated. Aside from guard Matthew Murrell’s one-handed slam in transition, the Rebs went several minutes without scoring.

Then Grambling picked it up. Tiger forward James Flippin dropped in a pair of triples, and Ole Miss was unable to answer. The Rebels went ice-cold from beyond the arc — Murrell and Brakefield could not get anything to go, and Sean Pedulla had a few bad misses. 

The Rebs went into the half down 33-25. Though they only had five turnovers, and they were shooting only 20% from three, compared to the Tigers’ 50%. Also significant was the fact that the Rebs did not shoot a single free throw in the entire first half.

The Rebs needed a spark on offense, and guard Dre Davis stepped up, scoring eight points in the first four minutes of the second half to cut the Tigers’ lead to just four. 

With just under 14 minutes to go, an and-one layup and free throw by Pedulla put the Rebels ahead, 40-39. From there, the Ole Miss offense found its groove. Three-pointers by Brakefield and forward Malik Dia lengthened the Rebel lead.

Not only did Ole Miss take care of the basketball — they also locked in on the defensive end. The Rebs finished with only six turnovers, while the Tigers had over 20.

But the Tigers were not finished. Grambling shaped up its defense; some physical takes by Grambling guard Mikale Stevenson tightened the Rebel lead to just four with as many minutes remaining.  

A big three by Tiger forward Ross made it a one-point game. The Rebs answered — guard Devon Barnes had a nice put-back, and Brakefield scored a transition dunk following a Murray steal to put the lead at 62-57.

Dozier put in an and-one for the Tigers, making it 62-59 Ole Miss, but he missed the free throw, and on the following possession was stripped as he drove to the rim, forcing the Tigers to foul.

Murray made both free throws. Dozier scored quickly on the other end, and the Tigers fouled Murrell, who crushingly missed both free throws. The Tigers’ Stevenson got to the foul line and trimmed the lead to just one, 64-63, with four seconds remaining.

Luckily, Murray was fouled and made his free throws, and the Rebs held off a last effort by the Tigers to win 66-64.