GRAMBLING, La. &045; For the second year in a row it came down to the final shot, and Monday it was Alcorn State to escape the victor as Delvin Thompson made a turnaround jumper over three defenders to give the Braves a 72-71 win over Grambling Monday.

&uot;For the first time all year we’re getting leadership from our veterans,&uot; Alcorn State head coach Samuel West said. &uot;Our big men played well. Our guards stepped up when they had to, and we pulled it out in the end.&uot;

Thompson and Alleo Frazier hit key buckets down the stretch in regulation as the Braves rallied from six points down to tie the game at 61 when the horn sounded. Jerist Roberts’ layup with 16 seconds left tied the score.

In the extra session, DeAndre Jones drilled a 3-pointer to give Alcorn its first lead of the overtime period, which gave the Braves a 68-67 edge with 2:04 left.

Grambling’s Brion Rush then scored the next three points, including a dunk, which at the moment appeared to seal the envelope with 15 second remaining before Thompson’s bucket at the end.

&uot;I give the guys all the credit in the world tonight,&uot; West said. &uot;They played extremely hard and team basketball. We’re getting better.&uot;

Thompson led the Braves with 16. Rush led Grambling with 21.

Alcorn women 56, Grambling 46

The Lady Braves took the road win to put their record in the SWAC at 4-0 after avenging last year’s ugly defeat at Grambling.

Alcorn led 27-21 at half

before Grambling trimmed the deficit to seven on two occasions, but the second time

Shikhia Sims nailed a 3-pointer at the 12:58 mark to give Alcorn back the momentum.

Rasaan Powell led the Lady Braves with 18 points, while Sims had 15 and Candace Roberts had 13. Betty Lee led GSU (1-3, 3-10) with 11.