GRAMBLING, La. — The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats overcame a 14-point first half deficit to defeat Grambling State 76-71 at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center. The win combined with Southern's loss to Florida A&M clinches the SWAC regular season title for the Wildcats, their first since joining the SWAC and second ever title since joining Division I.

1^st Half
Bethune-Cookman (16-13, 13-3) got off to a tough start offensively, scoring just four points in the opening seven minutes of the game. Meanwhile, Grambling State (12-16, 6-9) scored 17 points in just over six minutes of game time, recovering from an 0-for-5 start to take a double digit lead. An alley-oop by Derrius Ward gave the Tigers their largest lead of the half at 14 points.

Over the final ten minutes, B-CU would outscore GSU 22-11 to narrow the deficit to just three points at halftime. The Wildcats shot just 28.6% and finished with 15 turnovers but were able to hold the Tigers to 41.2% and even the rebounding differential.

Jakobi Heady led the way for B-CU with 11 points, while Roderick Coffee III carried the load for the Tigers with 14.

2^nd Half
The Wildcats scored the first four points of the second half to take their first lead since the beginning of the game, but the lead would be traded back and forth for the next several minutes.

Down two with 9:49, B-CU managed an 11-0 run to put build some separation on the scoreboard. The Tigers fought back to cut the lead to three with 1:03 remaining but were unable to complete the comeback. Quentin Heady made a layup with eight seconds remaining to put the game on ice.

Both teams struggled from three and from the free-throw line in the second half, but the Wildcats out-rebounded GSU 24-17 and shot 51.4% overall compared to 40% for the Tigers.

• Jakobi Heady finished as the Wildcats' leading scorer with 20 and recorded a season-high four steals.
• Arterio Morris and Daniel Rouzan each scored 15.
• Grambling's Derrius Ward led all scorers with 24 points.
• B-CU shot 25% from three and 64.7% from the charity stripe.
• The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 41 to 34.

Bethune-Cookman faces Southern on Saturday beginning at 3:30 p.m. from the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

Follow Bethune-Cookman Men's Basketball on Twitter (@BCUHoops) and Instagram (@BCU_Hoops) for all of the latest news and updates. For all Bethune-Cookman Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BCUAthletics), Instagram (@BCU_Athletics) and BCUathletics.com.