DAYTON, Ohio — Jimel Cofer scored all 19 of his points in the second half and overtime and Grambling State rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Montana State 88-81 and advance to the First Four for the first time in NCAA Tournament history. won the championship. Tuesday evening.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Tigers (21-14) advanced as the No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region and will face No. 1 seed Purdue on Friday night in Indianapolis.
Robert Ford III hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game for the Big Sky Conference Tournament champions with 2:02 left in overtime to tie the score at 78, but Grambling missed the free-throw line. The game ended with eight consecutive points.
Montana State (17-18) won 1 of 6 in the final 1:27.
Barnett and Jordan Smith each scored 18 points for the Tigers.
Despite starting the season 2-10, Grambling State, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance, rode momentum in the second half with a 21-6 run to overcome a 42-33 halftime deficit. It was resolved.
Cofer, who did not play in the first half, made a layup as part of a 6-0 individual run to give the Tigers their first lead of the second half at 60-59 with 5:47 left in regulation.
Cofer tied the game with 34 seconds left to make it 72 points, but Montana State’s Brandon Walker missed a potential game-winning layup with nine seconds left, sending the game into overtime.
Montana State shot 63 percent in the first half and led by as many as 14 points in its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
Ford scored 26 points, including six threes.
It was the first time a First Four went to overtime since 2022, when Notre Dame defeated Rutgers 89-87 in double overtime.
