SU men eye elusive victory at Grambling
The last time the Southern men’s basketball team won at Grambling, Roman Banks was there to see it.
He was a young assistant coach back then, working for Tommy Green on Feb. 2, 2000, when the Jaguars dropped their archrivals 89-84 at the old Memorial Gym.
Since then, Southern’s annual trip to the north Louisiana woods has brought nothing but misery.
Ben Jobe, in his second term as coach, tried and failed. Michael Grant failed. Rob Spivery failed.
All told, the Jaguars have lost 11 straight games at Grambling.
Now, it’s up to Banks to succeed where others haven’t.
He and Southern (11-11, 7-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) will attempt to end the streak against the Tigers (3-16, 3-6) at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Hobdy Assembly Center.
“I had no idea it’s been that long,” Banks said. “But I know that Grambling and Southern are rivals, and I know what that means.”
He might know it a little better than most folks.
Before Banks’ wife, Tiffaney, got her master’s degree from Southern, she earned an undergraduate degree at Grambling.
Banks’ dad played basketball at Southern, but his mom went to Grambling.
“Only until I started coaching (at SU) did she go for Southern,” said Banks, a Shreveport native.
Had Grambling been a powerhouse in SWAC basketball all these years, well, that would’ve been one thing.
But most of the time, Grambling has not been a powerhouse. And although the Jaguars were nothing special the past few seasons, plenty of talented SU teams had their chance to win on their rivals’ home floor.
Oh, they’ve come close.
Seven losses were by three or fewer points.
Spivery’s 2005-06 team, which swept the SWAC regular-season and tournament titles, took Grambling to overtime in Memorial Gym before losing, 80-75.
Three years later, the Jaguars had one in the bag after Chris Davis came off a screen and drained a 15 fallaway jumper with 12 seconds left.
Ariece Perkins trumped him at the buzzer with an off-balance 22-foot 3-pointer, giving the Tigers a two-point win.
It was a preposterous play. Then again, given the nature of this series, it almost made sense.
This, of course, feels like a different time.
Southern — which won six conference games over the past two seasons — has stunned almost everyone since SWAC play began Jan. 3.
The Jaguars are 7-2 and second in the league standings, having polished off the first half of the conference schedule with a home win over Alcorn State on Jan. 29.
With an open date, Banks canceled practice Sunday and took it easy on the players Tuesday. The next day, he put his foot on the gas pedal during the Jaguars’ practice.
“They can’t have too much downtime,” he said.
To be clear, Southern hasn’t won with smoke and mirrors; the Jaguars have beaten taller stronger teams with sound defense and a formidable transition game.
But before they left for Grambling, Banks said the team has to keep getting better. After all, this is largely the same team that went 3-15 in conference play last season, and the Jaguars don’t blow anyone off the floor.
Though Banks conceded that Southern won’t be a great rebounding team this season (opponents have out-rebounded the Jaguars by an average of 7.4 per game), the team needs to narrow the gap.
For example: Leading rebounder Quinton Doggett had a quiet night against Alcorn. The team can’t get away with that too often, he said.
“We have to do all those little things,” Banks said. “We have to handle the ball a little better. (Point guard) Jameel Grace needs to run the show a little better. We need to be a little more consistent in our offense.”
One other thing: Now that the Jaguars have entered the second half of its SWAC schedule, they won’t sneak up on opponents anymore.
Least of all, Grambling.