Gaston goes off in Grambling's 80-71 win over Prairie View

GRAMBLING, La. -- Anthony Gaston scored a season-high 30 points with seven rebounds and four steals and Grambling beat Prairie View 80-71 on Saturday.

Diontae Jones' jumper gave Grambling a 9-8 lead and the Tigers never trailed again. Jones' shot was the beginning of a 7-0 run which included a 3-pointer from Gaston. Later, Gaston made a layup and back-to-back 3s and the margin grew to 24-10.

The Panthers put together a 9-1 run and reduced their deficit to nine and Troy Thompson's jumper at the buzzer made it 38-31 for Grambling.

After the break, Shirmane Thomas had a layup, a dunk and a 3 in succession and the Tigers led 45-33. Grambling (6-12, 2/3 Southwestern Athletic Conference) led by double digits for most of the second half. Thomas scored 16 and Jason Perry-Murray added 12 points for Grambling.

Gary Blackston led Prairie View (5-13, 2-2) with 12 points, Austin Starr and Zachary Hamilton each scored 10 and JD Wallace collected a career-high 17 rebounds and scored 10 points.