GRAMBLING, La. (AP) — Octavious Brown scored 15 points and made four free throws down the stretch as Alcorn State shot 57 percent from the field after halftime and held off Grambling State 66-63 on Monday night.

Tamarico Wilson led Alcorn State (11-12, 8-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference) with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Brown opened the game with a jumper and a 3-pointer, then Wilson stepped up with two baskets and a 3 as the Braves took an early 12-4 lead and never trailed.

Ervin Mitchell scored 22 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead Grambling (6-17, 3-8). Deonte Hearns added 11 points.

Mitchell nailed a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left as Grambling pulled within 64-61, but Brown sank two foul shots that pushed the lead to five, 66-61, with five seconds to go and the Braves survived a buzzer-beating layup by Nigel Ribeiro.

Alcorn State has won two straight, and is 7-1 since Jan. 11. The Braves moved into a three-way tie for second place in the SWAC, along with Jackson State and Southern. Texas Southern (10-12, 9-1) is in first place.

Grambling has lost six in a row. The Tigers were 17-for-27 from the free throw line. Alcorn went 23-for-31 at the line.

“Right there at the end of the half we missed layups,” Grambling coach Shawn Walker said. “We missed two layups back to back. We missed 10 free throws tonight. Our free throw shooting is poor.”

JSU 81, Southern 80

Chace Franklin scored 20 points — including the winning 3-pointer with three seconds left — while Paris Collins and Raeford Worsham each had double-doubles to help Jackson State rally from a 16-point halftime deficit to beat Southern University.

Collins had 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and Worsham finished with 16 and 10 for Jackson State.

Southern (16-8, 8-3 SWAC) led 50-34 at the break.

The Tigers (13-11, 8-3) trimmed their deficit to six with 11 minutes left.

Two free throws by Chris Thomas extended Southern’s lead to 76-66 with 4:36 to go, but Jackson State scored 12 straight and took its first lead since 2-0 with 1:30 remaining.

Jarred Sam converted a three-point play before Adrian Rodgers hit 1 of 2 free throws to give the Jaguars an 80-78 advantage with seven seconds left, but Franklin hit his first 3 of the game. Rodgers led Southern with 26 points.

MVSU 66, Alabama A&M 64

Marcus Romain scored 25 points, none bigger than his pair of free throws with seven seconds left, and Mississippi Valley State edged Alabama A&M on Monday night.

Romain’s three-point play with 49 seconds to go gave Valley a two-point lead. On the next possession, Vacha Vaughn fouled Nicholas West, and the senior sank both free throws to tie the game for the eighth time with 35 seconds remaining.

MVSU then held the ball as long as it could before Romain was fouled again. He made both to put MVSU back up by two, and Ladarius Tabb’s last-second jumper missed.

Romain was 8-of-13 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds for MVSU (5-20, 5-6 SWAC). Latrell Love and Isaac Williams added 13 points apiece.

Tabb paced Alabama A&M (8-12, 4-7) with 25 points. Rakiya Battle had 15 points and Arthur Wade added 11.

Mississippi Valley State has won three of its last five games following a three-game losing streak.