Dre Davis scored 13 points and Jalen Murray hit a pair of key free throws with 3.3 seconds to play as Ole Miss rallied from a double-digit second half deficit and held on to beat visiting Grambling State 66-64 on Friday in Oxford, Miss. The Rebels (2-0) trailed by eight points at halftime but roared back over the first nine minutes of the second half, turning around the game with a 20-0 run punctuated by a 3-pointer from Jaemyn Brakefield.
Grambling missed six shots and had four turnovers in that decisive stretch. But the Tigers (1-1) rallied, pulling to within just a point when Ernest Ross poured in a 3-pointer with 3:39 remaining. Ole Miss responded with a tip-in by Davon Barnes and steal and layup by Brakefield to build the margin to five points.
The Rebels held Grambling scoreless over the next minute and pulled away in the final seconds thanks to Murray's late free throws. Brakefield added 11 points and Murray had 10 for Ole Miss, which shot just 35.4 percent from the floor.
Mikale Stevenson led Grambling with 16 points. Kintavious Dozier added 15, Ross had 14 and James Flippin scored 12 in the loss. The Tigers, the defending SWAC regular season and tournament champions, took the game right to Ole Miss in the first five minutes, riding a hot hand and eight points from Dozier to a 17-8 lead.
The Rebels roared back with a 10-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Dia to take a one-point lead with 12:26 to play in the first half. Ole Miss led 20-18 after an alley-oop dunk by .