SWAC chaos produces wildest moment of men's conference tournaments

Grambling had an in-bound pass up by two, 49-47, with 12.3 seconds left. Southern guard Andre Nunley forced a loose ball following the pass into the Tigers' backcourt.

On his back, Grambling guard Kintavious Dozier threw an ill-advised pass past half court, which Southern guard Michael Jacobs intercepted. Jacobs tossed the ball back up the court to a wide open center Brentay Noel, who tied the game with a dunk with 0.6 seconds left.

Grambling withstood the gut punch and outscored Southern, 16-13, in overtime to pull off one of the most stunning wins in this season's men's college basketball conference tournaments.

The Tigers are the third team with a losing record to defeat a tournament No. 1 seed in as many days.

On Monday, Delaware (16-20, 5-13 in CAA) defeated Towson (22-11, 16-2 in CAA), 82-72, in the CAA semifinals.

On Tuesday, Saint Francis (PA) (16-17) upset Central Connecticut (25-7), 46-43, in the Northeast Conference tournament final to clinch its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 34 years (1991).

Grambling needs two more wins to clinch its second consecutive (and second in program history) NCAA Tournament bid.

The Tigers won the SWAC tournament last year after going 14-4 during the regular season in conference play. They defeated Montana State in the First Four as a No. 16 seed before falling to eventual national runner-up Purdue in the Round of 64. 

The team's three leading scorers this season were on last year's squad, including Mikale Stevenson, who led Grambling with 17 points off the bench against Southern. 

The Tigers play the winner of Thursday's game between No. 5 seed Alabama State (16-15, 12-6 in SWAC) and No. 4 seed Texas Southern (15-16, 12-6 in SWAC) on Friday.

Per KenPom, Grambling is the No. 325 in the country, ranking 342nd in adjusted offensive rating. It's No. 326 in NET rankings, with its only out-of-conference wins coming against NAIA members Southern-New Orleans and Arkansas Baptist and NCCAA Division II College of Biblical Studies.

Nothing Grambling has done this season suggests it should be two games away from a ticket to the "Big Dance." But that's what makes March so special. Anything can happen.