DAYTON, Ohio — Jimel Cofer scored all 19 of his points in the second half and overtime and Grambling State rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Montana State 88-81 to earn its first NCAA Tournament win in program history in the First Four on Wednesday night.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Tigers (21-14) advance as the No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region to play No. 1 seed Purdue on Friday night in Indianapolis.
Robert Ford III made his fifth 3-pointer of the game to tie the game at 78 for the Big Sky Conference tournament champions with 2:02 left in overtime, but Grambling iced the game from the free throw line with eight straight points.
Montana State (17-18) went 1 of 6 in the final 1:27.
Colorado 60, Boise State 53
Tristan da Silva led the way with 20 points as Colorado won its first NCAA Tournament game in three years, wrapping up the First Four with a win over Boise State.
A layup by Eddie Lampkin Jr. and a pair of foul shots from J’Vonne Hadley capped an 11-0 run and gave the Buffaloes a 56-49 lead with 24 seconds left in what had been a back-and-forth game. Boise State had to start fouling, and Colorado didn’t miss from the line. That sealed it.
KJ Simpson had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Buffaloes (25-10), who advance as a 10th seed to face seventh-seeded Florida in Indianapolis on Friday.
Chibuzo Agbo had 17 points for Boise State (23-11), who dropped to 0-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.