Jared Sam scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Southern picked up its first conference win, beating Grambling 80-69 on Saturday.

Sam was 4 of 7 from the floor and 11 of 12 from the line for the Jaguars (5-11, 1-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Jamar Sandifer added 18 points and five rebounds and Sidney Umude had 12 points.

Southern scored first and led all the way, building to a 39-21 advantage at intermission. But Grambling battled back in the second half, closing to 61-51 on a Drake Wilks 3-pointer with nine minutes left and to 74-69 on a pair of 3s by Shirmane Thomas with 59 seconds to go.

Sam and Umude combined for 6 of 6 free throws in the final seconds to secure the win for Southern.

Wilks led the Tigers (4-12, 0-3) with 18 points and five rebounds. Thomas finished with 15 points and Ivy Smith Jr. had 12.