Preview of Monday’s SWAC Men’s Basketball Game GRAMBLING, La. (Interstat) — A pair of teams jockeying for position in the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings meet Monday when the Grambling Tigers host the Alabama A&M Bulldogs at Fredrick Hobdy Assembly Center. Both teams enter with nearly identical overall records. Alabama A&M is 12-11, while Grambling sits at 11-11. The Bulldogs are looking to rebound from an 81-68 road loss at Southern on Saturday. The Tigers are coming off a defensive-minded 57-47 home victory over Alabama State that same day. The matchup features two of the conference’s top guards. Alabama A&M will rely on Sami Pissis, who is coming off a 14-point, 7-assist performance against Southern. Over his last seven games, Pissis is averaging 12.9 points and 4.7 assists. He will be paired with Koron Davis, who scored a team-high 19 points in the loss to Southern. Grambling counters with Roderick Coffee, who is playing at an all-conference level. He poured in 24 points in the win over Alabama State and is averaging 14.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists over his last four contests. His backcourt mate, Rickey Ballard, added 14 points in the latest victory. Alabama A&M has shown a pattern of responding to losses this season, having not dropped consecutive games since early January. However, their road record in SWAC play is a mixed bag, with notable wins at Prairie View and Alabama State but double-digit losses at Southern and Texas Southern. Grambling has found a rhythm at home in conference action, winning three of its last four at Hobdy Assembly Center, with the only loss a narrow 67-64 defeat to Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Their defense has been key, holding opponents to an average of 58.3 points in those three home wins. This game is the first of a regular-season series between the teams, who will meet again in Huntsville on March 3. With the SWAC tournament seeding often determined by slim margins, securing head-to-head tiebreakers is critical. Tip-off is set for Monday night in Grambling.