Grambling State University basketball kicked off its season in an unusual way as the college basketball season starts this week. Grambling faced off against Northern Illinois in the Field of 68's opening-day marathon. The marathon was built as a 24-hour basketball celebration, a showcase to the sport, similar to ESPN's 24-hour tip-off marathon. ESPN broadcast that event from 2008 through 2017.

While the tip-off time was unusual for HBCU basketball fans, Grambling ultimately pulled off a huge out-of-conference victory over the Huskies, winning 89-87. Grambling controlled the pace and flow of the game but had to contend with a Northern Illinois comeback attempt and a missed game-winning 3-pointer by Max Weisbrod at the end of regulation.

In an interview with The Athletic, Patrick Crarey III, the head coach of Grambling men's basketball, expected a lower turnout for the matchup as it was occurring at 3 am, but he was pleasantly surprised.

“Is there more than 12 people in there?” he asked to the opening day marathon organizers, per The Athletic. Once he received confirmation, he said, “You got the degenerates who are gambling. All of a sudden we have 50 fans because we're +8. We want Grambling to win!”

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The win was a jump start to a new season as Prairie looks to retool following a lackluster first season with the Tigers after a stint at Florida A&M. Grambling finished 14-19 overall and 7-11 in conference play. They managed a dominating 77-52 win over Mississippi Valley State to open up the SWAC men’s basketball tournament, but lost a narrow 68-65 matchup to Jackson State in the next round.

Grambling State isn't the only HBCU that will be playing in the event, as Bethune-Cookman is set to face Furman on Monday at 8 pm.