PROVIDENCE -- It took more than eight minutes for the Providence Friars to wake up on Saturday. It took nearly 36 minutes for them finally to put to bed a game that probably should have been easier than it was.
Still, in an ugly all-around game that saw the two teams combine to average almost a turnover a minute, Providence emerged with a 71-54 win over Grambling State at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in the first game of the Emerald Coast Classic. The Friars will host St. Francis Brooklyn on Monday before traveling to Destin, Fla., next weekend to face Memphis and either Iowa or Virginia.