COLUMBIA, S.C. – Benedict's Antrjuan Albright scored 21 points in his first game back after missing five games with a foot injury to lead the Benedict College Tigers to a 72-62 victory over the Fort Valley State University Wildcats on Saturday at the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

Albright hit five 3-pointers, including a pair in a key 14-3 second-half run that gave the Tigers the lead they never relinquished.

Benedict improved to 7-3 overall and 6-2 in the SIAC, remaining in first place. Fort Valley State dropped to 5-7 overall and 5-5 in the SIAC.

The Tigers trailed 41-35 at the half, but Albright scored on a layup, then hit a 3-pointer with 15:06 left to make it 48-42. After a Fort Valley free throw, Tydran Beaty scored after grabbing an offensive rebound and Albright followed with another 3-pointer. Beaty raced down for a fast-break dunk to tie the score at 49, and Beaty put the Tigers ahead 51-49 with a short jumper on a fast break.

Beaty added 13 points for the Tigers. Rickie Jackson had 12 points and Cassius Bell added 10. Marcus Goode had a game-high 13 rebounds and three blocked shots.

After Fort Valley State tied the game at 51 on a jumper by Cecil Bent, the Tigers rattled off the next seven points, with Albright again coming up big with a 3-pointer for a 58-51 lead. When the Wildcats closed the gap to 58-57, Jackson drilled a 3-pointer and Beaty raced for a fast-break layup, and Jackson drained a pair of free throws for a 65-57 lead with 3:44 left in the game.

Benedict had a 40-38 rebounding edge, and shot 45.8 percent to Fort Valley's 31.8 percent. Benedict held Fort Valley to 25 percent shooting in the second half.

Bent led the Wildcats with 21 points, while Brandon Davey had 20 points and 11 rebounds.

The Tigers are on the road for their next two games, traveling to Miles and Lemoyne-Owen before returning home to face Paine on Jan. 24.