Box Score  
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers used a strong second-half surge to pull away from the Concordia College Hornets 82-70 on Monday night at the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena in their season opener.

The Hornets, a winless NAIA school from Selma, Alabama, had a 57-54 lead with 9:49 left to play in the game, when the Tigers got a layup by Lamar Adkins, then Adkins hit a pair of free throws to give the Tigers a 58-57 lead.

Concordia regained the lead at 59-58, but then Benedict freshman Brennan Reynard drove for a layup, stole the ball on Corcordia's next possession and fed the ball to Lynden Davis for a layup. Reynard added another jumper to give the Tigers a 64-59 lead with 6:31 on the clock and Rickie Jackson capped off the run with a 3-pointer.

“We came out with a sense of urgency,” said Benedict head coach Fred Watson. “We felt the game was slipping away from us, and the guys started playing with a sense of urgency defensively. We forced some turnovers, got some speedy baskets and got into an offensive rhythm. The basket started looking a little bigger and we made some threes and started to pull away a little bit.”

Reynard led the Tigers with 20 points and had a team-high six steals. Xavier Collier, making his return to the lineup after missing all of last season with a wrist injury, had 15 points and a team-high six assists. Jackson added 13 points and had eight rebounds.

“We recruited him as a top-notch player,” Watson said about Reynard. “He's played well for us during the preseason. I'm not surprised by what he did tonight.”

Benedict had as much as a 10-point lead in the first half, but Concordia came back and tied the game at one point. The Tigers had a 42-40 lead at the half when Jackson hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds left on the clock. The second half remained close until the Tigers started to pull away midway through the second half.

Concordia dropped to 0-6 on the season. Travis Roscoe led the Hornets with 21 points, while Zannie Pickens had 20 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Benedict, 1-0, now takes on cross-street rival Allen on Saturday. The doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. with the women's game, followed by the men's game at 3 p.m.