COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers took another step up the SIAC standings with a dominating 86-72 victory over the league-leading Tuskegee Golden Tigers on Thursday in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

Marcus Goode scored 31 points, breaking out of a recent scoring slump, and added a game-high 13 rebounds. Goode, the SIAC's leading scorer, had been averaging 9.3 points in his last three games. Rickie Jackson added 14 points and added nine rebounds. Trevor Eichelberger chipped in 12 points.

Benedict improves to 12-8 overall and 11-7 in the SIAC. Tuskegee remains tied for first place in the SIAC with a 12-8 overall record and 12-6 conference record.

Calvin Thomas led the Golden Tigers with 22 points, while Derrick White had 20 and Joshua Eichelberger added 17.

Benedict took an eight-point lead in the first half, 21-13, on a jumper by Lamar Adkins. But Tuskegee rallied back to tie the game at 23 on eight straight points. Benedict took a 21-27 lead into the locker room.

The Tigers increased the lead to nine points early in the second half, but Tuskegee closed the gap 54-51. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Benedict's Eichelberger kicked off a 12-2 run for Benedict to put the Tigers ahead 73-57 with 5:18 to play.

Tuskegee cut the lead to nine points on a couple of occasions, but the Tigers made nine of 14 free throws in the final minute and a half to clinch the victory.

The 86 points was a season-high for Benedict.

The Tigers close out their five-game homestand on Saturday against Stillman. Game time is 3 p.m.