Box Score COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers rallied from an 11-point deficit with three minutes left in the game and tied the game with 55 seconds left, but the Clark Atlanta Panthers held on to take an 81-79 victory on Monday night in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

Benedict's Lynden Davis missed two free throws with five seconds left and Benedict trailing by a point. After his second miss, Jarrel Joye rebounded the ball and was fouled, and made one free throw with three seconds left for the final margin. Lamar Adkins heaved a half-court shot at the buzzer, but it bounced off the rim.

The loss drops Benedict to 13-6 overall and 7-2in the SIAC. Clark Atlanta improves to 13-5 overall and 6-2 in the SIAC.

Adkins led the Tigers with 19 points and eight rebounds. Deonte Johnson added 17 points and had seven rebounds. Andrew Crawford and Brennan Reynard chipped in 14 points each for the Tigers.

Joye led the Panthers with 19 points.

Benedict came out hot and jumped out to an early 9-1 lead, but Clark Atlanta chipped away and took a 17-16 lead on a Joye layup with 14:02 left in the first half. The game stayed close the rest of the first half, with Christian Houston hitting a 3-pointer for the Panthers with 10 seconds left to give Clark Atlanta a 43-40 lead at the half.

The Panthers had a 52-44 lead early in the second half before the Tigers rallied to take a 52-51 lead on a pair of free throws by Johnson with 12:49 left to play. But the Panthers went on a 15-4 run to take a 66-56 lead with 9:38 left to play.

Clark Atlanta took a 76-65 lead with 3:07 left to play on a free throw by Jordan Husley. Back-to-back baskets by Crawford and Reynard cut the lead to four, then Reynard hit a 3-pointer after a Panther turnover to make it 76-72 with 2:40 left to play. After trading free throws, Justin Peeples forced a steal and scored on a layup to make it 77-75 with 1:34 left. Ten seconds later, Reynard hit two free throws to tie the game.

Earl Lawrence scored a layup, but Adkins followed with a jumper to tie the game again, 79-79, with 55 seconds left.

Joye was fouled and hit the first of his two free throws for an 80-79 lead with 32 seconds left. The Tigers came down and Davis drove hard to the basket and was fouled with five seconds left. After Davis missed both free throws, Joye rebounded the second miss and was fouled, making one free throw for the final score.

The Tigers will continue their six-game home stand on Saturday, taking on Paine at 3 p.m.