COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers rallied from a nine-point deficit to defeat the Miles College Golden Bears 74-68 on Saturday in an SIAC men's basketball contest.

The game was played at Allen University's gymnasium, as Benedict's Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena was being used for spring class registration.

Allen Elmore scored a season-high 13 points, including a 3-pointer that gave Benedict its first lead with 9:05 to play.

Deonte Johnson added 13 points and six rebounds, while Lamar Adkins added 12 points and Andrew Crawford had 11 points and six rebounds. Benedict improved to 7-3 overall and 2-0 in the SIAC.

The Golden Bears fell to 0-9 overall and 0-2 in the SIAC. Terreance Noel led the Golden Bears with 25 points. Jeremy Brooks added 16 points and seven rebounds.

Miles jumped out to an early lead and had a nine-point lead, 18-9, after a layup by Noel with 13:26 left in the first half. Benedict cut the lead to 20-19 on a jumper by Justin Peeples, but Miles built the lead back to as much as eight points before taking a 35-29 lead at the half.

A dunk by Brooks gave the Golden Bears a 40-31 lead in the second half, but the Tigers scored eight straight points, with Elmore hitting a 3-pointer, to cut the lead to 40-39 with 13:23 left. Miles' Ty Lollar hit a 3-pointer to end Benedict's run. After Miles pushed the lead back to seven points, 46-39, the Tigers cut the lead to 50-49 on a 3-pointer by Crawford. Elmore followed that with a 3-pointer to give the Tigers their first lead of the game, 52-50, with 9:05 on the clock.

The final nine minutes were tight. Benedict got a jumper from Kareem Ransom to take a 59-58 lead with 4:33 to play. Johnson added two free throws and Ransom hit another jumper to give Benedict a 63-58 lead with 3:05 to play. Johnson added a layup with 2:34 left to make it 65-60, and Brennan Reynard and Ransom hit free throws for a 68-60 lead with 37 seconds left. Noel hit a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left, but Adkins sank two free throws. Benedict was 8-for-8 in the final 37 seconds from the free throw line to secure the win.

Benedict will be on the road, traveling to LeMoyne-Owen on Tuesday and Lane on Thursday before returning home to face Kentucky State next Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest.