AUGUSTA, Ga. – Paine College took advantage of a pair of Benedict turnovers to take a 45-34 victory over the Tigers in the annual Augusta City Classic on Saturday.

Paine opened the contest by blocking a Benedict punt on the opening series and returning the loose ball 13 yards for a touchdown.

Then with the Tigers trying to rally in the fourth quarter, Paine's Autis Gibson intercepted Cameron Stover and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown.

The Lions, in their first season of varsity football after a 51-year absence, won their first SIAC game of the season and just their second game all season to finish the season 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the SIAC.

Benedict finished the season at 4-6 for the second year in a row, 2-5 in the SIAC.

Benedict's Stover completed 24 of 43 passes for 377 yards and four touchdowns with that one interception. Paine's Loranzo Hammond completed 20 of 29 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns, but did not have an interception.

After Paine took the early 7-0 lead, the Tigers quickly responded with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Stover to Jeremy Glinton on the first play from scrimmage to tie the contest.

Stover found Glinton for another long touchdown score later in the first quarter, as he got past the Paine secondary for a 36-yard score to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead. The Lions came back to tie the contest after a nine-play, 65-yard drive on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Hammond.

Benedict regained the lead on a 20-yard pass from Stover to Maurice Griffin to cap off a long 76-yard drive for the Tigers. But the Lions took the ensuing possession and drove 73 yards on 11 plays to score on a 10-yard pass from Hammond to Antonio White.

After a Benedict punt, the Lions took over at their own 19-yard line. On third-and-14, the Lions picked up 13 yards on a Hammond pass to Danny Wohlgemut. Facing fourth-and-one, the Lions picked up the first down on a Isiah Jenkins run as the Benedict coaching staff disputed the spot. The Lions then went on to kick a 38-yard field goal by Wisdom Nzidee with 20 seconds left in the half to take a 24-21 lead at the half.

The Tigers regained the lead in the third quarter on a 43-yard pass from Stover to Kendariss Brown for a 28-24 lead. The Lions pulled ahead on a 21-yard pass from Hammond to Austin Beamus for a 31-28 lead with 5:56 left in the third quarter.

The Lions pushed their lead to 10 points when Hammond threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Don Quarles Jr. with 12:04 left in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers drove down the field, then saw the drive stall after a pair of dropped potential touchdown passes. The Lions had to punt the ball back to the Tigers, but Stover was intercepted by Autis Gibson, who returned it 40 yards for a score and a 45-28 lead with 3:17 to play.

The Tigers closed out the scoring on a one-yard rush by Stover with 1:08 left to play. Tory Mimbs' PAT was blocked for the final 45-34 score.

Benedict had 521 yards of total offense compared to 340 for the Lions. Stephen Williams led the defense with eight total tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack and one pass breakup.