Box Score
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Fort Valley State held off a late Benedict College rally to defeat the Tigers 69-66 on Saturday in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

The Wildcats, the SIAC's top-ranked team, had a seven-point lead, 65-58, with 3:45 left in the game. But the Tigers scored four straight points on free throws by Deonte Johnson and Justin Peeples to cut the lead to 65-62 with 2:41 left to play. After FVSU's Anthony Bell hit two free throws, Benedict's Andrew Crawford drilled a 3-pointer to make it 67-65 with 1:44 left to play.
Benedict forced a pair of turnovers in the final minute, but the Tigers failed to capitalize. Trailing by two points with 17 seconds left, Johnson made one of two free throws to make it 67-66. Fort Valley's Corey Hunter made two free throws on the other end, and the Tigers set up a play for the final shot, but Crawford missed a 3-pointer.

The loss drops the Tigers to 13-8 overall and 8-5 in the SIAC. Fort Valley State improves to 14-6 overall and 10-1 in the SIAC.

Lamar Adkins led the Tigers with 17 points, while Johnson had 14 points. Justin Peeples and Brennan Reynard each added 11 points.

Brandon Davey led the Wildcats with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Corey Hunter had 15 and Joshuah Davis added 14.

The big Fort Valley State team out-rebounded Benedict 42-29.

The first half stayed close, with Fort Valley State never leading by more than six points. A 3-pointer by Reynard just before the half closed the lead to 42-39 at the intermission.

The Wildcats took a 47-40 lead early in the second half, but the Tigers came back to tie the game at 51 on a layup by Johnson. A layup by Jose Roman-Angueira gave Benedict its first lead of the second half, 53-51.

A layup by Johnson tied the game at 57 with 6:47 left to play, but the Wildcats got back-to-back 3-pointers by Hunter and Davis. A jumper by Davis with 3:54 to play gave the Wildcats their biggest lead in the second half, 65-58.

Benedict closed out its six-game home stand, and now wraps up conference play with four road games, starting with a trip to Clark Atlanta next Saturday for an 8 p.m. contest. The Tigers have a home exhibition game remaining against Carver Bible College on Feb. 26, when they will recognize their seniors.