COLUMBIA, S.C. – Deonte Johnson scored 19 points and Allen Elmore scored a career-high 16 points as the Benedict College Tigers defeated Fort Valley State University 81-69 on Saturday afternoon in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

Benedict improves to 8-7 overall and 6-3 in the SIAC. Fort Valley State falls to 1-15 overall and 1-8 in the SIAC.

The game was tied at 35 at the half, and was tied at 46 with 14:58 in the second half when the Tigers scored seven straight points to take control of the game. Fort Valley State cut the lead to 54-51 with 10:14 on the clock, but the Tigers got a jumper by Justin Peeples and a 3-pointer by Andrew Crawford for a 59-51 lead with 9:21 left.

Elmore had back-to- back 3-pointers to give Benedict a 75-64 lead with 1:57 left.

Crawford added 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Tigers, while Roberto Mantovani added 11 points.

Tyrone Brinson led the Wildcats with 16 points.

Benedict shot 53.7 percent for the game, compared to 40.3 percent for the Wildcats.

Benedict head coach Fred Watson and the entire Tiger coaching staff, as well as Fort Valley State head coach Sammy Jackson and his staff wore athletic shoes with their suits during the game as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers awareness campaign, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).

Benedict is back in action on Monday, traveling to Atlanta to take on Morehouse at 7:30 p.m.