FORT VALLEY, Ga. – The  12^th-ranked Benedict Tigers rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit, but came up a field goal short as Fort Valley State held on for a 68-67 victory on Thursday night in a SIAC men's basketball contest.

The Wildcats had a 58-44 lead with 10:25 left to play before starting the charge back. The Tigers used an 8-0 run to cut a 13-point lead to five points, 62-57. A three-point play by Brandon Morris cut the lead to 63-60 with 3:43 left to play. A 3-pointer by Rodney Prichard made it 64-63 with 2:23 remaining, but that was as close as the Tigers would get. The Wildcats scored their final four points at the free-throw line.

Benedict falls to 7-2 overall with its second straight loss and 1-2 in the SIAC. Fort Valley State improves to 5-3 overall and 3-0 in the SIAC.

Morris led the Tigers with 19 points and a game-high 9 rebounds. Dimitri Cook added 15 points and Jelani Watson-Gayle chipped in 10 points.

Benedict held FVSU to 34.4 percent shooting, but shot just 36.1 percent themselves. The Wildcats had a significant edge in rebounding, holding a 51-25 advantage on the boards and a 19-8 advantage on the offensive end.

Benedict is back in action on Saturday at Albany State.