COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers placed five players in double figures and cruised over the Paine Lions 82-53 in a SIAC men's basketball game on Monday night in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

Brandon Morris led the Tigers with 18 points, while Dimitri Cook and Tyler Whitehead added 13 points each. Jelani Watson-Gayle and Mike Udume chipped in 10 points each. Whitehead's point total was a season-high.

The Tigers never trailed in the contest to improve to 15-3 overall and 8-2 in the SIAC. Paine falls to 4-13 overall and 3-9 in the SIAC.

Benedict used a 15-3 run late in the first half, with Morris providing a crowd-pleasing dunk, to take a 31-17 lead. The Tigers had a 33-22 lead at the half.

Paine scored the first basket of the second half to cut the lead under double-figures, but Benedict quickly pushed the lead back to 16 points, 42-26, after a fast-break layup by Cook. The Tigers used an 11-0 run, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Rodney Prichard and Udume, for a 59-33 lead with 10:03 left in the contest.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday, with a conference road contest at Clark Atlanta, then take on Morehouse in Atlanta next Monday. The next home game is Jan. 27 against Albany State at 3 p.m.