BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Benedict College men's basketball team had their 2017-18 season come to an end as Clark Atlanta University rallied from a 13-point deficit to take a 74-72 victory over the Tigers in the semifinals of the 2018 SIAC Tournament on Friday night in the Bill Harris Arena.

Benedict, the fourth seed from the East Division, ends the season with a 21-10 record. Clark Atlanta, the second seed from the East, advances to Saturday's championship game, where they will take on third-seed Claflin at 8 p.m. (Eastern). Claflin upset top-seed and nationally sixth-ranked Morehouse in Friday's other semifinal game. Clark Atlanta, now 24-4, is the defending tournament champion.

Benedict's All-Conference and All-American senior forward Brandon Morris picked up two quick fouls within the first minute of the game and did not play the rest of the first half. Without Morris, the Tigers used some strong outside shooting to take a 38-28 lead at the half. More than half of Benedict's shot attempts and made field goals were 3-pointers. The Tigers were 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from beyond the arc, and 14-of-28 (50 percent) total from the field in the first half. Jelani Watson-Gayle finished with 10 points, all coming in the first half. DeShawn Graham came off the bench to score nine of his 11 points in the first half.

Benedict took its largest lead, 47-32, on a layup by Dimitri Cook with 15:24 on the clock. The Tigers had a 54-41 lead with 9:45 remaining after a jumper by Cairo Brown, but the Panthers put on some full-court pressure and went on a 16-2 run in less than three minutes to claim a 57-56 lead with 6:51 left in the contest.

Brown, who finished with a team-high 18 points, made one free throw to tie the game, but the Panthers scored the next four points on free throws and never trailed again.

Anthony Williams led Clark Atlanta with 16 points.

The Tigers lose two seniors off this year's squad – Morris and Mike Udume, who finished his Benedict career with eight points. Morris wrapped up his stellar two seasons with the Tigers with seven points, matching his season low while being limited to just 13 minutes.