COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Central State Marauders placed five players in double figures and defeated the Benedict College Tigers 65-55 in a SIAC men's basketball contest on Wednesday in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

The Tigers fall to 2-10 on the season, 1-4 in the SIAC. Central State moves to 2-12 overall, 1-7 in the SIAC.

Central State jumped out to an early lead over the cold-shooting Tigers. The Marauders built as much as a 12-point lead, 25-13, before closing out the first half with a 27-16 lead. Benedict shot 24 percent from the floor in the first half.

In the second half, Benedict trimmed a 12-point lead down to three points, 47-44, after a 3-pointer by Davante Wiltshire with 5:56 left to play. That was as close as the Tigers would get as the Marauders scored their final 12 points from the free-throw line.

Darius Williams led the Tigers with 17 points. Kelvin Omojola added 12 points.

Benedict takes to the road for a pair of games, starting with a trip to Tuskegee on Saturday before traveling to Miles on Monday. The next home game will be Saturday, Jan. 12 against Clark Atlanta at 3 p.m.