ATLANTA – Morehouse College jumped out to an early big lead and avenged its earlier loss to Benedict College with an 85-70 victory over the Tigers on Monday night in Benedict's final SIAC game of the season.
The Tigers wrap up their conference schedule at 3-14 in the SIAC and 4-22 overall. Morehouse, ranked 13th nationally, improves to 20-4 overall and 14-3 in the SIAC. Morehouse avenged its 89-83 loss to Benedict on Jan. 14.
Kelvin Omojola led the Tigers with 15 points. Benedict shot 38.8 percent (19-for-49) in the contest, including shooting 29 percent (9-for-31) in the first half.
Morehouse jumped out quickly, leading 15-2 with 15:42 still on the clock. Benedict cut the lead to 22-17 with 10:13 remaining in the half after a pair of free throws by Jalen Shuman. But the Maroon Tigers went on another surge and had a 51-33 lead at the half.
Benedict never got the lead under 13 points in the second half.
Morehouse's Omar Alston had a triple-double to lead the Maroon Tigers with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Morehouse shot 51.7 percent (30-for-58) for the game and 64.3 percent (18-for-28) in the first half.
Benedict will close out the regular season on Thursday, traveling to Orangeburg to take on rival Claflin in a non-conference game. Benedict will be the sixth seed from the SIAC East Division at the 2019 SIAC Tournament and take on the third seed from the West Division at 4:45 p.m. on Feb. 26 in Birmingham, Ala.
