MOBILE, Ala. – A thriller on Monday night ended with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Anthony Gomes to lift the Benedict College Tigers over the Spring Hill College Badgers, 83-81.

The victory for the Tigers improves their overall record to 6-8 and 3-4 in the SIAC. The Badgers fall to 3-11 overall and 2-4 in the SIAC.

Tyrese Mapp led the way for Benedict with 17 points, shooting 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. DeShawn Graham added 16 points and shot 4-for-7 from 3-point range.

Benedict jumped out to an early 13-7 lead off a jump shot from Tajh Green with 15:32 remaining in the first half. Spring Hill battled back and took a 26-24 lead with eight minutes left in the half.

The final eight minutes of the first half saw four ties and three lead changes between the two teams. Benedict would hold a 44-43 lead heading into halftime. The Tigers would keep the Badgers in the game, having been outscored 10-0 in points off turnovers in the first half.

Benedict opened the second half on a 13-4 run to extend their lead to 57-47, capped off by a 3-pointer from Mapp. After a 3-pointer by Aboubacar Camara made it 60-50, the Badgers went on a 10-0 run to tie the game up at 60-60.

Benedict answered with a 6-0 run to extend their lead back to six off a 3-pointer from Joseph Staton with 9:32 remaining. After Spring Hill closed the gap to 73-72 with 5:08 left in the game, Graham hit a 3-point shot to extend the Tiger's lead back to four.

Spring Hill would score four unanswered points to tie the game at 78-78, and then converted on two free throws to give them their first lead since the beginning of the second half with 53 seconds left in the game.

Staton would answer with a layup to tie the game at 80-80. After a free throw from Chase Shellman gave the Badgers an 81-80 lead with 11 second remaining, Gomes hit a clutch three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Tigers an 83-81 lead with less than a second on the clock. A steal by Green would seal the victory for Benedict as time expired.

The Tigers shot a magnificent 12-for-25 (48 percent) from beyond-the-arc and 21-for-26 (80.8 percent) from the free-throw line.

Benedict returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they take on the Paine College Lions in the HRC Arena at 3 p.m.