Benedict College beats Albany State 65-58

The Benedict Tigers built a 20-point second half lead, dominating play inside the paint, then held off a late rally from the Albany State Golden Rams to win a key SIAC game 65-58 at the Arena at West Campus in Albany on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers jumped out to a 15-5 lead early in the game but the Golden Rams bounced back and closed the gap to four when redshirt freshman Joshua Jerome drilled a three-pointer to put the score at 18-14 with eight minutes left in the first half. But Tigers were hot from the outside, hitting two threes of their own and taking the ball to the hoop for two slam dunks as well. The Tigers pulled down several rebounds for put back points as well and the Tigers went up 33-17 at the half.

The Tigers stretched that lead to twenty in the second half before the Golden Rams began fighting back and outscored the Tigers 24-12 to bring the score to 49-41 with just under nine minutes remaining. Late in the game the Golden Rams closed the gap to just five points, but the Tigers nailed five of six free throws to keep their lead safe.

Kamil Brown led the Golden Rams with 21 points and seven rebounds. Titus Burns contributed 13 points. Senior Randy McClure rounded out the double-digit scoring with 12 points and six rebounds.

The Rams had beaten the Tigers in South Carolina earlier this season by an 87-80 score but are now 15-12 overall and 12-6 in the conference with one game remaining before the conference tournament. The Rams will host Morehouse at ASU West on Tuesday night at 7:30.

Staff Photo: Joe WhitfieldStaff Photo: Joe Whitfield