AUGUSTA, GA – The Fort Valley State University Wildcats (9-9; 6-4) Men's Basketball Team dropped an 86-83 decision in overtime to Paine College (4-11; 3-5) Wednesday night at the HEAL Complex.
Walter Foster led the Wildcats with a double-double and game-high in scoring with 23-points and 14 rebounds. Foster made seven baskets from the floor, hit 9-of-13 foul shots and blocked four shots.
Jaylon McMillan added 22-points and made 6-of-7 free throws, while
James Barnes added 15-points.
Paine was led by Babe Murphy with 22-points and seven boards. Sam Bide added 13-points.
Paine outrebounded the Wildcats 50-40 while outscoring FVSU 36-32 in the paint. FVSU held the upper hand with 16-points to 12 off turnovers, 14-points to 13 on second-chance shots, 14-points to 4 off fast breaks points, but the Lions got 33-points to 16 from its bench players.
In overtime, Paine made the first four-points for a 78-74 lead. Foster's jumper cut the score to 76-78 with 3:47 left. Bibe made the score 80-76 on his layup, then Garror drained four back-to-back free throws for the tie at 80-80 with 2:56 left. Paine's Murphy hit two free throws for the 82-80 lead with 2:29 to go. McMillan hit a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats an 83-82 lead at the 2:04 mark. After a Paine timeout, Foster fouled Murphy sending him to the line for the 85-83 score with 22 seconds left.
With 2:06 left in regulation, Foster tied the game at 66-66 after coming from behind. At the 1:36 mark,
J. R. Bryant made two free throws to go-ahead 68-66. Foster's layup, Barnes' free throw, and McMillan's layup increased the score to 73-69 with 29 seconds left. Babe Murphy hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 1 (73-72) with 24 seconds on the scoreboard. Then, with 12 seconds remaining, Bryant made a free throw to make the score 74-72 but Murphy would drain two free throws of his own for the 74-74 tie with 6 seconds left. McMillan had a chance for the win but missed a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left in regulation.
In the first half, the Lions jumped out to a 17-12 lead, but the Wildcats would take a 1 point (18-17) lead with 6:51 on the clock. The score would exchange back and forward until the 4:15 mark with Paine up 23-22 and would be the closest FVSU would get for the first half. Paine jumped out to a 14-point lead before going to halftime.
The Wildcats will host the Maroon Tigers of Morehouse College on Saturday, January 13 at the HPE complex. Game time is set for 3 p.m.
