FORT VALLEY, GA (January 16, 2017) – The Fort Valley State University (7-9; 5-2) men's basketball team won last night 74-56 behind senior forward Dareial Franklin game-high 21-points over conference foe Paine College (1-12; 0-7) at the HPE Complex.
 
Franklin led FVSU at the half with 15-points and Jared Tate had 10-points for Paine.
 
In the first half, Franklin's 3-pointer gave the Wildcats an 8-6 lead and a follow-up layup upped the lead to 13-6 with 11:55 left. Junior point guard Shaquil Barfield's layup increased the score by 13 (24-11) and Franklin's 3-pointer with .13 seconds remaining gave FVSU its largest lead of 16 points (35-19).
 
The second half start of junior guard Jamaal Garror 3-pointer and dunk upped the lead to a 40-19 advantage. FVSU would maintain its double digit lead until the 9:02 mark, Deonte Moses of Paine 3-pointer cut the score to nine (51-42) and to eight point (53-45) with 8:10 left and the closest the Lions could get.
 
Franklin made 8-of-12 shots from the floor, 3-of-5 baskets from behind the arc, 2-for-2 at the foul line, three rebounds and two steals. Junior forward James Barnes had the only double-double by and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and 10-points and blocked two shots. Sophomore guard Jaylon McMillan added 14-points and sophomore point guard Tyler Edward led all with five assist.
 
Tate led the Lions with 18-points and had four others with five rebounds apiece.
 
The Wildcats made 28-of-66 (42.4 percent) shots from the field, 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) in 3-pointers and made 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) at the free throw line. They scored 40-points in the paint, 25-points off turnovers, and 12-points on second chance shots, 14-points from fast breaks and 49-points from bench players. For the game the score was tied once and lead changed once.
 
Next game: The Wildcats will host the Tigers of Benedict College on Saturday, January 21 at 3 pm at the HPE Complex.