FORT VALLEY, GA – The Fort Valley State University Wildcats (FVSU) (12-12; 9-7) defeated Paine College (PC) (4-17; 3-11) 66-58 Saturday night at the HPE Complex on Fort Valley State's campus.
 
Jaylon McMillan led the Wildcats in scoring with 15-points, five rebounds and went 4 of 4 at the free throw line. Walter Foster led the team with 12 rebounds, six points, and two blocked shots while J. R. Bryant dished out a game-high 10 assists.
 
Babe Murphy scored 17-points for Paine and Fadil Robinson had nine rebounds and 13-points.
 
Paine pulled down 42 boards to FVSU's 41, while the Wildcats forced Paine into 21 turnovers and collected 15-points off those turnovers. Paine shot 38.3% (23-60) from the field, 33.3% (6-18) three-pointers and 54.5% (6-11) at the foul line. The Wildcats hit 36.7% (22-60) of their shots from the floor, 34.8% (8-23) shots from behind the arc and 63.6% (14-22) from the free throw line.
 
The Wildcats largest lead of 10-points came at the 1:56 mark in the second half, while Paine grabbed its six-point lead in the first half with 11:57 on the clock.
 
In the first half, Paine took a six-point lead with 11:57 left to halftime, but Dexter Williams's layup tied the game for the third time at 18-18. McMillan's free throws gave FVSU a 20-18 lead with 7:46 left. Jamaal Garror made a layup to increase the lead to 6 (24-18) and McMillan's three-pointer would send the Wildcats to the locker room up 28-22.
 
In the second half, Paine cut the lead to 1 (32-31) with 15:56 to play and with 11:21 left the Lions tied the game at 40. Garror's free throw pushed the score to 10 (58-48) with 1:58 remaining and the Wildcats cruised in form there.
 
The Wildcats next home game is Homecoming on Saturday, January 10^th at 8 p.m. with Albany State University coming to The Valley.