ALBANY, Ga. – The Wildcats picked a good time to snap a tough run of results by spoiling their rival's Homecoming. Fort Valley State rode a late first-half run to get within striking distance, caught Albany State with five minutes left and prevailed in the final minutes, 69-66, in men's basketball Saturday night.
Trailing by 14 points with 3:18 left in the first half, FVSU ran off the final 11 of 13 points to end the first half and cut the difference to 35-30 by intermission. ASU pushed the margin back to 10 points early in the second stanza, but the visitors battled back and tied the contest at 58 on a pair of Jahlen Jack free throws with 5:30 remaining. After three lead changes, two Myson Lowe foul shots edged FVSU in front for good and a Khadim Samb 3-point play followed after a home turnover for a 67-63 score at 1:16. ASU missed a 3-pointer and committed a turnover before a second pair of Lowe free throws sealed the Wildcat win with 13 ticks to go.
Samb paced all scorers on the night on 6 of 9 free throws, 2 of 3 from long range and all five of his free throws for 19 points. Jack connected on 7 of 8 free throws as part of his 11 points to go with three assists and two steals. Khirius Doucet came off the bench for a quality night of nine points on 4 of 6 field goals, six rebounds and five assists. Sincere Whitehead netted a key seven points and two rebounds in only seven minutes of action. Davorian Rudolph chipped in eight rebounds and five caroms.
Jordan Simpson led the Golden Rams with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
ASU came out strong with its usual capacity Homecoming crowd. The Golden Rams went out to a 19-10 advantage halfway through the opening half and pushed it to 14 points twice (26-12 and 33-19). Starting with a Doucet layup, Whitehead followed with a pair of back-to-back buckets and Rudolph dunked one home to pull FVSU to within 33-27 at 1:03. Rudolph drained a triple 45 seconds later to end the first half scoring.
FVSU has only one day to enjoy its victory as it will trek up to Atlanta on Monday night, Jan. 29, in a 7:30 p.m. tip at Morehouse College
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