MOBILE, Ala. – The Wildcats tied the contest, but they fell short of the lead. Fort Valley State pushed hard and tied the game starting the second half, but Spring Hill College held on for the 94-79 men's basketball win.
Sayerr Senghore and Jahlen Jack teamed up for the final nine points of the first half and pulled FVSU to within a single point, 41-40, at intermission. Marcus Scott deadlocked the game at 41-41 on a foul shot 22 seconds in the latter 20 minutes, but Spring Hill College netted the ensuing six points and never allowed the margin to get under three points over the last 18 minutes of play.
The Wildcats (1-6/0-3 SIAC East) made 16 of 32 field goals in the second half, but the Badgers (3-4/1-0 SIAC West) toed the foul line and made 14 of 15 in the second stanza.
In his biggest output in a Wildcat uniform, Scott hit 7 of 10 field goals, 5 of 7 treys and put up 20 points along with an assist. Jack made half of his attempts of 8 of 16 for 18 points to go with seven rebounds and three helpers. Senghore rounded out the three FVSU double-digit scorers with 17 points on 8 of 12 shots and grabbed seven boards.
Jaylen Jackson downed a pair of triples and added 10 points off the FVSU bench. Hassane Diallo contributed eight points, three boards and a block and Davorian Rudolph clutched nine rebounds and had four points. Khirus Douct handed out three assists and had a bucket.
Walter Peggs, Jr., led the Badgers three 20-point producers with 23 tallies.
Rudolph dunked home an early bucket for a 4-4 score and Scott drained his first trey to retie it at 14-14 with 12:55 in the first half. Spring Hill College posted the following eight points and kept the advantage to a 41-31 score at 1:46 before intermission. Senghore and Jack pulled FVSU back from there.
After Scott made the opening foul shot of the second for a 41-41 score, Spring Hill netted the next six points. Scott hit another 3-pointer halfway through the second half for a 64-61 margin, a Senghore dunk (68-65) and a Jack driving layup (70-67) were the three Wildcat bursts to make it a one-possession game.
FVSU stays in Alabama where it will play on Monday evening, Dec. 2, in a 7:30 p.m. CST/8:30 p.m. EST tip at Miles College.
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