COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Wildcats were in prime position for a Monday night road upset. After leading the majority of the contest, Fort Valley State watched its late lead disappear as Benedict College put together a finish and overtook it in an 81-79 men's basketball final.
Following a pair of Kenton Eskridge free throws with 2:47 left, FVSU (5-20/5-14 SIAC East) held a 76-73 edge. The Tigers (20-5/14-5 SIAC East) held the visitors scoreless for the next two minutes and 46 seconds and netted eight-straight points after a steal and bucket made it 81-76 at two seconds. A last-second Kenton Eskridge 3-pointer made the final 81-79, but it was the first time the Wildcats put the ball through the net in almost three minutes while it missed the prior two shots and committed three turnovers.
With the late trey, Kenton Eskridge finished tied with Myson Lowe with FVSU honors of 20 points. Kenton made 7 of 10 field goald, three from long range and all four of his foul shots to go with three assists. Lowe downed his own pair of triples and 6 of 7 free throws.
Kevan Eskridge chipped in 10 tallies and two boards. Antonio Pelham connected on three 3-pointers for his nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Joe Williams added six points and six rebounds.
Tim Moore and Malachi McCoy paced the Tigers with 18 and 16 points.
After an opening 3-pointer for the home club, FVSU netted the next seven points capped by a pair of Jahlen Jack free throws. The Wildcats grew its edge by as many as eight, 23-15, in the opening 10 minutes on a Pelham trey. Beneict tied the contest at both 23-23 with 8:24 and then later at 41-41 with 46 ticks of the opening half. Eskridge to Eskridge, Kenton to Kevan, made the final first-half bucket for a 43-41 intermission advantage.
The Tigers made it a one-point difference on a free throw in the first few minutes of the second half. From there, FVSU ran off eight points finalized on a Lowe jump shot for a nine-point, 51-42, score. Kenton drained a jumper almost five minutes later for the largest lead of the night of 11 points, 61-50, with 11:56 to go. Benedict ran off a 13-2 run over the next four minutes for a 63-63 tie at 7:49.
Jamal Reynolds and Kevan Eskridge made back-to-back buckets for a 74-70 visitors lead at 3:24. Just over 30 seconds later, Kenton Eskridge made what would be the final two points with two free throws until his last second trey for the 76-73 advantage.
FVSU will now be off until it travels to Jacksonville, Fla., this Saturday (Feb. 24) in a 3 p.m. game at Edward Waters.
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