JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Wildcats have been one of the toughest teams to face in 2025 and showed it again Wednesday night. Fort Valley State came alive in the second half, outscored Edward Waters by a dozen and stunned the home team, 78-75, in the men's basketball season finale.

Trailing by 10 at half, FVSU ran off 11-straight points and flipped the script capped by a Jaylen Jackson jumper and 48-47 edge. The Tigers pushed back ahead by seven, 65-58, with 6:21 left, but the Wildcats would not be denied. FVSU surged back with a 14-3 run with the tying tallies and ending two free throws by Hassane Diallo, who had a career-high 24 points, for a 72-68 lead with 1:23 it would not give up. Edward Waters drew within a point three times – 72-71, 74-73 and 76-75 – before Sayerr Senghore pulled down the rebound, made two final free throws and saw the home team's game-tying attempt go off the mark at the buzzer.

With the victory, FVSU (12-16/11-10 SIAC East) earned the season series split of Edward Waters (16-12/12-9 SIAC East) after an 87-83 final in Fort Valley on Jan. 11.

The Wildcats now move on to the SIAC Tournament First Round this Saturday, March. 1. FVSU will be the No. 6 seed of the East Division and will travel to Wilberforce, Ohio against Central State, the West Division No. 3 seed, at a time to be set.

After they shot 35% in the first 20 minutes, FVSU was much more efficient in the second stanza by hitting 17 of 33 field goals at a 51.5% rate. The visitors also held Edward Waters to only 9 of 31 shooting in the second period.

Diallo made 8 of 13 field goals and 8 of 10 free throws for his 24-point career high. The sophomore also grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double to go with two blocked shots.

Jackson added 16 points on 7 of 13 shooting along with six rebounds and four assists. Senghore joined Diallo with his own double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds with three steals and a pair of blocked shots.

Marcus Scott chipped in seven points and two boards, while Khirus Doucet had six points, three assists and two rebounds. Mike Robinson contributed five points, including a 3-pointer, Micah Glover added four points and three rebounds. Tyler Pendergrass pulled in two rebounds and had a layup.

Jeremiah Kwarteng led the Tigers with 23 points.

After Senghore made the first bucket of the game, FVSU would not lead again in the first half. The Wildcats did run off six points in a row for a 12-12 tie off a Robinson jump shot, but the Tigers netted the ensuing 10 points and led the rest of the first half.

-Wildcats-