BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. - Stillman College men's basketball led from tip to buzzer Monday night, taking down Blue Mountain Christian University, 65-62, on its home floor in Tyler Gymnasium.
It was the Toppers first home loss of the season and BMCU's first since upsetting No. 7 Faulkner University last week.
Receiving his first Southern States Athletic Conference start,
Daviyon Dennis scored the opening basket for the Tigers, followed less than a minute later by Marcus Bates Jr to give Stillman a 4-0 lead.
Derrick Finklea and
Khalil Johnson also scored in the opening five minutes to help Stillman to an 8-2 lead. Led by Bates' six points, the Tigers opened the game on a 15-2 run in the first 8:32 of action.
While the lead dipped to eight points with 10 minutes to play in the half, Stillman maintained a double-digit lead until the final five minutes of the first half. Blue Mountain out-scored Sitllman 15-9 in the final five minutes to make it a seven-point game at halftime, 34-27.
Stillman managed to work its lead back up to 13 points, 40-27, early in the second half. The Toppers responded with a 14-1 run to tie the game on a Manny Patrick layup with 12 minutes remaining. Johnson answered with a jumper to keep the Tigers in front. Stillman managed to keep its lead throughout, working it back up to 10 points, 56-46, on a Johnson layup and free throw with four minutes to play.
Jondarius Warren out-scored Stillman 9-3 over a two-minute stretch to make it a four-point game, 61-57, with 1:14 to play. A Bates layup with 35 seconds left helped keep momentum with Stillman, despite a Tariq Meredith layup for BMCU. Jakobey Hitchens made a jumper and free throw with 3 seconds left to pull the Toppers within two, 64-62. Dennis was fouled before the in-bounds psas and hit 1-of-2 free throws to help secure the win.
Playing 37 minutes, Finklea led Stillman in most all categories with 20 points, seven rebounds, five steals and three assists. He also had a block.
Johnson had 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Bates finished with 11 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Dennis scored nine and
Tomias Brand finished with eight points.
Warren led Blue Mountain with 21 points, and Hitchens scored 15.
Stillman (8-4, 4-2 SSAC) will take two weeks off and return to campus the day after Christmas to prepare for the SSAC/Sun Conference Challenge in Montgomery, Alabama on Dec. 29-30, played at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
