TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Stillman College men's basketball team matched up against a physical Rust College Bearcats squad, but the Tigers emerged victorious with an 81-69 win Saturday night in Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference East Division action in Birthright Alumni Hall Gymnasium. 

Despite the physicality, Stillman finished 51.7 percent 31-of-60 from the floor, 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from three and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the free throw line. 

Tyler Martin led the way with 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Joshua Price added 14 points and eight assists, Calvin Finch, Jr. tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks, while Jeremiah Miller also scored 14 points with six rebounds and three assists. D'Angelo Foster rounded out a quintet of double-digit scorers with 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks in just 15 minutes of action. 

Stillman (11-7, 9-2) never trailed in the ball game and raced to a 10-5 lead just over two minutes into the contest after Martin splashed a three-ball. Jordin Jackson responded with a three-pointer for Rust (4-13, 3-10) to cut the lead to 10-8. 

Afterwards, the Tigers applied the pressure over the next 10 minutes of the first half to reach a 34-19 lead after a three from Price with 7:38 left until the break. The Bearcats battled back to only trail by 10 at the half at 45-10.

The battle raged on in the second half despite the Tigers being up by as much as 19 points at 14:18 mark after Brandon Howard moved the score to 59-40 with a pair of free throws.

Rust slowly chipped away at the lead using physical defense to get within 10 points on several occasions. However, the Tigers' offense persisted and pushed the score to its 81-70 final. 

Isaiah McCallum and Jalin Thomas both scored 14 points to lead Rust, while Justin Hicks added 10 points. 

Stillman College returns to action next Saturday in Birthright against Wilberforce University starting at 3 p.m.