WILBERFORCE, Ohio – Late game heroics forced overtime, and the Stillman College men's basketball team took care of business in the extra period to grab a 78-68 win over the Wilberforce University Bulldogs Tuesday night in HBCU Athletic Conference action. 

The Tigers (16-10, 13-4) faced a six-point deficit with 55 seconds left. Brenden Lankford-Johnson went to the line and buried two free throws to cut the lead to 63-59. With 10 seconds left, Calvin Finch Jr. connected on a layup to cut the lead to 63-61. Then with four ticks on the clock, Michael Taylor hit a jumper to force overtime tied at 63-63. 

Stillman dominated the overtime period and built a six-point lead at 69-63 all thanks to free throw from Taylor. Wilberforce (13-13, 9-9) finally got on the board in the extra five minutes when Cali Davis hit a three with 4:01 on the clock to move the score to 69-66.

However, after the Davis make, the Tigers closed the game on a 9-2 run capped by free throws from Jaylon Taylor to reach the 78-68 final margin. 

Joshua Price led the blue-and-gold with 18 points. Lankford-Johnson added 16 points; Finch posted 13 points and seven rebounds; Taylor contributed 11 points, eight rebounds, and two steals; and Jeremiah Miller rounded out a quintet of double-digit scorers with 11 points along with eight rebounds and two steals. 

The first half featured 14 lead changes with the largest lead for either team coming with 9:16 on the clock when Lankford-Johnson hit a free throw to put the Tigers up 20-14. Stillman took the lead to the half at 31-30 after successful free throws from Price. 

Wilberforce built an eight-point advantage early in the second half when a free throw from Jamir Hymes pushed the lead to 44-36 with 13:51 on the clock. That lead vanished by the 8:21 mark when Miller hit a layup to tie the game at 48-48. However, the Bulldogs built a six-point lead once more before the Tiger comeback which forced overtime. 

Stillman shot 44.6 percent (25-of-56) from the floor, 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from three, and 88 percent (22-of-25) from the free throw line. 

Wilberforce's Davis led all scorers with 23 points and 12 rebounds. 

Stillman College closes the regular season on Thursday against Fisk University. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Nashville, Tennessee.