TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Stillman College men's basketball team played with a short bench, however the Tigers pulled through to collect a 72-65 win over Arkansas Baptist College Saturday evening in Birthright Alumni Hall. 

Tyler Martin poured in a season-high 26 points, while Michael Taylor was behind him with 25 points. D'Angelo Foster pulled down a team-leading 13 rebounds and blocked five shots. 

Arkansas Baptist used the opening minutes to take a 4-2 lead before Eric Grant scored a fast break layup and a three from Brenden Lankford-Johnson put the Tigers ahead 7-3 with 17:12 left in the half. 

Stillman (14-9) built a 15-point lead on two occasions in the first half with the last coming at 4:56 when Martin hit a jumper and converted a free throw to go up 34-19. Safee Shepard hit a shot with 57 seconds left to cut the lead to 39-31, but Foster responded with a dunk moments later to give the Tigers a 10-point, 41-31 advantage at the break.

The second half featured Stillman building up to a 19-point lead at 9:51 after Lankford-Johnson connected on a layup to push the lead to 60-41.

ABC made the contest interesting down the stretch with a 14-5 run to cut the lead to 70-65 with 22 seconds remaining. Free throws by Taylor put the game away as Stillman took the 72-65 win. 

The Tigers finished 46.4 percent (26-of-56) from the floor, 50 percent (12-of-24) beyond the arc, and 88.9 percent (8-of-9) from the free throw line. 

Shepard posted a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Ryan Gordan added 12 points and six rebounds, while Nick Moye scored 10. 

Stillman College returns to action Thursday at home as the Lady Tigers face Voorhees University in HBCU Athletic Conference action. Tip-off in Birthright is set for 7:30 p.m.