Box Score February 19, 2018 – The Maroon Tigers held off the Fort Valley State Wildcats, 70-66, and secured the best record in the SIAC and the #1 seed in the upcoming SIAC tournament.
Morehouse, the #1 team in the NCAA South Region, improved to 23-1; 17-1 and will face the Clark Atlanta Panthers (21-3; 15-2 ), Thursday, at 7 p.m., at Forbes Arena, in the final game of the regular season.
After a back and forth first half, which saw the Wildcats lead by as many as 10 points, the Maroon Tigers surged to a 32-30 halftime lead.
In the second half, Morehouse pulled away by 11 points, only to have the Wildcats close the deficit to four points with three minutes remaining. The teams traded baskets the rest of the way and Morehouse won the game at the free-throw line, hitting 25 of 37, overall.
Jordan Wallace and Tyrius Walker, the only Maroon Tigers in double figures, hit the big freebies down the stretch. Wallace hit 6 of 7 from the line, in the second half, and ended with 11 points and a blocked shot. Walker hit 5 of 6, from the line, in the game's final minutes, and finished at 9 of 10, from the charity stripe.
From the floor, Walker was 9 of 21 and finished with a game-high 27 points. The SIAC scoring leader also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out two assists.
Omar Alston pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, to go with six points, four assists and three steals.
Once again as a starter, Tony Evans contributed valuable minutes, putting up six points and pulling down five rebounds. Tremell Gooden chipped in seven rebounds and three points.
Duby Maduegbunam added five points and two rebounds, Kairo Whitfield scored four points and three rebounds and Michael Olmert threw in four points and three assists.
Three Wildcats posted double figures, led by Jamaal Garror, with 18 points. Tyler Edwards and Jaylon McMillan each had 13 points for the Wildcats, who fell to 12-15; 9-10 SIAC.
In terms of attendance, Thursday's showdown with Clark Atlanta is expected to be the biggest game of the year and could stretch the limit of the 6,000-seat Forbes Arena.
Even before the explosion of social media, previous Morehouse-Clark Atlanta games have attracted standing-room-only audiences and nation-wide attention. In the last meeting, February 8, at CAU's Epps Gymnasium, Morehouse prevailed 97-96, in triple overtime.
Tickets for the Clark Atlanta game are $15 and will be sold only at the Morehouse ticket office.
