The Concordia College Alabama Hornets men’s basketball team held off a furious rally by Tougaloo College for a 88-85 win.

Concordia led 86-78 with 2:57 left to play, but the Bulldogs pulled within 86-85 with 45 seconds left. The Hornets were able to drain the clock thanks to two huge rebounds by Quintavius Kelly in the final seconds kept the ball away from Tougaloo and put the finishing touches on a Concordia win.

“They were huge [rebounds] off those missed free throws,” Concordia head coach Fredrick Summers said. “Those were really big rebounds.”

Summers was proud of his team’s ability to win a close game, but he said the Hornets should have already had the game in hand by the time the final minutes arrived.

“Too many unforced turnovers down the stretch,” Summers said. “Just didn’t take care of the basketball. We should have put the game away early in the clock and we didn’t do it.”

After taking a 40-39 lead into halftime, Concordia stretched its lead to 49-40 after a steal led to a layup for Tavin Cummings and a three-pointer by Jeremy Sturdivant.

The lead eventually made it to double digits at 68-58, but the Bulldogs starting chipping away and managed to keep the game in single digits the rest of the way.

Throughout the second half, the lead felt safe for Concordia until a shot by Tougaloo’s Cordaryl Campbell made the score 86-85 with 45 seconds left. From there, Kelly’s rebounds secured the win for the Hornets.

Cummings led Concordia with 24 points in the game. Kelly and Sturdivant added 11 points for the Hornets.

 

Tougaloo 78, Concordia 66 (women)

The Concordia Lady Hornets were tied with the Tougaloo Lady Bulldogs at halftime, but were unable to keep pace in the second half in a 78-66 loss.

The Lady Hornets were unable to overcome 19 turnover.

Lashay Lettnigham led Concordia with 20 points on a night where she was five of 18 from the field.