The Morehouse College Maroon Tigers had been on the road for the first two weeks of the season and were looking to open Forbes Arena for the winter with a quality opponent and a win.
They would do both on Tuesday night as the undefeated University of West Georgia Wolves ventured north to Atlanta and left town with their first loss of the season on their record. The Maroon Tigers, on the other hand, remain undefeated at 5-0.
“We went out on the road and we played down in Florida and did well and then we went to the CIAA and played Shaw and Winston Salem State, so all we have to do now is take care of home,” said Morehouse head coach Grady Brewer. “When we go to conference play and take one game at a time. We don’t worry about any game except the game we are playing.”
With Morehouse ahead 87-82 with 23.3 seconds remaining and the game virtually in hand, senior guard Tyrius Walker would step to the free throw line with a chance to officially ice the game.
Walker scored three points during the first half, making one of his three shot attempts in the process. He would have a much better second half, however, scoring 15 points on 6-11 shooting.
The same could be said for his backcourt mate and fellow senior Martravious Little who only scored two points in 16 minutes during the first half compared to the 10 points he would finish the game with.
About Walker’s slow start Brewer said, “He played hard and played through the mistakes.”
Walker added six assists to his postgame total, one of which went to junior Omar Alston for a dunk that put the Maroon Tigers ahead 78-68 with six minutes to play in the game. Alston scored 17 points on 8-11 shooting while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
After leading by eight at halftime, the Maroon Tigers lead would balloon to 12 points midway through the second half before the Wolves would go on an 11-3 run capped by a three-pointer by junior guard Marquill Smith.
The Maroon Tiger advantage would be three points with 14.2 seconds remaining after Smith would come up with another timely Wolves basket — Smith scored a game-high 22 points — but it wouldn’t be enough as late free-throws from senior forward Jordan Wallace (8 points) and junior forward Duby Maduegbunam (13 points) would put the game away for good for Morehouse.
The Maroon Tigers will begin conference play on Saturday afternoon at Tuskegee University.
