Bucs Dominate Cougars with Inside Presence  

Bucs Dominate Cougars with Inside Presence

TUSCALOOSA – Shelton State's inside presence was too much for Lawson State on Monday.

The Bucs men's basketball team pulled down 48 rebounds and scored 44 points in the paint in its 73-62 win over the Cougars.

Sophomore center Hasani Rivera (Orlando, Fla.) recorded his eighth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and pulling down 14 rebounds for the Bucs.  It was his 11^th double-figure scoring game of the season.

Shelton State (10-6, 2-0 ACCC) jumped out to a 16-6 lead in the first eight minutes. Rivera scored the game's first four points and sophomore guards Troy Dunn (Gonzales, La.) and Kuron Coleman (Newport News, Vir.) drilled back-to-back three pointers in the early run.

Lawson State (9-8, 0-1 ACCC) recovered with a 16-4 run of its own to take a 22-20 lead on Elijah Stewart's jumper with seven minutes left in the half.

The Bucs took a 32-30 lead on sophomore forward Dahantay Tillman (Grayson, Ga.) lay up with 1:56 left in the game. 

The Bucs would never trail again.

Shelton State iced the game, making 9-of-10 free throws in the final minute of the game. The highlight of the night came on sophomore guard Nazir Griffin's windmill dunk in the final 30 seconds.

In addition to Rivera, Griffin (Lithonia, Ga.) and Dunn both reached double figures. Griffin led the Bucs with 21 points and added six rebounds and three assists. Dunn had 14 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Darius Brant (Allentown, Penn.) pulled down 11 rebounds for the Bucs.

Shelton State is on the road Thursday, Jan. 16 at rival Wallace-State Hanceville.