Bucs Keep Tournament Hopes Alive

TUSCALOOSA – Its now a one-game season for the Shelton State men's basketball team. If the Bucs win at Bishop State on Thursday night they will qualify for the ACCC Tournament next week in Huntsville.

The Bucs (14-13, 6-7 ACCC) now control their own destiny after a 75-74 win over second place Southern Union at the Umphrey Center.

Shelton State and Southern Union had a back-and-forth second half that saw nine lead changes and three times. The Bucs took the lead for good on Kuron Coleman's jumper with 36 seconds left to give the Bucs a 72-71 lead. Coleman hit two free throws with 14 second left to push the lead to 74-71. DJ Hamlett made one free throw with two seconds left to extend the lead to 75-71.

Dakari Francis' three-pointer as time expired left the Bison one-point short at 75-74.

Shelton State trailed 1-0 to being the game but scored the next four points to lead 4-1. The Bucs never trailed again in the first half and led by as many as 14 points on two different occasions.  Southern Union trailed 40-32 at halftime.

The Bison (17-12, 8-5 ACCC) took its first lead in the second half at 51-49 on Desean Powell's layup with 12:59 left. The Bison's largest lead was three points in the final 20 minutes.

Coleman led the Bucs with 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field. Hasani Rivera had 16 points and nine rebounds. Darius Brant had 13 points and five assists. Nazir Griffin added 10 points and made all six foul shots.

Prince Mensah led the Bison with 27 points. He made 10-of-20 field goal attempts and 7-of-9 free throws,

The Bucs wrap up the regular season on Thursday, Feb. 27 at Bishop State.