Box Score TALLADEGA, Ala. - Talladega College was unable to rally back and overcome a second-half surge by Stillman College, dropping a Southern States Athletic Conference matchup, 69-62, Saturday afternoon at Dr. Billy C. Hawkins Student Activity Center.

Keshawn Pegues had a strong game for Talladega, collecting 20 points and 15 rebounds. Tre Simmons added 13 points.

The first half started unusually slow, with Talladega holding a 32-28 halftime lead.

Stillman didn't score for the first three minutes and 44 seconds, and Talladega didn't score for the first six minutes. In fact, the Tornadoes didn't hit a basket until 12:49 was left in the half, but had a 7-2 lead on Jimmy Beane's layup.

The Tornadoes kept the lead for most of the first half, pushing it to 14-8 and 19-13 before Stillman made a run. Jalen Taylor's layup gave the Tigers their first lead, 21-20, but Talledega's Wilfred Campbell hit a 3-pointer on the Tornadoes' next trip.

The rest of the half was back-and-forth. Campbell's steal led to a Shawn Pegues layup right before the end of the half, giving the Tornadoes a four-point lead heading to the locker room.

Simmons had 10 points at halftime to lead Talladega while Pegues added nine points and eight rebounds. Brand had 11 points for Stillman. 

The second half was a different story. Stillman scored the first five points of the half to take a brief lead, and then after the teams jockeyed for position, Lankford-Johnson hit a 3 to give Stillman the lead for good, 40-38.

Talladega was within 47-43 before four different Tigers scored, give Stillman the first double-digit lead of the afternoon, 55-43.

Jordan Crumbley hit a 3 to cut the Tornadoes' deficit to 57-50, but Talladega missed another 3 on its next trip, and Stillman's Johnson hit a 3 of his own to push the margin back to double digits.

Talledega never got closer than five points the rest of the afternoon.

Tomias Brand led the Stillman with 13 points while Brendan Lankford-Johnson, Marcus Bates Jr. and Khalil Johnson added 11 points each. Derrick Finklea added 10.

The Tornadoes (3-3, 0-2 SSAC) play Huston Tillotson on Wednesday in Austin, Texas.