NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Talladega College men's basketball team came up short in a 66-64 conference loss tonight on the road to Dillard University. The Tornadoes have now fallen to 8-6 and 2-4 in the conference following its fourth straight loss while Dillard is now 7-5 on the season and 3-2 in the HBCUAC.

Dillard trailed 2-0 before going on a 7-0 run to take a 7-2 lead to start the opening half.  Arthur Williams drained a three to pull Talladega within two but a Dillard layup pushed the lead to four with just under 13 minutes left. Both teams traded baskets to end up tied at 11 with nine and change to go in the half. The Tornadoes used a 17-11 run to close out the half and take a 28-22 lead into halftime.

Coming out of the locker to start the second half, Talladega pushed its lead to 36-28 in less than four minutes of action. Dillard was able to keep things close as it cut the lead to four to trail 43-39 with just a little over 12 minutes remaining. The Tornadoes were able to hold their lead but a Dillard jumper at 9:54 tied the contest at 45. Each team went back and forth for the next three minutes to only end up tied at 50, but Tre Simmons broke the tie with a jumper while drawing the foul and hitting the free throw to put Talladega in front, 53-50.  Dillard strung together a 7-3 run to take a 57-56 lead with just a little over four minutes in the half.   The Tornadoes retook the lead when Derek Burditt laid one in to make it 58-57 but Dillard closed out the contest on a 9-6 run to win, 66-64.

Corey Sands led Talladega in points with 15 with all of them coming from three-point range. He was 5 of 11 from beyond the arc while tallying a team-high three steals. Fellow teammate Williams tallied 14 points while going 6 of 9 from the field.

Shaun Walker led the squad in rebounds with eight while adding six points of his own.

Talladega back home on Friday, Jan 3 at 4 p.m. when it hosts Wiley University.