TALLADEGA, Ala. – The Talladega College men's basketball team's late rally came up short in a 69-66 setback to GCAC rival Tougaloo College tonight at home.  Both teams split the season series with neither team winning no more than by four points.

Both teams went scoreless for the first two and a half minutes in the opening half. Talladega (19-4, 8-2) struck first hitting a foul shot to take a 1-0 lead. The Tornadoes were able to push the lead to 4-0 when Corey Sands drained a three, but both teams after that traded baskets only to find themselves tied or up by no more than four.  Tied at 22, the Bulldogs hit a pair of foul shots to take a 24-22 with 3:26 left in the half. Those foul shots sparked an 8-3 run to give Tougaloo a 30-25 lead at halftime.

The Bulldogs built their lead to 45-38 to start the second half but the Tornadoes fought to keep the contest within reach as Javonni Bickham scored the next three points straight to cut the lead to, 45-40.  Both teams went back and forth, but the Bulldogs were able to keep the lead as it built it up to double digits to make it 64-54 with 2:14 left.  Talladega put together a 10-0 run to make it a two-point game, but the Bulldogs hit a pair of free throws to give themselves some breathing room at, 68-64.  The Tornadoes responded with a pair of foul shots of their own to make it 68-66, but the Bulldogs hit the front end of a pair to make it 69-66 with 14 seconds left in the game.  The Tornadoes grabbed the rebound on the missed foul shot then called timeout with eight seconds left. The Tougaloo defense was able to stop the Talladega last-chance shot to secure the win.

Both team benches combined for 80 points with the Talladega bench scoring 42 points to the Bulldogs 38.

Issad Solano led the Tornadoes with 14 points while going 3-of-5 from the field, 3-of-4 from three, and 5-of-6 from the line.

Teammate Shaun Walker finished with 10 points and grabbed six boards with five of them being on the offensive glass.

Lamont Sams finished with a team-high seven boards for Talladega. He added nine points also.

Talladega is back in action on Friday when it travels to face GCAC opponent Philander Smith University at 7 p.m.