ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Junior guard
Desmond DeRamus scored a career-high 30 points against Benedict College on Saturday afternoon, but the Auburn Montgomery men's basketball team dropped an 86-75 decision to the Tigers, as a part of the 2017 Gulf South Conference/Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Challenge.
NOTES
• AUM drops to 0-2 to start the season while Benedict improves to 2-0.
• The Warhawks start the season 0-2 for the second consecutive season.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• DeRamus scored a career-high 30 points in the contest shooting 11-18 from the floor, with four 3-pointers.
• Freshman forward
Airen Brooks scored a career-high 12 points, with fellow freshman
Kenneth Keith scoring a career-best 10. Brooks also tallied a career-best eight rebounds to lead the Warhawks.
• BC's Dimitri Cook scored a team-high 17 points, with teammates Jelani Watson-Gayle and Brandon Morris scoring 14 apiece.
• Umar Frost pulled a down a game-high 10 boards for the Tigers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Benedict took the early advantage in the contest, until
OJ Merriweather tied the game at 15-15 with a layup at the 13:11 mark.
• AUM took a 17-15 lead moments later on a Keith layup.
• The two teams traded points back and forth until they reached a 22-22 tie with 9:27 to play in the first. At that point the Tigers went on a 27-12 to finish out the frame.
• AUM trailed 49-34 at the half.
• The second half saw the Tigers push their advantage to as much as 23 points, but the Warhawks would not go away quietly, outscoring Benedict 41-37 in the second half.
QUOTABLE
"We played a better second half but we still started the game slow," said AUM head coach Micheal Cheaney. "Saw some positive things out of Airen (Brooks) and OJ (Merriweather) in the post. We're still trying to get everyone on the same page offensively and defensively, but it was a much better effort today against a really good team."
"Desmond definitely looked better today and we're going to need big nights out of him the rest of the way," added Cheaney.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• AUM's bench outscored Benedict's 54-32 in the contest.
• Both teams scored 24 points in the paint.
• The Warhawks got out-rebounded 40-33.
UP NEXT
The Warhawks will be in action next Saturday, Nov. 18, when they travel to Owensboro, Ky., to take on Kentucky Wesleyan in a matchup set to begin at 3:15 p.m.
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