Tuskegee's 89-82 victory over Albany State Monday afternoon mirrored TU's nationally televised win over Morehouse from Saturday in many ways.  Like Morehouse, Albany State would score an early basket that would signify their only lead of the game.  Then, just like Saturday, Tuskegee would take a huge lead that the home team would see get whittled down dangerously low into single digits before the Golden Tigers would come up with a few key plays to finally put the game out of reach.  

"Today was the tale of two stories," said Coach Leon Douglas, who now has a squad that is 2-0 in the SIAC and one game away from .500 overall, at 5-6.  "This team is interesting because we have a tendency to play well.  Then we have, when the substitution pattern changes, the rhythm of the team changes.  So, what we have to do is we have to get consistancy throughout with all eight or nine of the young men that I'm playing.  That's why I said that it's a tale of two stories, because we're up one half, and down in the second half.  But, I guess at the end of the day, a win is a win."

After shooting just 41 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, Albany State (4-6 overall; 1-1 in SIAC) shot almost 54 percent in the second half.  However, they couldn't slow down a TU squad that shot nearly 61 percent from the field in the second half, and 32-for-61 for the entire game (52.5 percent).  Richard Dixon was one of four Golden Tigers that scored in double figures, as he tied Albany State's Jamorris Gaines with a game-high of 30 points.  Dixon also finished with seven rebounds on the night.

"It was a quiet 30," Douglas said of Dixon's game.  "But, it was a much needed 30 also, because our offense sort of bogged down in the second half.  You know, I need Richard to be more active defensively to balance out his offense.  But, he did a wonderful job out there for us."

Tuskeee lead by as many as 16 points in the opening half, when Elliot Dean drilled a three-pointer to double up the Golden Tigers up 32-16 with just over seven minutes remaining in the opening half.  Douglas' team had a 37-25 lead going into the locker room, but would see that lead get cut to single digits just over two minutes into the second half, when Joseph Williams scored on a fastbreak layup.  

The lead would get cut to as much as six points at the 17-minute mark, before TU went on a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to lead by as many as 13.  The lead would creep back up to 16, when Moriah Johnson made a pair of free-throws to make the score 68-52 with 6:44 remaining.  Albany State began a final push with three minutes remaining, going on a 14-4 run in a span of less than two minutes.  Larry Bullock completed a four-point play due to a foul by Javier McKinney, that would see the Tuskegee lead at 86-82 with just 67 seconds remaining.

Williams and Bullock combined for 30 more Albany State points.  But, Tuskegee countered with great efforts from McKinney (14 points, six rebounds) and Graham Olatunji (13 points, seven rebounds and three assists).  Elliot Dean had the biggest impact outside of Dixon, as he finished with 15 points, and team highs of eight rebounds and three steals.  He also contributed four assists, second on the team only to Kevin May.

As the Golden Tigers look to improve to 3-0 in conference play while reaching .500 for the first time with a win over Fort Valley State on Thursday, Douglas said that one thing must immediately change in order to stop the late rallies.  Albany State's late-game press defense was primarily responsible for sparking the late run to begin with.

"We've got to work on the press," Douglas said.  "We did a terrible job tonight breaking the press, and we have an offense designed for the press.  So, we've got to put some time in working on that particular phase of the game, and just continue to work on our rebounding and defensive efforts."