Talladega defeats Warner University 63-60 for Jackson’s 300th win

Courtesy of Talladega College Athletics

60

WU

63

 TC

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The first day of the SSAC-Sun Challenge was fruitful for the Talladega College men’s basketball team as the squad gutted out a tough 63-61-victory over the Warner University Royals Thursday afternoon in Tine W. Davis Gymnasium. The comeback victory was the second straight win for the Tornadoes and the 300th career victory for head coach Dannton Jackson.
 
Talladega (6-7) trailed 34-27 entering the second half and trailed by as much as nine points after a bucket from Logan West pushed the lead to 36-27 in the opening ticks of the second half clock.
 
However, this is where the rally started for Dega as the Tornadoes slowly chipped away at the lead until finally taking the lead for the first time in the game at 41-40 with a jumper from Keshawn Pegues with 14:08 showing on the game clock. Jevon Tatum capped the impressive 21-4 run to provide Talladega with its largest lead of the night at seven points, 48-41, with 11:28 to go until the final buzzer.
 
The Warner Royals did not go quietly and battled back to tie the game at 54-54 after a pair of free throws from Joseph Martz. Josh Glesil hit a shot at the 5:27 mark to put Warner up 56-54.
 
Tatum and Ethelbert Anum worked quickly to put Dega right back in the lead, starting with a successful three-pointer from Tatum at 4:56 reclaimed the lead, 57-56, followed by Anum scoring off a turnover. Tatum concluded the sequence after taking his work of defense to force a steal and converting to two points to put the Tornadoes up 61-56 with 3:01 remaining. 
 
Warner mustered one more rally starting with a three from Logan West and a made free throw from Martz pull within one at 61-60 with 1:59 left. However, Martz missed the second of two free throws, which Pegues rebounded and converted for two points for Talladega to give the Tornadoes the 63-60 final margin of victory. 
 
Pegues led Dega with 20 points and six rebounds, while Anum added 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Wilfred Campbellposted a game-high six assists and added seven points, two rebounds and a steal.
 
The hard-fought victory for Dega marked the 300th career win for Coach Jackson, who now boasts a 300-137 career record in his 14th season as a head coach. 
 
Jackson spent 13 seasons at Xavier University of Louisiana as the head men’s basketball coach and is the winningest coach in the program’s history. Jackson has the second most twenty-win seasons in Louisiana History. The Gold Rush won five regular-season championships, and he guided the team to 11 appearances in the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship. He is the only men’s basketball coach in school history to reach the NAIA’s national tournament more than three times. Jackson produced 13 Arthur Ash Academic All-Americans and 19 Conference Honor Roll Selections during his tenure. Under his leadership, the Xavier men’s team was the recipient of the 2016 NAIA Champions of Character team award.
 
Martz led Warner and all scorers with 21 points. West contributed 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
 
The Tornadoes will conclude the two-day event against Southeastern University tomorrow. Tipoff is set for 5:45 p.m.