February 16, 2006 – ATLANTA – Ten days ago the Maroon Tigers stormed into the hostile territory of Albany State and came away with a four-point win. Today the Golden Rams returned the favor, downing the Maroon Tigers 66-62 at Forbes Arena.

In both games, the defending SIAC regular season champions out-rebounded Morehouse badly – 40-23 in the first game, 40-27 in the second. In both games, free-throw shooting was a factor. At Albany, the Maroon Tigers shot a season-high 82 percent from the line. At Forbes, the opposite occurred, as Morehouse went to the line for only six shots – and missed four.

As he did two days ago in a win against Fort Valley, head coach Grady Brewer started freshman Paul Williams at point guard. Against ASU, however, the experiment was not as productive. Williams scored two points in each game, but today he failed to get a rebound, compared to five on Tuesday, and he turned the ball over twice, compared to none, in the earlier game. And on defense, the young guard was often matched against two Albany guards who combined for 37 points.

Another lineup change, may have been a bigger factor. While they both started the game, high-scoring Brandon Childs and high-jumping Jason Patterson each played only four minutes in the first half. When they returned in the second half, neither was able to get it going and combined for four points, five rebounds and three turnovers.

Each team turned the ball over 15 times, but the Golden Rams made better use of their gifts, out-scoring the Maroon Tigers 22-10 on turnover points. Morehouse got better production off the bench, with 33 points, compared to five for the visitors.

Will Belton’s 13 points and Edward Pollard’s 14 accounted for most of the bench scoring. Pollard, who doubled his normal playing time, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and was a major spark in the second half. His two consecutive baskets midway through the second stanza capped a Maroon Tigers’ comeback from nine points down.

One game after matching his Morehouse career-high of 17 points, center James Beasley went one better, throwing up 18 points, most of them by way of jump hooks and dunks. The seven-foot transfer from Atlanta Metro College hit 9-of-10 shots and pulled down five rebounds.

Three Golden Rams – Frank Pinson (24 pts), Travon McGruder (18 pts.) and Sean Glenn (13 pts.) scored the bulk of their team’s points. McGruder’s 15 rebounds were twice as many as any Maroon Tiger.

Albany State upped its record to 14-9 (13-6 SIAC).

Morehouse fell to 13-11 (10-9 SIAC) and will face Clark Atlanta Saturday at 2 p.m. at Forbes Arena.