Dec. 8, 2007

Rome, Ga. - The Shorter College men's basketball team picked up a home victory and first conference win on Saturday evening, by beating the Southern Polytechnic Hornets, 74-60.

On the strength of an early 14-1 run, who were picked to finish ahead of Shorter in the SSAC preseason poll, the Hawks had four players reach double digits and had 44 rebounds as opposed to Southern Poly's 34.

After heading off to the locker room up 42-29 at the half, Shorter returned to post an 8-2 run in the first two minutes of the second half to increase their lead to 19.

Southern Poly (6-4, 1-2) cut down their deficit to eight with 1:35 left in the game but missed shots down the stretch as the Hawks went 7-of-8 at the line in the last four minutes to taste victory after a three-game losing streak.

A.J. Martin and Kedric Wilson each pulled down eight boards while Fred Christopher and Tomas Pranciliauskas had seven apiece.

Christopher led the Hawks (7-4, 1-1) with 16 points, followed by Pranciliauskas' 15. Jairus Jackson had 14 and Wilson finished with 10.

Shorter will be on the road through the holidays as they play a list of non-conference foes, starting with Tennessee Wesleyan on Wednesday.