The Dillard Men’s Basketball Team Falls 61-60 in the Final Seconds To Philander Smith in the Semifinals of the GCAC Basketball Tournament on Saturday Night

Little Rock, Arkansas – The Dillard men's basketball team (10-17) lost a true heartbreaker in the final seconds to Philander Smith College (16-6) in the semifinals of the GCAC Basketball Tournament. The loss ended DU's season.

Dillard had a 60-58 lead with under 10 seconds remaining in the game when PSC's Jakorey Thomas knocked down a three from the corner to put Philander Smith ahead by a point. DU would have one more chance and coming out of a timeout ran a backdoor play only to see the attempted layup spin off the rim and allow PSC to escape with the 61-60 victory to advance their team to the championship game of the GCAC Basketball Tournament.

Elijah Moore led the Dillard team with his 17 points. He also had six rebounds and two steals. Rajhan Billingsley totaled 15 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Nicholas Carmouche tallied eight points, three rebounds and an assist. Jeremiah August picked up eight points, 16 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Kaleb Allison totaled eight points, seven rebounds and two steals. Kenneth Bates had a pair of points plus a rebound and a steal. Mekai Pope picked up two points and a steal. Shemar Bates totaled three assists, four rebounds and a steal.

For PSC, Thomas led all scorers with 20 points. Evan Council totaled 19 points. Kenneth Perkins had eight points, nine rebounds and six blocks. Robert Jordan had four points and four assists.

Dillard shot 22-for-62 from the field (35.5 percent), 5-for-17 from three-point range (29.4 percent) and 11-for-19 from the free throw line (57.9 percent). The program also picked up 46 rebounds, nine assists and 10 steals.

The Panthers shot 21-for-63 from the field (39.6 percent), 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) from three-point range and 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) from the free throw line. Philander Smith also totaled 34 rebounds, 18 assists, 11 steals and eight blocks.

Dillard held a 29-25 lead after the first 20 minutes and led all the way up to last the five seconds of the game despite PSC's strong second half play where they outscored DU 36-31.

This was the final game in the career of Dillard seniors Kaleb Allison, Nicholas Carmouche, Taiveyon Mason, Elijah Moore and Elijah Pittman.

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