AUGUSTA, Ga. - The Paine College men's basketball ball team celebrated homecoming with a 82-77 win over Morris College on Saturday afternoon in front of 1,048 HEAL Complex crowd.

The Lions picked up there second victory of the season (2-18) while the Hornets dropped to 3-14.

PC fed off of the crowd and controlled the first half going into the locker rooms with a 48-22 lead. After leading by as many at 26 points with 16:17 remaining in the second half MC mounted a ferocious comeback and cut the lead to just two points at 78-76 with just :39 remaining. Malcom Whittington came up with a big steal in the final moments and connected on two free-throws to seal the victory for the Lions.

Paine got big games off the bench from Jared Tate and Jerodd Blount. Tate finished with 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting while Blount had 14 points and seven rebounds. Kaderious Compton also had 23 points and seven rebounds including going 4-of-7 from behind the arc. PC shot 43.8 (28-of-64) percent from the field and connected on 15-of-20 from the charity strip. Morris was able to force 19 PC turnovers in the losing effort.

Brian Jones came off of the bench to lead the Hornets with 12 points while Darius Russell finished with 10 points and six assist.

The Lions return to action this Monday, February 13 against Peach Belt Conference foe Augusta University at 7:30 p.m. The game has been designated the PC Black Out.