The LOC men's basketball team narrowly defeated Tougaloo College in a game where they trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half. 

Although it was just an exhibition game, the Magicians wanted to win really bad and for a couple of really good reasons. For starters it was Homecoming for the Magicians and Bruce-Johnson Hall was a packed house. Outside of that it was the pre-season debut for new Magicians head coach Antonio Harris. If that wasn't enough the Magicians had loss to Tougaloo College in each of their last three meetings. 

Tougaloo jumped out to an early 28-10 lead and had all the momentum early in the game. The Magicians would storm back and cut the lead to 6 points at half. At about the 14 minute mark in the 2nd half the Magicians would take the lead.  The Magicians would gain momentum and would lead 65-60 with about 1:30 seconds left in the game. Tougaloo, who finished their season 32-2 the prior year would storm back and take a 68-65 lead. 

With about 30 seconds left Micah Evans would hit a 3 pointer off an assist from sophomore guard Austin Jordan that would eventually send the game into overtime. 
 

In the overtime period the Magicians outscored Tougaloo 6-4 to come out on top with a 74-72 victory. The Magicians had 5 guys in double figures and were led by Junior Guard Tariq Shepherd who scored 16 points for the Magicians. Transfer forward PJ Joseph scored 11 points and pulled down a game high 22 rebounds. Also in double figures for the Magicians were Austin Jordan (14) Christian Wells (12) and Matthew Spears. 

Next up the Magicians will take on the Memphis Tigers Thursday, November 2nd at the FedEx Forum. The game is scheduled for 7:00pm.