Photo by Jay (@legend_6ix)

By: Miles Johnson, Managing Editor 

Up until his game winning shot, Ibn Williams failed to score a point in the game, however when preparation met opportunity, the junior guard maximized his moment. The final play came down to an offensive rebound by senior guard Andrew Stewart who dished a pass across the court to find Ibn Williams who sinked the corner three with time expiring. The Maroon Tigers won  against Allen University 61-58, to secure the #1 seed in the Southern InterCollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) East division.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co6BWgKjxW_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

“I kind of struggled throughout the game today but my teammates kept faith in me, my coach kept faith in me so I had no choice but to keep faith in myself,” junior guard Williams said.

Williams has kept the Maroon Tigers together all season, through all the adversity they had to overcome to clinch the #1 seed. After Morehouse’s first game against Clark Atlanta which ended in a loss, the team fell to 7-8. They went on to win 10 of 11 games to end the regular season.

Williams has averaged a steady 10 points, four assists and three rebounds during the regular season. Andrew Stewart had glowing remarks about his point guard.

“Best point guard in the conference!” Stewart declared.

Senior forward Kerry Richardson led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds to continue his stellar play for the Maroon Tigers. Richardson has averaged a team high 16 points, along with seven rebounds this season. He knew that with both senior guards in Andrew and Elijah Stewart being sidelined with injury earlier this season, that is was his time to step up.

“The Twins were telling me I gotta pick up my game,” Richardson said. “I knew when they went down we were going to lose a big piece of our team so I knew it was time for me to step up especially as a senior.”

Allen University had only four wins all season and were last place in the SIAC east but made it a game for Morehouse. Anthony Baker lead the way for the Yellow Jackets with 16 points on 58% shooting. The Maroon Tigers kept their poise as down by one, 31-30, heading into halftime.

With 15 minutes left in the game Morehouse regained the lead, 36-35, and went on a 16-6 run to increase their lead to 10 with under five minutes remaining. However, Allen kept fighting and went on a 17-6 run to tie the game with under a minute left in regulation. Morehouse has been in multiple close games this season, such as their overtime win against Fayetteville St. during the HBCU All-Stars Challenge or their double overtime win against Fort Valley.

The Maroon Tigers have been battle tested all year and senior guard Christian Lamar spoke highly about interim head coach Harold Clay stepping in for Coach Whittler and going 10-1 as interim head coach to end the season.

“Coach Clay says he’s only 27 but he coaches us like he already has experience,” Lamar said. “Having a coach that lets you play and just listen to his players, that’s a great coach.”

The Maroon Tigers play in the quarterfinals of the SIAC basketball tournament next Wednesday, March 1.