Saturday’s matchup between Columbia neighbors and rivals Allen University and Benedict College has been dubbed “The Battle for Taylor Street” and it lived up to the hype.
The day had everything you want from your rival games as the women brought the drama with Allen’s 65-53 come-from-behind win over Benedict and the men allowed the home crowd to brag as Benedict College defeated Allen University 81-62.
The women’s game was close throughout with Benedict (3-15, 1-10) leading at the half 30-27. Allen (5-10, 2-8) took a 48-46 lead with 7:38 left in the fourth quarter after a Victoria Zidor steal and score off of an errant Benedict Collegeinbound pass, followed by a Kashay Hankerson fastbreak layup. The Yellow Jackets were able to get separation down the stretch and ended with a dagger three as time was about to expire.
It was pure jubilation at the final buzzer as the Yellow Jackets got a much-needed win according to first-year head coach LaToya Jones.
“Regardless of this being a rivalry game, we had been seeking a win for a long time,” she said. “We hadn’t experienced a win since before Thanksgiving and we had been working hard and coming close, working hard and coming close. I think this win really just solidified our confidence. We kept our confidence and we didn’t come down to what our record said.”
“Battle for Taylor Street:” Benedict vs Allen Photo Gallery
“This means a lot because this was a team win, this was a grit win against a great team, a team with a rich history of championships,” Jones added.“It was a rivalry so I knew it was going to be tight, but I knew that if we kept our heads and we stayed in the fight, we were going to be ok.”
Nari Coe led the way for Allen University with 19 points and five rebounds, followed by Hankerson with 13 points and two rebounds.
Alaysia Nash was the leading scorer for Benedict College, finishing with 13 points and four rebounds. Madison Golden was next with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The men’s game was decided early as the Benedict Tigers (15-2, 9-2) jumped out to an early 16-9 lead and never looked back. Allen (9-9, 5-6) made a 20-9 run in the third quarter to cut the lead to 13, but that was as close as they would come as the Tigers closed it out.
Asanti Prince led the Tigers in scoring with 25 points, followed by Time Moore with 14. Malachi Moore posted a double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Gob Gabrial was the final Tiger in double digits with 11 points.
For Allen, Jordan Edmond was the high-point man with 25, followed by G’Shan Aldridge with 12.
The Tigers have been playing with heavy hearts in January after the passing of JV player Garry Cappers II, affectionately known as Deuce. Benedict has dedicated this season to him and is currently on a two-game winning streak after recording the only two losses of the season. Head coach Artis Maddox credited his team for their resiliency as well as the community for their support. It’s one of the best starts in the last 25 years and Maddox said he’s pleased with what they’ve accomplished so far.
“I’m very happy, I’m very pleased with where we are. If somebody had told me 17 games in, we would be 15-2, I’dda took that before the season started,” he said. “We’re right where we need to be and now we just have to take it one game at a time and try to go 1-0 each game.”
Round two of The Battle For Taylor Street will be Saturday, Feb. 17 at 1 and 3 p.m.