MOBILE, Ala-- The University of Mobile men's basketball team defeated rival Spring Hill College 60-57 to close out the regular season and earn a spot in the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament.

Mobile (15-13, 8-10) locks up the 5th seed in the West after Belhaven lost, and will face either Coastal Georgia or Truett-McConnell in the SSAC Tournament in Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 27 - Mar. 1.

Brandon Morris led the Rams with 19 points off the bench on 8-of-13 shooting, while Chris Richardson chipped in 12 points and 4 assists.

Alex Looney led the Badgers with 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting.

Mobile out shot the Badgers 45% to 44% from the floor and 47% (8-17) to 32% (7-22) from 3-point range. The Rams also held a slim 32-28 lead in rebounds.

Despite the close score, the Badgers led for only 30 seconds. That came in the opening half with 2:23 to go, when they briefly took a two-point lead before TJ Simon sank a 3-pointer to answer for the Rams. Mobile started the game on a 16-8 run thanks to eight points from Richardson. Three of the four times the Badgers tied the game in the half, the Rams answered with a 3-pointer, twice by Morris. The Rams took a 35-32 lead into the break.

In the final half, Looney tied it up twice for the Badgers, but the Rams had an answer each time. The first tie was 35-35 with 19:44 to play, and Mobile answered with a 15-6 run capped by four-straight points from Kwame Beard. The game again ended up tied at 57-57 with 1:24 to play, but Mobile got the go ahead points on a bucket from Julien Sargent with 51 ticks to play. The rest of the way, Mobile only allowed Spring Hill to get off one shot and it came up empty.