Rams Fall Just-Short Against No. 12 Shorter Hawks

MOBILE, Ala-- The 12th-ranked Shorter Hawks held off the University of Mobile 83-81 in Southern States Athletic Conference men's basketball action Saturday at Pharr Gym.

Mobile (3-4, 1-3) visits Xavier Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 pm.

Ji Kimbrough tallied a game-high 27 points for the Rams on 10-of-17 shooting, while Antonio Hester added 17 points and 9 rebounds and Brock Dockery finished with 15 points. Tyler Cole added 9 points off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range.

Walker Hill led the Hawks with 23 points, while Eric Nix added 21 on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor.

Shorter shot 52% from the floor, 8-of-16 from 3-point range and 21-of-31 from the free throw line. Mobile shot 46% overall, 7-of-18 from 3-point range and 24-of-31 from the charity stripe.

The opening half was a back-and-forth affair with 11 ties and 11 lead changes. Mobile took a 36-34 lead into the break thanks to a pair of free throws from Jonathan Tinch with one second left on the clock.

The second half was all Mobile until late. The Rams broke free from a 41-41 tie with 17:44 left and grabbed a 47-41 lead thanks to four points from Hester. Mobile held that lead until a Walter Hill 3-pointer tied it with 9:52 to go at 60-60, and a pair of free throws from Dante Harvey made it 62-60 Hawks with 9:29 remaining. A 3-ball from Cole briefly reclaimed the lead for Mobile, but the Hawks scored the next eight points to take a 70-63 lead with 7:30 left.

The Rams fought back within one at 74-75 with 1:43 remaining on a bucket from Kimbrough, but the Hawks again answered with a 6-1 spurt to grab an 81-75 lead on a pair of Kenny Leverette free throws. Three-pointers from Cole and Kimbrough brought the Rams within 83-81 with 18 seconds left, but a last-second 3-pointer from Tinch was no good.