Box Score RICHMOND, Va. – Senior guard-forward Joel Kindred (Raleigh, NC) led Saint Augustine's University with 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, but a late Falcons' rally fell short in a 75-71 CIAA men's basketball loss to Virginia Union University at Barco-Stevens Hall on Monday, January 13, 2014.

Junior guard Amere May (South Haven, MI) added 13 points and senior center Jon Crawley (Richmond, Va.) had 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in a return to his hometown for the Falcons (3-2 CIAA, 10-5 overall), who lost their second straight game after winning their previous eight.

The Falcons trailed 67-55 with 4:28 remaining but made a furious 16-6 rally to scare the Panthers (3-4 CIAA, 4-12 overall) at the end. Junior guard Raheem Jolliffe (Fayetteville, NC) and junior guard-forward Tayron Gibson (Alexandria, VA) banged home back-to-back threes to pull the Falcons within 68-61 with 3:10 left.

Kindred scored on a layup off his steal to cut the lead to 68-63. The Falcons forced a turnover, and May made the first of two free throw attempts. May missed the second, but the Falcons rebounded which resulted in a May basket to pull the visitors within 68-66.

Avery Jirmnson hit two free throws for a 70-66 VUU lead. After a Falcons miss, Akanni Salako of VUU dunked on other end for a 72-66 lead with 43 seconds left. Crawley scored on a dunk to trim the Falcons' deficit to four.

After Salako made of one two free throws for a 73-68 lead, May swished a three-pointer to cut deficit to 73-71 with 27 seconds left. The Falcons had a chance when the Panthers were whistled for traveling with 24.7 seconds remaining.

The Falcons misfired on a three-pointer, however, and Justin Ihkide made both free throws for a 75-71 VUU lead with 10.4 seconds left. The Falcons missed two long three-pointers and time expired, giving the Panthers the win.

Jolliffe and Gibson each added eight points and junior forward Tashaun Stockdale (Poplar, SC) added seven points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Falcons, who outscored the Panthers 26-21 in bench points and scored 18 points off 17 Panthers' turnovers but shot 34 percent from the floor.

Jirmnson and Salako each scored 17 points to lead the Panthers and Jirmnson added eight assists. Omar Briggs had 14 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks and Ken' Pankey scored 12 points for the Panthers, who shot 45 percent and made 23 of 30 free throws for 77 percent.

The Panthers started out the game with an 8-2 lead and expanded on the margin. Their lead reached 32-20 but Gibson scored on a follow shot to pull the Falcons with 33-28. The Falcons went into halftime behind 39-32.

Kindred had eight points and seven rebounds and Crawley added seven points and five rebounds in the first half for the Falcons, who shot 27 percent in the first 20 minutes. Salako scored 14 points and Pankey had 10 points for the Panthers.
The Panthers began the second half with a 10-point lead, but Jolliffe made a three and May added a deep three with the shot clock running down to give the Falcons their first lead at 52-51.

The Panthers scored seven straight points for a 58-52 lead. Crawley connected on a free throw for a 58-53 lead, but the Panthers relied on a 6-0 spurt to extend their lead to 64-53 with 5:03 left in the game.

Stockdale stopped the run with a nasty two-handed dunk. It made the score 64-55, but Jirmnson converted a three-point play to push the Panthers' lead to 67-55 before the Falcons began their late run.

The Falcons begin CIAA Southern Division play on Saturday, January 18, 2014, when they travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to take Winston-Salem State University at 7 p.m. The men's and women's doubleheader at Lawrence Joel Coliseum is designated as the MLK Classic.