TALLADEGA, Ala. – Men's basketball suffered its second loss of the season to Talladega College on the road Sunday, 62-55. The Bears (6-4) and Tornadoes (13-2) were basically even across the board in field goal percentage, three-point shooting, free throws and rebounding. However, 26 turnovers from the Bears compared to just eight from Talladega gave the hosts the additional chances it needed on capitalize on the offensive end.

Trevor Banks poured in a career-high 27 points for the Bears, 19 of which came over the final 20 minutes as he tried to will his team to victory. Mark Bryant was the only other Bear to reach double figures as he scored 10 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. For Talladega, it was led offensively with 19 points from Brandon Peters while Charles Winborne added 10 points. Each of their starters scored at least eight points.

Sharp shooting from three by Bryant and Devon Carter helped the Bears jump out 8-2 lead just under four minutes into the game. After the Tornadoes tied the game at eight, they would continue to push the game and eventually took a 19-12 lead as SSU was outscored 17-4 in the seven minutes following a quick sprint out of the gates.

A 3-pointer from Banks, one of four during the game for him, would tie the game at 23-all with 3:27 left in the first half but Talladega would not completely surrender that lead and took a 27-25 break into the locker room.

Banks would score 19 of the Bears' 30 points during the second half. The SSU senior tied the game for the fourth time on Sunday when he hit a pair of free throws to knot the score at 29-all with 15:24 to play. He would also hit another basket on the Bears' next trip down to court while drawing the foul. He converted the and-one try to give the Bears a 32-29 lead before a pair of free throws from Carter made it a 34-29 game in favor of SSU with 14:44 left on the clock.

Two more free throws from Banks with 11:55 left in the contest would give the Bears their largest lead of the game as they held a 40-32 edge with 11:55 to play. Midway through the second half, SSU was still leading 42-35.

Talladega erased the Bears lead with an 8-0 run during a stretch of 2:23 to go up 45-42. A three from Bryant with 4:57 to play tied the game at 45 with 4:57 to play. Talladega again took the lead but Banks retied the game for the seventh time on the afternoon at 50-all with just over three minutes to play.

However, the Tornadoes would lock down on Shawnee State defensively and did not allow the Bears a basket until there was just 33 seconds to play in the game. During that SSU scoreless stretch, the Tornadoes scored four points off of turnovers and hit four free throws to take a 58-50 lead. Free throws from Banks would get the lead down to six but Talladega would also hit its free throws at the other end. Banks would add his final three of the day with 14 seconds to go before Talladega converted the final two points of the game at the line at the other end before the final buzzer.

Men's basketball has just three non-conference games remaining during the month of December. The Bears will next be in action on Saturday, December 14 at Notre Dame College. That game will tip at 2 p.m. They will be back at home for the final time in this calendar year next Sunday, December 15 against Berea at 2 p.m.