In any sport, there are times where losses can prove more about a team than wins can.

On Friday evening, the men's basketball program at Shawnee State -- if there was any doubt left -- proved that they are a unit that can compete with the best of the best in the NAIA Division I realm on a consistent basis as the Bears took No. 14 Stillman (Ala.), winners of 22 or more games over each of the past four seasons and a unit who has accumulated a 103-22 overall mark over that stretch, to the brink in a tight 76-72 loss to the Tigers in the first contest of the Mid-South Conference/Southern States Athletic Conference Challenge in Campbellsville, Ky.

Shawnee State, who led by as much as a 71-67 count with less than five minutes remaining in the contest, overcame a 12-of-34 shooting mark in the first half and a 1-of-9 mark from distance to not only keep the game within two possessions throughout, but win the second half on the scoreboard as SSU shot exactly 50 percent from the field (16-of-32) in the second half of competition and went 2-of-5 from long range to collect a 40 percent mark from deep.

For the contest, the Bears, who held a significant size advantage over the Tigers, used that size well as Shawnee State obtained eight blocks from EJ Onu and outrebounded Stillman by a 43-41 margin. However, the Tigers, who committed 22 turnovers a game coming into Friday's matchup, limited their turnovers to 13 in the victory, while SSU committed 17.

Shawnee State also dealt with foul trouble Onu, who played an impressive 34 minutes, was forced to sit after fouling out with less than six minutes to go in the game while Kyree Elder and Desmond Crosby, Jr. also were on the short end of the stick from a foul call standpoint as the pair were called for four fouls each. Nobody on the Stillman unit collected more than three fouls over the entirity of the contest.

In the loss, however, there were plenty of impressive efforts.

Defensively, the Bears did yeoman's work by limiting the Tigers -- who had entered the affair shooting 56 percent from the floor -- to a 28-of-67 shooting stroke from the floor (41.8 percent) and a 5-of-16 mark from three-point range (31.3 percent). Shawnee State also held Stillman's two leading scorers -- Trey Petty and Shemar Johnson -- to a combined 17 points on 5-of-20 shooting from the field. Strong efforts from Virgil Fields (14 points, nine rebounds, 5-of-9 shooting), Dontae Dorsey (17 points, 6-of-11 shooting), and Vernel Garner (10 points, nine rebounds, 4-of-8 shooting) allowed SSU to come away with the victory.

For the contest, Elder, who went 8-of-19 from the field en route to a 20-point, seven-rebound, two-steal outing in a team-high 36 minutes, along with Onu's 11 points, 11 rebounds, and eight blocks on 5-of-13 shooting, were critical for Shawnee State. Justin Johnson added in 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting as three starters finished in double-figures on the evening.

Tim Biakapia's nine points and five rebounds on 3-of-6 shooting off of the bench in 29 minutes, along with Jakiel Wells' six rebounds, five points, and team-high four assists, and Selby Hind-Wills' six points and five rebounds in 19 minutes of game action, were also big efforts for SSU in the hard-fought contest.

Shawnee State will turn around and play Dalton State (Ga.) at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning on the second and final day of the Mid-South Conference/Southern States Athletic Conference Challenge.

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