Buzzer Beater pushes Bulldogs past Bleu Devils 86-83

Playing his last game at Dent Gym as a Bleu Devil, senior James Burkes hit a game-high 21 points, followed by fellow senior and the night's second leading scorer Autrail Manning, who had 18. But it's the missed opportunity on Dillard's final offensive play that Burkes will be remembered for. With the game tied at 83 and just 2.2 seconds remaining, Tougaloo attempted a long inbound pass, which was deflected by Dillard's Lance Bell, but officials call a Bulldog player for the push on Bell, so it's DU ball. Burkes gets the ball for Dillard and drives to the basket, only to be called for an offensive foul - charging to be exact.

Tougaloo got the ball back and ran a play, but it was interrupted and the Bulldogs retained possession and, additionally, were positioned to take the ball out nearly underneath their goal. On the inbound, the pass gets to Jejuan Jacks who found Howard above the arc for the three shot at the buzzer. The Bleu Devil Nation was stunned for the second week in a row as, just last week, Dillard lost another hard fought heartbreaker to Southern-New Orleans at Dent Gym.

The Bleu Devils played a solid first half, breaking free offensively around the 5:30 mark when they went up by five, 31-26. The men took a 41-32 lead into halftime.

Joining Burkes and Manning for Senior Night was guard Cornice Wingate, who scored 11 points, along with four assists. Myron McGowan and Lance Bell came off the bench to score 10 and 11 points, respectively, with Bell going 3 of 6 from three-point land. Mico Sjekloca grabbed 14 rebounds for the Bleu Devils.

For the Bulldogs, Keith Fisher was the leading scorer with 17 points, followed by Mario Luckett, with 16, and Fredrick Griffin with a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds. Jacks ended the night with nine assists.

Dillard will close out the regular season against GCAC No. 1 LSU-Shreveport (23-4, 13-3) at The Dock, on Thursday, February 25, at 7:30 p.m.