After snapping their three-game losing streak with a win in the Virgin Islands, the Bleu Devils
returned home to defend home court on Mardi Gras night against the best team in the GCAC, the
Talladega College Tornadoes, who are coming off of a loss in their last game against Southern
University at New Orleans.
The first half was not as Dillard had envisioned as the Tornadoes came in and outplayed the Bleu
Devils in every phase of the game. 10 first-half turnovers along with poor shooting and man
defense from the Bleu Devils turned into easy points for Talladega, as the Tornadoes jumped out
to an early double-digit lead in the half. Dillard would slowly start chipping away at the lead in
the waning stages of the half thanks to 5 points each from juniors Armond Williams and Tory
Cargo and sophomore Devin Lewis off the bench scoring three points, however this game still
remained all Talladega as the Tornadoes ended the first half with a commanding 30-19 halftime
lead.
Discipline and physicality were the themes of this game. Dillard entered the second half looking
to chip into the lead with scoring and defensive stops. Both teams played solid full-court press
defense as each team was able to force six turnovers a piece. Talladega started to show signs of
fatigue early with out-of-character turnovers and missed shots which allowed Dillard to begin to
capitalize. Cargo opened the half going 3-4 from three and would finish the half with 15 points
on 5-7 shooting from the field. Jamey Sanders would aid Cargo and the starters off the bench
with 7 points as he was one of six Dillard players to score in the second half.
The Bleu Devils held on for as long as they could in the second half, but more miscues from
Dillard and terrific ball movement and shooting from Talladega kept the lead at a nice
comfortable double-digit margin. The Tornadoes went 15-26 from the field (57.7%) and 4-10
from 3 in the second half thanks to double-digit halves from Wilfred Campbell and Issad Solano
who both finished with a respectable 13 and 12 points for the half Solano hitting the dagger
3 in the final minutes to hand the Bleu Devils their fourth straight loss at home and back-to-back
home losses, for the first time in years.
Cargo led Dillard in scoring with 20 points while Campbell finished with 19 for Talladega.
The Tornadoes had a balanced attack on offense with 10 of their 12 players all scoring,
compared to Dillard’s seven and 10 steals as a team to Dillard’s two. The loss drops Dillard to 9-
11 on the season, 5-8 in conference play, and a disappointing 2-6 in their last 8 games with a
tough three-game road trip ahead of them starting at Rust on Thursday. The Tornadoes continue
their dominance over the GCAC improving to 17-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play.
Dillard will look to bounce back in their next game on Thursday, February 1st at 7:30 pm in
Holly Springs, Mississippi as they take on the Bearcats of Rust College in their first of a three-game road trip.
