Fayetteville, NC - The visiting Livingstone College men's basketball team made their television debut with their 95-92 second half thriller over the Broncos of Fayetteville State University.

The win improves the Blue Bears to 12-5 overall, 4-3 in the CIAA and 1-0 in the Southern Division.

The Blue Bears had five players to score double figures.

The Broncos carried the momentum of the first half with home court advantage as its aide. At the 9:05 minute mark, the Blue Bears trailed by a pair. Eric Mayo's jumper tied the game with six minutes to play. The very next play Mark Thomas pressure defense forced a turnover in which he toted the ball down the court for the lead with 5:34 left to play in the first half.

The Broncos regained the lead with a steal and put-back, however, Eric Dubose's four point conversion kept the Blue Bears alive. The Blue Bears hustled to lead 41-37 at the half.

The Blue Bears shot 46.4 percent from the field and outrebounded the Broncos 19-14. The Broncos points in the first half came from under the basket where they outscored the Blue Bears 26-11.

Cristian Henry paced the Blue Bears with 10 points at the half.

Livingstone came out in the second half on fire, outscoring the Broncos 11-5. With nine minutes to play the Broncos cut the deficit to three points. At the seven minute mark the Broncos took the lead. The Blue Bears reclaimed lead immediately. A put back by Eric Mayo gave the Blue Bears a four point advantage with less than six minutes to play.

With less than five minutes to play the Broncos hit a contested triple, Thomas answered with a fast break to maintain the lead. The Broncos tied the game at the 2:51 minute mark with a pair of free throws.

A reverse layup by Hill gave the Blue Bears the lead with two minutes to play. The Broncos answered with a basket to tie the game. The Broncos called a timeout with 1:05 left to play, and the possession of the ball on their side of the court.
With 37 seconds left to play Thomas went straight to the basket for a layup and the and-one call. Thomas converted the three point play to lead by one point.

The Broncos went down the court and turned the ball over on their own baseline. With seconds left on the clock the Broncos were forced to foul Thomas. Thomas converted both free throws with 14 seconds left to play.

The Broncos called a timeout with five seconds left to play, but was unsuccessful at their attempt to take the game into overtime.

For the game, Thomas led the Blue Bears with 25 points. He hit 7-of-14 shots from the field and 10-of-14 shots from the free throw line.

CIAA Player of the Week matched Thomas' performance with his 7-of-14 field goal shooting. Hill finished the game with 17 points.

Cristian Henry and Emarri played well in the paint for the Blue Bears and added 16 and 11 points to the score.

Livingstone will return to action on January 25 as they travel to Charlotte, NC to face the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University.