COLUMBUS, Ga. - The University of Montevallo men's basketball team came into Saturday afternoon's matchup with the Columbus State Cougars undefeated and ranked 10th in the nation. The Cougars gave the Falcons all they could handle, but a miraculous three-point shot by Ryan May as time expired gave Montevallo an improbable 77-74 win.

Montevallo came out of the gates with a quick start, taking an early 12-2 lead. Columbus St. was able to respond with an 18-0 run and led 20-12 midway through the first half.

At halftime, the Falcons trailed the Cougars 38-28.

In the second half, Columbus St. was able to build on their first half successes. At one point, Montevallo trailed by 16.

The Falcons continued to fight back, though, steadily chipping away at a big Cougar lead. Eventually, they were able to tie the game up with just under a minute and a half left.

Columbus State committed a costly turnover with 28 seconds remaining that gave Montevallo possession with the game tied and the shot clock off. As time ticked down, Troran Brown drove and kicked the ball out to May who nailed a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded.

Brown, a junior from Phoenix, Arizona, did not have his best shooting night, but was still effective. He scored 17 points, recorded six assists, and nabbed four rebounds while only committing three turnovers.

Da-Juan Cooper tied Brown for the team lead in points. He scored 17, shooting 57% from the field. Cooper also grabbed nine rebounds and had several emphatic dunks during the big Montevallo run in the second half.

Coming into the game, Shykeem Jackson was third in the Peach Belt Conference in three-point percentage and tied for third for three-pointers made. He added to these impressive numbers, making four of his seven three-point attempts.

The Falcons (8-0, 1-0) have their conference home opener this Tuesday, December 17th.

They will take on GRU Augusta at 7:30 p.m at Trustmark Arena.