RICHMOND, VA --The Fayetteville State men's basketball team got an 18-point performance from the bench, but fell 63-60 to the Virginia Union Panthers (4-4 overall) on the road Saturday in non-CIAA action.

The Broncos (2-5 overall) had three players score in double figures, led by Tyler Foster, who had 16 points. Caleb Simmons tacked on 12 points and two steals off the bench and Myles Pierre chipped in as well with 11 points.

Led by Kaleb Coleman's three offensive rebounds, Fayetteville State did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 10 boards that resulted in 12 second chance points.

Fayetteville State forced 15 Virginia Union turnovers while committing 14 themselves in Saturday's game. The Broncos turned those takeaways into 12 points on the other end of the floor. Simmons' two steals led the way for Fayetteville State.

How It Happened

After falling behind 28-22, Fayetteville State went on a 5-0 run with 1:48 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Simmons, to narrow its deficit to 28-27, a score that would hold until halftime.

Virginia Union kept widening its lead after intermission, constructing a 45-40 advantage before Fayetteville State went on an 11-0 run, finished off by Foster's jumper, to seize a 51-45 lead with 5:56 to go in the contest. The Broncos' seven-point lead (58-51) with three minutes left in the game decreased to two (58-56) with 1:40 left and disappeared when Jakobe Williams fastbreak layup from his steal gave the Panthers a 59-58 advantage with 1:24 left in the game.

Virginia Union outscored the Broncos 18-9 to hand Fayetteville State its fourth consecutive loss.

The conference match-up is slated for Thursday, January 11 in Capel Arena.