PULASKI, Tenn. - Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College's Stallions basketball team were in striking distance at halftime Thursday, but Tennessee Southern pulled away in the final 20 minutes for a 73-56 victory.

ABAC, seeking its first win since November, falls to 1-8 in Southern States Athletic Conference competition.

Behind 15 points from Matthew Mairena, the Stallions were down only 30-27 at intermission. However, the first six minutes of the second half were crucial with the Firehawks going on a 14-3 run to pull ahead 44-30.

Dontae Smith and Mairena scored to cut the gap to 11 points, but that was as close as the Stallions got the rest of the way.

It was a different first half for ABAC, which had a six-point lead several times, the last on a layup by Charly Guentio at 8:28. UTS took over the lead late in the half, which Mairena cut to a single point at 2:12.

Mairena added eight points in the second half to bring his total to 23 for the afternoon. He connected on 8-of-19 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws. Smith scored 15, going 6-of-7 from the stripe.

The Stallions were to have continued the road trip Saturday, but potential icy weather postponed the Blue Mountain Christian game until February. That means the next two games for ABAC are at home: Jan. 29 versus Faulkner and Jan. 31 against Mobile.