With just over six minutes left in the first half and down 23 points, it appeared that Salem's current winning streak would end at 10 and its losing streak to Alderson Broaddus would extend to 21. All due respect to LL Cool J, go ahead and call it a comeback.

Jordan Forbes scored 27 of his career-high 42 points in the second half and Salem University rallied from 23 points down as the Tigers extended their winning streak to 11 with a 95-93 victory over Alderson Broaddus University in NCAA Division II men's basketball Wednesday at T. Edward Davis Gymnasium. The Tigers fell behind 11-0 and never led until Forbes reached the 40-point mark with less than four minutes left to play.
 
Wednesday's win not only extended Salem's current winning streak, but also ended a 20-game losing streak to Alderson Broaddus that dates back 15 years. The Tigers' last win over the Battlers was 72-61 in the first round of the East Regional in the 2005 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship.
 
Salem (18-7) trailed 48-25 with 6:10 left in the first half before making a late run to cut the gap to 14 points at halftime. Marko Tutunovic scored six straight Tiger points during a 10-3 run to open the second half as Salem pulled within 55-48 and cut the margin to single digits for the first time since the opening 61 seconds of the game.
 
Alderson Broaddus (8-18) maintained at least a two-possession lead until a three-pointer by Aleksa Dobrijevic and a fastbreak layup by Tutunovic pulled the Tigers within 66-64 with 11:41 left to play. Forbes drew a foul just over a minute later and hit both free throws for the first tie of the night.
 
After the two teams exchanged baskets, Malik Bocook put Alderson Broaddus back on top with a three-pointer. Bocook hit each of his five three-point attempts in the first half and finished 7-for-11 from beyond the arc for 34 points.
 
The Battlers' lead grew to as many as five before a jumper and a layup by Forbes tied the game again at 81-81 with 5:26 remaining. Forbes answered a pair of John Grayson free throws with a pair from the line and then answered a Grayson jumper with a layup as the game remained tied. The layup gave Forbes 37 points to top his previous career best of 35 points against California University of Pennsylvania in November in his second game as a Tiger.
 
Alderson Broaddus turned the ball over on its next possession and Forbes knocked down a three from the left wing with 3:39 remaining for his 40th point and Salem's first lead of the game at 88-85.
 
After the Battlers cut the margin to one, Fonz Hale hit a three-pointer to extend Salem's lead to 91-87 with 3:09 left. Alderson Broaddus hit 1-of-2 free throws and David Shriver's three with 2:09 remaining tied the game again at 91-91.
 
Forbes broke the tie with a layup just 18 seconds later and Dobrijevic grabbed a loose ball on Alderson Broaddus's next possession. The Tigers ran the shot clock down below five seconds and Forbes's step-back three from the top of the key fell short. But Tutunovic picked off the rebound and finished with a putback to give the Tigers a 95-91 lead with exactly one minute left in the contest.
 
KJ Walker drew a foul and hit both free throws with 42 seconds left to pull Alderson Broaddus back within a basket. Salem ran the shot clock down and just barely got a shot off in time as Bocook pulled down the rebound for the Battlers with less than 10 seconds left. But a three-point attempt in traffic hit the side of the rim at the buzzer as the Tigers held on for the win.
 
Forbes, who admitted he had no idea how many points he had scored until he was told after the game, said the team never panicked.
 
"We're on a 10-game (now 11-game) winning streak for a reason," said Forbes, a junior from Newport News, Va. "We cut it down to 14 at halftime and the coaches told us we still have 20 minutes of basketball. We executed late and got it done."
 
Alderson Broaddus connected on each of its first three 3-point attempts to build a double-digit lead less than 90 seconds into the contest. The Battlers led 37-21 with 9:05 left in the first half on a three-pointer by Bocook, whose 21 points at the time matched Salem's entire team total.
 
After Alderson Broaddus took its biggest lead of the game, Salem held the Battlers to a free throw and a three-pointer over the final six-plus minutes of the half to chip away at the lead. Forbes hit a three-pointer with 33 seconds left and then went 1-for-2 from the line with one second remaining to pull Salem within 52-38 at the break.
 
Forbes was 16-for-23 from the field and 8-for-9 from the line to eclipse the 40-point mark despite hitting only two 3-pointers. He also shared game-high honors with nine rebounds and seven assists.
 
Tutunovic fought off foul trouble to finish with 15 points and seven rebounds for the Tigers. Hale added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.
 
Five Alderson Broaddus players scored in double figures. Bocook matched Forbes with nine boards, while Bruce Spruell equaled Forbes with seven assists.
 
Salem concludes regular season play Saturday as the Tigers play host to Bluefield State College. Seniors Miles Dobson, Marqui Grant, Malique Ross and Marko Tutunovic will be honored during Senior Day ceremonies prior to the contest. Tip-off is 4 p.m. at T. Edward Davis Gymnasium.