Demopolis came within inches of knocking off Selma Friday night, instead watching its last-ditch effort carom off the left side of the rim in a 57-55 loss.

The Tigers found themselves down 56-52 with seconds remaining on the clock when point guard Mike Scott grabbed a rebound off a missed Selma free throw, worked his way through the Saints’ defense and kicked the ball to the right corner where a wide open Terryl Ratliff drained a three-pointer that left the Tigers trailing by a point.

A quick timeout sent both teams to the sidelines with 12.5 seconds to play. The Tigers fouled the Saints with just over eight seconds remaining to give themselves a shot a tying the game.

Selma converted only one of its two free throw attempts and clung to a 57-55 lead as Mike Scott forced the ball through the Saint defense and again dished off.

The Tigers ultimately swung the ball to Ratliff in the corner again. The senior lined up his shot, pulled the ball down twice to avoid defenders and eventually launched a three that drew the left side of the iron.

Demopolis rebounded the ball with 1.9 seconds remaining and got off a put back attempt that again bounced off the left side of the rim as the final buzzer sounded.

The sequence capped a 15-12 fourth quarter run for the Saints, who trailed at the end of each of the game’s first three frames.

Demopolis 16 points in each of the first two quarters, carrying a 32-28 lead into the locker room. Selma responded with a 14-11 run in the third that left it down only 43-42 after three quarters.

Scott, a senior, led all scorers by pouring in 23 points, all in the first half. The majority of his points came from beyond the arc, where he connected on seven three-point shots.

Roderick Davis added nine points for Demopolis while Cortez Lewis had eight. Ashton Wilks finished with seven and Ratliff scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter.

Kerry Mitchell led Selma with 17 points. Darien Alexander had 13 for the Saints. Henry Blevins finished the night with nine points.

The Tigers play again Tuesday when they travel to Greensboro.