Box Score The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team pulled off a 59-54 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) victory over the LeMoyne-Owen College Magicians on Saturday evening at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.

The Magicians (13-14, 9-9 SIAC West) rallied from an 8-point deficit at 17-9 with 11:41 on the 1st half clock to take their first lead of the game at 20-19 off a jumper by Demba Konate at the 7:54 mark. Konate would strike again before halftime when his layup would tie the game at 26-26 heading into the break.

In the 2nd half, the teams traded baskets with neither squad managing to build out more than a 1-point cushion until SHC used a jumper in the paint by freshman guard Matevz Rojc to forge a 42-37 edge with 12:21 on the clock.

The Badgers would maintain a 5- to 4-point lead for the next nine minutes, but used two free throws by freshman guard James Clarke and a nifty hook shot in the paint by sophomore center Dejan Stefanovic to get breathing room at 55-46 with 2:50 left to play.

LOC turned up the defensive pressure over the final minutes, however, and forced SHC into three consecutive turnovers off steals that resulted in baskets as the score was suddenly a slim 56-54 SHC lead with 48 seconds remaining. Stefanovic pulled in a huge rebound off a 3-point miss by the Magicians at 25 seconds and senior guard Robert Drummond knocked down two free throws with 12 seconds left to make it 58-54. Junior guard Jarrett Calhoun would then seal the victory with a hustling steal in the corner on the other end and make 1-of-2 free throws with 2 seconds left for the final margin of victory.

Clarke scored 15 points and Calhoun added 14 points for SHC while Stefanovic dropped in 10 points. The Badgers shot an impressive 51.1% (23-45) from the field including 35.3% (6-17) from 3-point distance, but suffered 18 turnovers to eight steals by LOC.

The Magicians shot 36.4% (20-55) overall and 27.8% (5-18) from beyond the arc while also winning the rebound war 32 to 28 under the boards. Timothy Ware scored 11 points as Dequan Mitchell and Konate both scored 10 points. Kotate also hauled in 12 boards to lead all rebounders. LOC lost 18 turnovers to eight Badger steals.

Spring Hill (10-17, 9-9 SIAC West) will close out the 2014-2015 season on Monday with a home match versus the Lane College Dragons (13-11, 12-6 SIAC West) beginning at 8 p.m. in the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center. Before the game, the Badgers will honor their three senior teammates with the annual Senior Night ceremony.