MOBILE, Ala. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team suffered an 84-77 non-conference home loss to the Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM) Warhawks on Wednesday night at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
 
SHC led the Warhawks (5-4) 23-17 at the 9:54 mark of the 1^st half, but AUM rallied back and carried a 42-37 advantage into halftime.
 
After the intermission, the Badgers fought back to reclaim a 43-42 lead off a William Loyd layup at 18:21. AUM recaptured the upper hand just 17 seconds later off a layup by Kameron Hornbuckle that launched a 13-point run for the Warhawks to hand the visitors their largest lead of the night at 55-43 with 15:54 to play.
 
AUM maintained their double-digit cushion for the next five minutes of play, but the Badgers answered back with consecutive 3-pointers by Gresyn Rogers that sparked an SHC rally to put the home team up 67-65 following a 3-pointer by Jack Morrissey at 6:04. A run by AUM handed a 5-point lead back to the Warhawks, but a second Morrissey trey at 2:52 brought the Badgers back to within 74-73.
 
Dwight Harris kept the Badgers close with a layup at 31 seconds left to make it a 79-77 AUM lead, but AUM would ice the victory with 5-of-6 free throws over the final 20 seconds.
 
Brandon Fischer and Rogers both scored 13 points to pace the Badgers while Walter Massey added 12. Fischer also hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds to record a double-double on the evening. As a team, SHC shot 36.5% (23-63) from the field and 33.3% (9-27) from 3-point range. The Badgers hurt themselves with 20 turnovers versus 12 steals by AUM's high-pressure full court defense. SHC shot a healthy 81.5% (22-27) at the free throw line and earned a 42-36 advantage in rebounding.
 
The Warhawks shot 47% (31-66) overall and 30.8% (8-26) from 3-point distance while losing 15 turnovers to seven steals by the Badgers. Kenneth Keith led the AUM offense with 19 points and Darrion Taylor was right behind him with 18 points. The Warhawks made 77.8% (14-18) of their free throws.
 
The Badgers (2-7, 0-1 SIAC West) next embark upon a two-game Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) road trip beginning at 3:30 p.m. (east) on Saturday in the Jonas T. Kennedy Health and Physical Education Center in Orangeburg, S.C. versus the Claflin University Panthers (10-1, 4-0 SIAC East).