TUSKEGEE, Ala. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team opened the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) portion of their season with a 72-66 road loss to the Tuskegee University (TU) Golden Tigers in the General Daniel "Chappie" James Center for Aerospace Science and Health Education on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Golden Tigers (1-7, 1-2 SIAC West) held a slim 30-28 lead at the halftime intermission, but came out of the locker rooms hot, racing to a 46-34 advantage. SHC used six-consecutive free throws to cut the deficit to 51-48 and then a Badger slam dunk off an offensive rebound clawed SHC back within 51-50.
 
Trailing 53-52 with two minutes to play, the Badgers lost a turnover to a steal that resulted in a fast break layup, but SHC answered with a backdoor layup on the other side of the court. Senior guard Matevz Rojc put two free throws in the hoop with 5:19 left to give SHC a 56-55 lead for the first time in the second half. Tuskegee would later tie the game at 56-56 with 4:30 on the clock off 1-of-2 free throws.
 
Offensive fouls cost the Badgers several scoring opportunities late in the game as Tuskegee held a 65-58 lead with 24 seconds left to play.
 
As a team, SHC shot 41.3% (19-46) from the field and 23.1% (3-13) from 3-point range. The Badgers suffered 12 turnovers versus two steals by Tuskegee while making 25-of-31 free throw attempts for an 80.6% showing at the charity stripe. Brandon Fischer scored 16 points with a game-high 13 rebounds as Rojc poured in 15 points and Gresyn Rogers added 10 points from the bench.
 
The Golden Tigers shot 48.9% (22-45) overall and 33.3% (8-24) from 3-point distance while also losing 12 turnovers to four steals by Spring Hill. James Eads scorched the Badgers for 32 points and Travis Flagg pitched in 14 tally marks in the scorebook along with eight assists. TU made 87% (20-23) of their free throws, but SHC won the war of rebounding by a 29-24 margin.
 
After breaking for Final Exam week, the Badgers (2-4, 0-1 SIAC West) next visit the Loyola University (La.) Wolf Pack (4-3) in a non-conference game at The Den in New Orleans on Friday at 8 p.m. The game will be part of the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight (JBS) series sponsored by the Association of Jesuit Colleges & Universities (AJCU).
 
The 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States are located in 18 states and the District of Columbia. The institutions range from major research universities to comprehensive universities; from smaller colleges and universities that combine the liberal arts and professional studies to one strictly liberal arts college. In addition to being among 221 Catholic institutions and 1,600 independent colleges and universities in the United States, American Jesuit colleges and universities are part of a network of approximately 189 Jesuit institutions of higher learning throughout the world, thus having the distinction of being at once local, national and international.