Box Score The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team dropped an 81-77 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) West Division decision to the visiting Kentucky State University (KSU) Thorobreds in the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center on Monday night.
 
Spring Hill and the Thorobreds (8-13, 6-7 SIAC West) were knotted at 43-43 coming out of the halftime intermission, but SHC clawed out to a 68-63 lead following a dunk by junior Walter Massey off an entry pass from freshman guard Shawn Moore at the 5:56 mark.
 
Just two minutes later, KSU recaptured a 75-71 cushion off a run capped by a 3-point bucket by senior guard Malcolm Smith. The Thorobreds maintained a 1- to 3-point advantage for the next two minutes only to see the Badgers cut the difference down to just 78-77 with two free throws by freshman William Loyd at 22 seconds remaining. Dorian Jordan of KSY would make 1-of-2 free throws with 10 seconds left, but a final Badger layup attempt to tie the game was blocked resulting in two game-icing free throws by Jordan with only two seconds left on the clock.
 
Massey led the Badgers with 22 points while Brandon Fischer added 18 and Chase Shellman pitched in 16 points. Fischer hauled in a game-high nine rebounds as SHC won the battle of the boards by a 31-24 margin, but lost 17 turnovers to seven KSU steals. From the floor, the Badgers shot 59.3% (32-54) overall and 37.5% (3-8) from 3-point range. Missed free throws also hurt the Badgers as SHC knocked down just 55.6% (10-18) from the charity stripe.
 
KSU shot 50.9% (29-57) from the field and 42.9% (9-21) from 3-point range while fumbling away 14 turnovers to four Badger steals. Smith led all scorers with 26 points while Jordan added 21 and Julius Barton collected 16 points for the visitors from Frankfort.
 
The Badgers (6-18, 5-8 SIAC West) now take a week off before beginning a three-game conference road swing that starts at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 16, in Memphis, Tenn., versus the LeMoyne-Owen College Magicians (6-16, 5-7 SIAC West) at Bruce Hall Gymnasium.