ATLANTA, Ga. – Spring Hill College men's basketball dropped its second-straight Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) contest, falling 64-60 at Clark Atlanta University on New Year's Eve. It's the first of two road games in Atlanta after Christmas break, as the Badgers will travel to defending SIAC East champion No. 11 Morehouse College (9-1, 3-1 SIAC) on Wednesday, Jan. 2.
On Monday, Spring Hill College trailed for 12 minutes in the first half, before
Brandon Fischer and
Quinn Sutton hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Badgers a 21-20 lead with 5:23 to play in the half. While the lead swapped three times over the next three minutes,
Justin Allison hit a 3 with 2:07 to play to put the Badgers back in front, 28-27, and followed with a steal and fastbreak layup to go up by three. The lead grew to five points, 34-29, entering halftime after Allison assisted a
Jeffery Pharr shot before the buzzer.
The Badgers held the Panthers at bay for the first nine minutes of the second half, leading by as many as seven points, 38-31, but Clark Atlanta (5-7, 2-3 SIAC) continued to keep the game close.
With 11 minutes to play, Romaine Thomas followed a Shelvick Henry 3-pointer to give Clark Atlanta its first lead of the second half, 46-45. While Spring Hill tied it three times, the Badgers didn't regain the lead until a pair of
Justin Allison free throws with seven minutes to play, 52-50. Austin Donaldson quickly pushed Clark back in front with a 3-pointer.
The Badgers'
Quinn Sutton went to the line with two minutes to play, knocking down both free throws to give Spring Hill a 55-54 lead, but Donaldson took over the final two minutes. After assisting a go-ahead layup by Thomas, Donaldson came up with a steal and fastbreak layup to push the Panthers ahead by four, 61-57, with 16 seconds to play. Donaldson went on to hit 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch, while Spring Hill closed the game with a last-second offensive put back by
Brandon Fischer.
Donaldson's eight points in the second half gave him a season-high 15 points in the game, matching Thomas, who finished with his third double-double of the season – 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jalen Mitchell added 11 points.
Allison led Spring Hill with 12 points and Fischer followed with 11 points.
