MOBILE, Ala. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team closed out play at the annual Gulf South Conference (GSC)/Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Challenge on Saturday night with a last-second 87-86 loss to the Shorter University Hawks at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
The Hawks (1-1) trailed the Badgers 46-43 at the intermission, but the second half was a back-and forth affair that saw the lead change six times. Spring Hill built out a 9-point lead at 81-72 with 5:28 left on the clock, but consecutive 3-point buckets by the Hawks hacked into the advantage with less than 45 seconds lost off the clock.
With 10 seconds remaining, the Badgers led 86-84, but the rebound from the backend of a 2-shot free throw attempt found the hands of Shorter's Brian Polanco who got the ball up court to teammate Joe Russell. Russell passed to Jay Shropshire on the top right-hand side of the arc and Shropshire drained the game-winner with 4 seconds remaining. A final half court fling by SHC found the back iron of the basket to give the home crowd a brief hope for a miracle, but it was not to come true.
SHC senior forward
Chase Shellman of Louisville, Ky. put 22 points in the buckets with five assists and eight rebounds for the Badgers while junior guard
Ron Rice of Harlem, N.Y., and senior guard
Dwight Harris of Americus, Ga. each scored 16 points. Sophomore guard
Jordan McIlwain of Atlanta, Ga. came off the bench to collect his first double/double effort of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds as senior guard
Gresyn Rogers contributed 12 points.
SHC shot 48.6% (35-72) from the field and 36.8% (7-19) from 3-point range. The Badgers suffered 13 turnovers against six steals by the Hawks. Spring Hill took the edge in rebounding 41-36 and knocked down 75% (9-12) of its free throw attempts.
Polanco led all scorers with 30 points with five assists while Shropshire added 26 for the visitors from Rome, Ga. The Hawks shot 49.3% (33-67) from the floor and 35.5% (11-31) from 3-point distance while losing 11 turnovers to for steals by the Badgers. The Hawks nailed down 76.9% (10-13) of their free throw opportunities.
Before the SHC-Shorter game, the Union University Bulldogs (1-1) fell to the Lane College Dragons (2-0) in a 72-59 decision.
The Badgers (1-1) will now launch a month-long road swing beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. (eastern) at the Embry-Riddle University (ERAU) Eagles (2-0) at the ICI Center in Daytona Beach, Fla. at the Daytona Mitsubishi/Kia Shootout.
