MOBILE, Ala. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team suffered an 88-79 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) West Division loss to the LeMoyne-Owen College (LOC) Magicians on Saturday afternoon at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
The Magicians (9-5, 6-3 SIAC West) trailed the Badgers 42-33 at halftime and by as much as 47-33 just one minute into the second half, but the visitors from Memphis, Tenn. stormed back to tie the game at 63-63 with 11 minutes to play when Devin Booker connected on a 3-pointer.
LOC took its first second-half lead off an offensive rebound tip in 40 seconds later by Julion Richardson. The Magicians would maintain a 2- to 4-point advantage over the next 8 minutes of game time, but a hoop-and-the-harm 3-point play by Jordan Booker put LOC up by 7 points with 2:52 remaining.
SHC managed to whittle the score to 84-79 with a minute left, but Jordan Booker made his final four free throws over the last 28 seconds to secure the win for the Magicians.
As is becoming routine for the Badgers, senior forward
Chase Shellman of Louisville, Ky. corralled a double/double with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds while senior guard
Dwight Harris of Americus, Ga. scored 14 and sophomore guard
Christian Brandt of Auburn added 11 points.
As a team, SHC shot an even 50% (34-68) from the field and 31.6% (6-19) from 3-point range. The Badgers lost 13 turnovers against eight steals by the Magicians and made just 45.5% (5-11) of their free throw attempts.
Devin Booker paced LOC with 21 points while Tyrone Banks added 20 and Jordan Booker had 15 points. Tory Mason led all rebounders with 12 boards. LOC shot 42.6% (26-61) overall and made 33.3% (9-27) of their shots from beyond the arc. The Magicians committed 10 turnovers in the face of a single steal by the Badgers. LOC sank 75% (27-36) of their free throw opportunities and out-rebounded the Badgers by a slim 39-37 margin.
The Badgers (3-14, 2-6 SIAC West) next host the Miles College Golden Bears (11-3, 6-2 SIAC West) at 7:30 p.m. on Monday in the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
