MOBILE, Ala. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team picked up an important 71-68 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) road victory over the Lane College Dragons on Monday night in J.F. Lane Gymnasium.
The Dragons (8-11, 4-7 SIAC West) and the Badgers traded the lead six times in the first 12 minutes of play in the first half as the teams were knotted at 20-20 with 7:40 left until halftime and carried a 34-34 tie into the locker rooms.
The teams would trade the lead five more times over the first 10 minutes of the second period before the Badgers clawed out a 5-point 59-54 advantage at the half's third media timeout with 7:57 left to play. SHC held a 65-57 lead with 4:57 remaining, but Lane rallied back to tie the game at 67-67 at 2:59.
One-of-two free throws by the Dragons at 1:50 put the home team up 68-67, but senior Badger forward
Chase Shellman got free for a layup at 39 seconds to hand SHC back a 69-68 lead. Senior guard
Dwight Harris then came away with a crucial steal and sank two free throws at the 17 second mark while a final game-tying 3-pointer by Lane was rebounded by Shellman with one second showing on the board.
Shellman recorded his 11
th double/double of the year, scoring a game-high 25 points and hauling in 12 rebounds. Fellow senior
Gresyn Rogers added 17 points while Harris and junior guard
Ron Rice each contributed 11 points to the Badger totals.
As a team, SHC shot 41.4% (24-58) from the field and 26.7% (4-15) from 3-point range. The Badgers lost 15 turnovers against four steals by the Dragons and made 79.2% (19-24) of their free throw attempts.
Tyler Henry paced Lane with 20 points as three Dragons reached double digits in scoring. Lane shot 35.8% (24-67) overall and made 25.8% (8-31) of their shots from beyond the arc. The Dragons committed 17 turnovers against five steals by the Badgers and sank 80% (12-15) of their free throw opportunities. Lane edged the Badgers 41-40 in rebounding and outscored the Badgers 19-10 in second-chance scoring.
The Badgers (5-15, 4-7 SIAC West) will host the Kentucky State University (KSU) Thorobreds (7-10, 4-6 SIAC West) at 4 p.m. in the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center on Monday.
