MOBILE, Ala. – In a game that saw 17 lead changes and 14 tie scores, the Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team lost a nail-biter of a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) home game 94-92 to the Central State University (CSU) Marauders on Monday night at Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
The Marauders (10-10, 7-6 SIAC West) clawed out to the largest lead of the contest for either team at 94-87 following a fast break dunk at 1:27 remaining. The Badgers answered back with two successful free throws and a 3-pointer by junior guard
Ron Rice of Harlem, N.Y. to make it a 94-92 score with 48 seconds showing on the clock.
A Marauder turnover at 22 seconds led to a missed 3-pointer by the Badgers on the other end of the court with 3 seconds left as it appeared the clock had expired. The officials then huddled and ruled that the ball had not been controlled by the Marauders as three of their players dived for it, pushing it out of bounds with .5 seconds remaining. SHC, however, failed to get off a final shot as senior guard
Gresyn Rogers lost his footing while receiving the in-bounds and his stumble was just enough to run out the clock.
Senior forward
Chase Shellman of Louisville, Ky. scored 30 points with 15 rebounds and five assists for the Badgers while Rogers tallied 20,
Ron Rice added 14 points off the bench, and senior guard
Dwight Harris from Americus, Ga. contributed 11 points to the Badger scoresheet.
As a team, SHC shot 50.7% (38-75) from the field and 34.8% (8-23) from 3-point range. The Badgers lost 17 turnovers against 11 steals by the Marauders that translated into a 17-11 advantage for CSU in points off turnovers. Conversely, SHC took a 47-25 victory in rebounding for a 24-2 advantage in second chance scoring. The Badgers struggled to a 61.5% (8-13) performance at the free throw line.
Darweshi Hunter paced CSU with 26 points and Harris Brown poured in another 22 points for the visitors from Wilberforce, Ohio. CSU shot 49.2% (30-61) overall and made 37.5% (12-32) of their shots from beyond the arc. The Marauders committed nine turnovers against seven steals by the Badgers. CSU entered the game shooting 60% at the charity stripe for the season, but sank 73.3% (22-30) of their free throw opportunities on this night.
The Badgers (6-16, 5-8 SIAC West) and the CSU Marauders meet again on Saturday at 3 p.m. (east) in Beacom/Lewis Gym at Wilberforce, Ohio.
