MOBILE, Ala. (January 24, 2022) – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team fought through two overtimes in route to a thrilling 96-89 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) West Division victory over the LeMoyne-Owen College Magicians at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center on Monday night.
The Magicians (10-6; 6-5 SIAC West) led the Badgers 43-34 at halftime and by as much as 14 points with 13:35 left to play, but the Badgers rallied to draw within 76-74 at 48 seconds remaining in regulation. A crucial miscommunication by LOC led to an errant pass out of bounds that handed the ball back to SHC with 23 seconds left. Redshirt freshman
Beril Kabamba would then tie the game with two pressure free throws at 9 seconds showing.
A missed layup in traffic followed by a failed put-back attempt by LOC at the horn sent the game into the first overtime wherein the Magicians took a quick 2-point lead. The Magicians could not find a way to shake off the pesky Badgers, however, who stayed with 1-2 points until Kabamba once again proved his worth in the clutch with two more game-tying free throws at 18 seconds on the clock. A missed jumper at the horn from LOC would put another 5-minute overtime period on the scoreboard clock.
LOC again maintained serve over the first 2:30 of the period with a 1-2 point lead until freshman
Tana Kopa shook free of a Magician defender with a nifty step back move that left him open for a go-ahead 3-pointer at 90-89 with 2:20 on the board. A rebound by Kabamba led to a dagger of a trey from the right side by
John Abate off a perfect inside-out pass from
Ashton Hawkins to make it 93-89 with 1:53 remaining.
A Hawkins layup was sandwiched by two LOC missed 3-pointers as the Badgers put the lid on the victory by dribbling out the final 20 seconds.
SHC shot 47.4% (37-78) from the field and 21.4% (6-28) from 3-point range while making 64% (16-25) of their free throws. Kopa led the Badger offense with 23 points as Kabamba added 15 points with 11 rebounds.
Steven Lyles returned to action from Covid Protocols to score 14 and
Sam Davidson found 13 points for the home team. SHC controlled the boards by a 53-42 margin in rebounding.
LOC shot 39.7% (29-73) from the floor including 26.7% (4-15) from beyond the arc while making 77.1% (27-35) of their free throw attempts. Five Magicians reached double-digits in scoring led by guard Tariq Shepherd's 16 points.
The Badgers (3-14, 2-8 SIAC West) will be on the road this weekend as they visit Frankfort, Ky. on Saturday to take on the Kentucky State University (KSU) Thorobreds (4-8; 1-3 SIAC West) at 4 p.m. (east) in the William Exum Center.
