WILBERFORCE, Ohio (January 31, 2022) – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team closed out a two-game road swing with an 80-76 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) West Division win over the Central State University (CSU) Marauders at Beacon/Lewis Gymnasium on Monday night.
SHC built out a 30-24 lead over the Marauders (6-12; 4-9 SIAC West) with 5:31 to go until halftime, but CSU rallied to cut their deficit down to a 41-39 Badger lead at the half.
CSU would tie the game at 41-41 with a dunk 27 seconds into the 2
nd half and then took a 42-41 lead with 1-of-2 free throws just 20 seconds later.
The Badgers responded with a 12-2 run over a 3-minute span midway through the period to construct a 54-46 advantage with 13 minutes left to play.
Spring Hill maintained a 71-62 cushion with 4 minutes left on the clock, but four consecutive free throws followed by two inside layups by the Marauders cut the margin to 71-70 with 2:28 remaining.
The teams would trade layups at the one-minute mark as SHC held a 75-74 edge with 35 seconds on the clock.
Tana Kopa then made a crucial 3-point bucket off an assist out of the paint from
Sam Davidson with 22 seconds showing. CSU would make 2-of-4 free throws over the final seconds to pull within two points, but Davidson would find a streaking
David Daniels on the inbounds pass for a fast break lay-in at the buzzer for the final dagger.
Five Badgers reached double-digits in scoring led by 21 from Davidson. Kopa and
Beril Kabamba both had 13 points and nine rebounds while
John Abate poured in 18 points. Daniels finished with a 10-point effort. SHC won the rebounding battle 41-38 while limiting themselves to 14 turnovers. The Badgers shot 44.8% (30-67) from the field and a healthy 41.7% (10-24) from 3-point distance, but struggled to just 55.6% (10-18) at the charity stripe.
CSU was 41.3% (26-63) in overall shooting including just 15.8% (3-19) from beyond the arc. The Marauders lost 13 turnovers to eight Badger steals. Marcus Steele and Willie Jackson both scored 16 points for the home team.
The Badgers (4-15, 3-9 SIAC West) will return to home action at 4 p.m. Saturday for a rematch with the Marauders in the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
