FAIRFIELD, Ala. (February 14, 2022) – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team had their 4-game winning streak stopped by a 62-58 road loss to the West Division-leading Miles College Golden Bears in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) play at Knox-Windham Gymnasium on Monday night.
The Golden Bears (20-3; 14-1 SIAC West) raced out to a 12-2 lead on the Badgers in the first 4 minutes and held a 20-12 advantage at the 10-minute mark. SHC then battled back to pull within 20-18 at 6:55 left in the 1
st half and trailed by just a 32-30 margin at the intermission.
Tana Kopa of SHC drained a 3-point shot to put SHC up for the first time at 33-32 with 18:35 remaining on the clock, but Miles reclaimed a 35-35 edge at 15:49.
Sam Davidson dropped in another Badger trey to make it a 38-36 Spring Hill lead at 14:56.
The Badgers and the Bears would trade baskets over the next 3 minutes with SHC holding a slim 47-46 advantage with 10 minutes to go. By the 5-minute mark, Miles had reclaimed a 54-49 lead highlighted by a dunk from Yasim Hooker.
Leading 58-55 with 20 seconds remaining, the Bears made two free throws to make it a 60-55 deficit for the Badgers. A Kopa missed 3-pointer was pulled down by Miles, resulting in two more free throws to ice away the victory.
Kopa led the Badgers with 16 points as SHC shot 36.4% (20-55) and 37.5% (9-24) from the 3-point arc. Davidson scored 12 points,
Beril Kabamba added 13 points, and
John Abate put in 10 points. The Badgers lost 16 turnovers to 8 steals by the Bears.
Hooker led a balanced Miles offense with 16 points as the Bears shot 45.6% (26-57) overall and 23.1% (3-13) from long distance. Miles controlled the boards by a 44-30 margin, but lost 20 turnovers to 8 Badger steals.
The Badgers (7-16, 6-10 SIAC West) return to play their final home game on the 2021-22 season of Saturday afternoon when they host the Lane College Dragons (9-14; 5-10 SIAC West) beginning at 4 p.m. in the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center. Before the game, the Badgers will honor their Senior Class teammates with the annual Senior Day Ceremony.
