Golden Bears Snap 15-Game Losing Streak
Box Score When Kentucky State scored the first 11 points of Thursday night's contest against Miles, there wasn't much evidence that this would be the night the Golden Bears would earn their first win of 2015.
But Miles erased the entire deficit before halftime, grabbed the lead late, and ultimately held on to defeat the Thorobreds 68-66 in front of a packed house at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. The win snapped a 15-game losing streak and gave coach
Leon Douglas and his team their first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and home wins in the process.
Maiscei Grier scored a team-high 16 points and
Willie Gray added 12 points, including a big 3-pointer with two minutes remaining that gave Miles (2-15, 1-9 SIAC) the lead for good.
After Miles erased the early deficit, it was a back-and-forth battle the rest of the night. There were nine lead changes over the final 20 minutes as neither team led by more than six points during the second half. KSU (5-12, 3-7) led 34-31 at halftime but the Golden Bears erased that deficit 90 seconds into the second half on baskets by
Powel Jasnos (eight points, nine rebounds) and Gray. But Miles would go scoreless for the next five minutes and the Thorobreds opened a 40-35 advantage.
The Golden Bears, though, stayed solid defensively, forcing 13 turnovers - scoring 12 points off the miscues -  and never letting Kentucky State get comfortable on the offensive end. Most importantly, Miles did not lose its composure when KSU opened a 56-50 lead after Malcom Smith (game-high 17 points) drained a 3-pointer with eight minutes to play. Instead, Grier scored the next seven points to give Miles the lead less than two minutes later as the two teams battled towards the finish.
Once Gray hit the 3-pointer to give Miles a 65-64 advantage, the defensive finished off the win by keeping KSU from making anything from the field. When Ulysses Thomas III scored as the clock expired, it was the only field goal the Thorobreds made over the last five-and-a-half minutes.
Nahum Lockett had 10 points and
Hasain Bunnell had eight points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots for Miles, which hosts Tuskegee Saturday at Bill Harris Arena at the Birmingham Crossplex. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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