Men's basketball opens season in Wentz Financial Classic
Miles will begin what it hopes is a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title run when it opens the season this weekend in the Wentz Financial Classic at the University of West Georgia.
The Golden Bears will start with Lee University on Saturday with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m. The second game will feature host West Georgia, ranked 22nd in the preseason poll. The two teams will meet at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Last season, Miles opened the season against both teams, earning a 106-101 win over the Flames before dropping a 114-96 decision to the Wolves.
Miles went 17-13 last season but had a disappointing second-round loss in the SIACÂ tournament. Three of the Golden Bears top five scorers from last season will not be in uniform when the season begins. But
E. Reginald Smalls (8.7 ppg) and
Shaquille Cook (8.6) will lead a roster that has 13 new faces.
Lee went 10-18 last season and made a coaching change, with Bubba Smith now leading the Flames, who were picked to finish last in the Gulf South Conference. They have three out of their top four scorers from last year's team returning in Keevin Tyus (16.3 ppg), Rico Overall (8.7 ppg), and Levi Woods (7.1 ppg). UWG won the Gulf South last season, going 22-9 and earning the No. 4 seed in the South Region tournament. The Wolves feature three players this season who play at a height of 6-8 or better (Shannon Fowler, Dylan Dupree and Cameron Blakely) as well as shooter Keron Briggs made 52 3-pointers and made nearly 38 percent of his shots from long range.Â
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