Second half drought costs Golden Bears
Box Score
TUSKEGEE, Ala. -- Miles entered Monday night's rivalry showdown with Tuskegee knowing that a win would secure the No. 2 seed from the West Division for next week's Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.
With 11 minutes remaining, it looked like the Golden Bears were on their way to earning their victory. But a four-minute dry spell allowed the Golden Tigers to score 14 unanswered points to take a lead they would not surrender en route to a 78-69 win over Miles at the Chappie James Center. Now, the Golden Bears (7-19, 7-8 SIAC) will need a win on Thursday to secure the No. 2 seed from the West.
E. Reginald Smalls continued his great play over the last week, scoring a game-high 19 points along with five rebounds against Tuskegee (8-18, 6-10). He has averaged 17.5 points in his last four games and knocked down 50 percent of his 3-pointers (11-of-22). But during the game-defining stretch, Smalls, nor any of his teammates could convert from the field, missing six straight shots (including four 3-pointers) before a steal and dunk from
Carl Garcia.
By then, the Golden Tigers had converted 6-of-7 shots from the field, including a 3-pointer from Myles Thomas (13 points) with 7:15 remaining that put Miles in a 58-48 hole. The deficit would be whittled to four points but a Travis Flagg (15 points) 3-ball pushed the Tuskegee lead back to 67-60 with 2:33 left and the Golden Bears would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.
Daniel Roach had 12 points and James Eads added 11 for Tuskegee. Garcia had 13 points and
Shaquille Cook had nine points and seven rebounds for Miles, which closes its regular season Thursday at Clark Atlanta. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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