MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The magic number for the Miles men's basketball team is 72.

Despite being one of the top scoring teams in the SIAC, the Golden Bears have been their most successful this season when they lock teams down. In six games, Miles is 5-1 when they hold teams to 72 points or less, with one of those victories coming Saturday night at Bruce-Johnson Hall when it defeated LeMoyne-Owen 67-63. Sheldon Wright came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points, with his clutch 3-pointer with just more than a minute remaining serving as a dagger in what, at the time, was a one-point game.

The game was tied at 33 at the half and after LOC (8-14, 4-11 SIAC West) took a brief lead to start the second half, Miles (5-14, 4-8) took the lead for good when Robert Jones grabbed a rebound and flipped an outlet pass to Nathan Sheffield (seven points, nine rebounds, five assists), who finished with a dunk on the breakaway to put the Golden Bears ahead 37-36 with 17:22 remaining. That basket was part of a 10-1 run, punctuated by a Damian Archer (11 points, five rebounds) basket that pushed the Miles advantage to 43-37.

The Golden Bears had 13 points on the fastbreak, two of them coming on a layup by Wright with 11:15 left to give Miles a 48-41 lead. Neither team held a bigger lead in the game, which is why the Magicians were able to stay close the entire second half despite never retaking the lead. On three occasions in the second half, LOC had possession of the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. But Miles forced two missed shots and a turnover and held the Magicians to 33 shooting percent from the field over the final 20 minutes.

A 3-point play by Aston Morton had cut the Miles lead to 60-59 with 1:18 left. But as they did the entire second half, the Golden Bears had an answer. Wright's 3-ball on the next possession pushed the lead to a two-possession game with 1:04 remaining. In the second half, in possessions after LOC scored to move to within three points or left, Miles went 5-of-9 from the field and made both free throw attempts in those situations.

Rashawn Ellis scored 23 points to lead the Magicians. Jeffrey Dockett (14 points) and Jones (nine points, game-high 12 rebounds) had strong efforts for Miles, which travels to Lane Monday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.