Devonte Fuller's strong all-around effort (19 points, nine rebounds, three assist, four steals) paced Miles in an 80-48 blowout of Benedict Monday night at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. The victory kept the Golden Bears (9-4, 6-0) in sole possession of first place in the SIAC Western Division and was the fourth time an opponent failed to reach 50 points against the No. 1 defensive team in Division II.

The Tigers (2-12, 1-6 SIAC East) scored the first point of the game but a Rashawn Chapman (six points, seven rebounds) basket on the ensuing possession gave Miles the lead for good. The Golden Bears used a 15-5 run leading into halftime to take a 28-16 lead into the break. Benedict shot just 19 percent from the field during the first 20 minutes and turned the ball over nine times to further its troubles.

The Miles defense really kicked into gear in the second half as the Golden Bears repeated jumped into passing lanes for steals and started running the break the other way. Fuller put an exclamation point on the evening when he stole an errant pass and went the other way, flying through a Benedict defender for a one-handed facial that gave Miles a 45-24 lead. Unfortunately for the Tigers, there was still more than 14 minutes left in the game.

Three straight baskets by Damian Archer (14 points, seven rebounds, two assists) extended the Miles lead to 59-27 wth more than 10 minutes remaining and two Fuller free throws with 7:15 left pushed the Golden Bears advantage to 69-30, the largest lead of the game.

Davante Wiltshire had 12 points and Jasiah Perry added 11 for Benedict. Jeffrey Dockett (12 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals) and Nathan Sheffield (nine points, 4-of-4 shooting) came off the bench to pace Miles, which hosts Central State Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.