A capacity crowd watched Miles open its season Wednesday night with a 73-70 against Auburn Montgomery at Knox-Windham Gymnasium.

The Golden Bears (1-0) led by 10 points with less than three minutes left and looked as if they were going to cruise to victory. But after AUM (1-2) forced four turnovers and Miles missed 6-of-8 free throws dow the stretch, the Warhawks had the ball with a chance to tie the game.

AUM would miss a 3-pointer. The Warhawks would get the ball out of bounds under their own basket but twice - the final time after calling a timeout hoping to avoid a turnover - could not get the ball in on the 5-second count, which gave the ball back to the Golden Bears. Frank Royles (18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) and Jelani Watson-Gayle (21 points, 5-of-11 3-pointers), who both had wonderful offensive performances, would knock down all four free throws to help Miles escape.

Early in the ballgame, Miles' production on both ends of the floor had trouble matching the energy of the crowd as AUM opened a 26-16 lead. But Watson-Gayle started to find his long-range jumper, drilling a 3-pointer to start the comeback. Royles - a high-flyer playing his first game with the Golden Bears - nearly blew the roof off the gym when he snatched a missed 3-pointer off the rim and slammed it home with two hands to tie the game at 28.

After AUM went back in front by two, it was Royles, again, providing the electricity with a rundown block that he beat off the backboard and turned into a Miles possession. Joel Logan (4 points, 5 rebounds, 5 blocks) would score on the other end to tie the game, then he would get a block on the next possession to spark a fast break bucket by Richard Feagin (8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) that would give Miles a quick lead before the Warhawks tied the game at 32 going into halftime.

Watson-Gayle would really get the 3-ball going in the second half, draining four of them over the final 20 minutes. His final trey came with 8:32 left and gave the Golden Bears a 57-55 lead - one they would not relinquish. Miles would also turn up its defense, which was the best in the nation last season, and hold AUM with out a field goal for more than seven minutes. That allowed the Golden Bears to open its 10-point lead before the Warhawks frenetic comeback attempt. 

Carlos Bell (21 points, 4 steals) and Maharrith Jackson (14 points, 12 rebounds) set the pace for AUM. Braeden Stewart had 4 points and a team-high 8 rebounds while Umar Frost had 8 points and 6 rebounds off the bench for Miles, which travels to Montevallo on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.