Last season, Miles sported the best defensive team in Division II men's basketball. While the raw numbers have not matched last season's effort thus far, the Golden Bears can still successfully tighten the screws on their opponents.

After withstanding an early spurt, Miles grabbed the lead in the first half and never looked back. A four-minute shut out during the second half helped the Golden Bears (7-1) take a double-digit lead and they rolled to a 72-60 win over Montevallo Saturday afternoon at Knox-Windham Gymnasium.

When Romario Spence (15 points) scored with 15:51 left, the Falcons (6-4) trailed 36-33 and Miles knew it had a battle on its hands. But on the ensuing possession, Nathan Ferguson (9 points) drained a 3-pointer from the corner as he was run over, then knocked down the free throw for a 4-point play. That started an 11-0 run over the next 4 1/2 minutes as Miles forced two turnovers and Montevallo would miss all four of its shots from the field. When Joel Logan tipped in an Avery Brown miss, Miles led 47-33.

Only once would Montevallo get the lead back into single digits and that didn't last long. Brown would drain a 3-pointer to push the Miles lead back into double digits for good. The Golden Bears would, again, keep the Falcons from scoring from the field, not allowing a field goal for almost seven minutes as they built a lead as large as 16 points. Montevallo shot just 33 percent from the field, 17 percent from beyond the arc, for the game.

Miles struggled a bit early, falling behind 15-6 as the Falcons were aggressive on the perimeter while also getting multiple scoring opportunities on the offensive glass. While the Golden Bears outrebounded Montevallo 41-40, the Falcons had 20 offensive rebounds. Still, that was not enough to keep Miles from erasing the early deficit. Braeden Stewart made his first five shots from the field and Miles went into the half with a 34-27 lead.

Cedric Jackson (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Wade Lowman (15 points, 11 rebounds) each had double-doubles for Montevallo. Brown (18 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks), Stewart (12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists) and Jelani Watson-Gayle (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals) all scored in double figures for Miles, which hosts Savannah State on Dec. 16. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.