When Miles beat LeMoyne-Owen last year to win the SIAC championship, the Golden Bears built a double-digit lead in the first half and dominated the early portion of the second half to leave no doubt about the result over the final minutes.

While the stakes weren't nearly as high Saturday afternoon, Miles used the same formula to make the Magicians disappear. The Golden Bears set season highs for most points scored, fewest points allowed and largest margin of victory in an 82-45 win over LeMoyne-Owen at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. Four players scored in double figures for Miles (9-3, 4-2 SIAC West), which never trailed in the contest.

LeMoyne-Owen (8-5, 5-3) fell in a big hole early. Avery Brown scored twice and Richard Feagin drained a 3-pointer as Miles made five of its first seven shots to open an 11-2 lead by the first media timeout. The Magicians would miss nine of their first 10 field goal attempts and when Terrell Waiters knocked down a 3-pointer with 12:50 left in the first half, the Golden Bears were up 18-5.

The Miles lead got as high as 14 points during the first 20 minutes. LOC would twice get to within five points later in the first half but went into halftime trailing 38-25. But it wouldn't get any better for the Magicians the rest of the way.

Miles would score the first eight points of the second half, with a steal by Braeden Stewart (11 points, 2 blocks) leading to a fastbreak score for Feagin to open a 46-25 lead. While LeMoyne-Owen would get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way, the Golden Bears would close with a dominant finish to produce the final lopsided score. The Magicians would not score a single point for the final 6:33 of the ball game as the Golden Bears closed the game by scoring the final 21 points. Miles would get dunks from Joel Logan (10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Stewart and 3-pointers from Jelani Watson-Gayle (10 points, 6 rebounds), Darius Williams and Trey Wilder as LOC missed its final nine shots from the field.

Tyrone Banks had 14 points and Devin Booker added 11 for LeMoyne-Owen. Avery Brown (22 points, 10 rebounds) and Feagin (9 points, 2 assist, 2 blocks, 2 steals) were among the top performers for Miles, which plays at Fort Valley State on Tuesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.