Over the past two seasons, Miles has generally been able to dispatch opponents by getting a stretch of defensive stops and knocking down key baskets. But Monday night, the Golden Bears weren't able to produce either of those key ingredients against Albany State.

Miles trailed for a total of 70 seconds in the second half but a basket by Mario Young with 1.6 seconds left propelled Albany State to a 64-62 win at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. It was the first home loss of the season for the Golden Bears (8-3, 3-2 SIAC West) and the first win in Fairfield for the Golden Rams (8-8, 5-2 SIAC East) since 2011.

The Albany State defense turned up the pressure and Miles had trouble responding. Conversely, the Golden Bears could not get the defensive stops after being unable to generate any offense. The Golden Rams went on a 10-2 run and took a 62-60 lead with 1:32 left. But Avery Brown would knock down a jumper with a minute remaining to tie the score.

The Golden Bears wold force a turnover and on the next possession, Jelani Watson-Gayle - who had been hot in the second half - had a nice look on a 3-pointer from the corner but it rimmed out and Albany State would grab the board. After a timeout, Young would get the ball, drive right, cross back to the left in traffic, and hit a short jumper in the lane with 1.8 seconds left. Miles tried to go long to Umar Frost in the frontcourt for the equalizer but he could not gain possession of the ball before the clock ran out.

Albany State seemingly scored at will in the first half, shooting 65 percent from the field in the opening stanza. But thanks to aggressive work in the paint by Frost and Braeden Stewart (8 points, 5 rebounds), Miles was able to stay close. Terrell Waiters would knock down a 3-pointer with 2:53 left in the first half that tied the score at 33, which was the score at halftime.

Miles would take the lead on a Brown basket two minutes into the second half. The Golden Bears would not trail for the majority of the second half, often getting key baskets from Watson-Gayle - who scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the second half - to keep the Golden Rams at bay. Leading by one point, the junior guard drained a 3-pointer, then added another bucket on the ensuing possession to push the lead to 58-52 with just under five minutes remaining.

Young and Kamil Brown each had 16 points and Titus Burns added 10 points for Albany State. Frost had a career-high 13 points and added a game-high 6 rebounds and Brown added 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks for Miles, which hosts LeMoyne-Owen on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.