Miles guard Rodney Battle gets a great deal of attention from opposing teams. When you are the No. 4 scorer in the SIAC, there is a legitimate reason for teams to plan to stop him.

Even when teams do that, Battle generally still gets his buckets, and he did Wednesday night against Central State. But when you add career nights from others, like the Golden Bears got from Eddie Smith and Corey Trotter, it can mean trouble for opponents. The Marauders became the eighth straight team to find that trouble as Miles (14-3, 10-2 SIAC West) pulled away for a 75-57 win over Central State and Knox-Windham Gymnasium.

The win was the Golden Bears' seventh straight over the Marauders (5-12, 5-7), who stayed close early but never led after the seven-minute mark in the first half. Battle drained a 3-ball, then followed with a jumper in the lane to give Miles a 30-27 lead with 6:13 left in the first half. CSU pulled to within a single point with just less than five minutes left in the half, but Miles went on a run that pushed the lead into double digits.

Smith started with a 3-ball, which was followed by a thunderous dunk from Yasim Hooker that got the crowd on its feet. Trotter would block a shot on the defensive end and be rewarded with the bucket on the offensive side as the lead continued to swell. Smith would knock down a jumper to push the advantage to 11 points and Battle would drill a 3-pointer with five seconds left in the half for a 12-point lead, but Marcus Steele would bank home a 3-pointer at the buzzer from just inside half court to cut the CSU deficit to 43-34 as the teams went into the locker room.

Three missed shots and two turnovers early in the second half allowed Miles to expand its lead. Another hoop from Trotter capped an 8-0 run that pushed the lead to 53-38 with 14:15 to go. The Marauders would not get closer than 10 points the remainder of the night. Meanwhile, the group of Battle, Smith and Trotter continued to pile up the points and dominate the contest. Battle had 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting, setting a season-high for made field goals. Smith had 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals, all career highs. Trotter, in his first career start, was 8-of-11 from the field for 16 points to go along with six rebounds, three steals and three blocks - also all career highs.

Sean Paige had 16 points and Willie Jackson added 10 points to lead Central State. Anthony Latty had five points and a team-high nine rebounds for Miles, which travels to play Tuskegee on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.