A late-game sequence that put the Golden Bears on the precipice of snagging a hard-fought victory turned into disappointment on Saturday afternoon.

Miles misfired on two attempted tip-ins in the closing seconds of a defensive battle with Tuskegee, leading to a 51-50 defeat in front of a raucous, capacity crown at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. The loss dropped the Golden Bears (15-5, 11-4) into a tie with the Golden Tigers (16-6, 11-4) atop the SIAC Western Division standings but gives TU the tiebreak due to its sweep of the season series.

The close game overshadowed the fact that for the second time, Tuskegee put the clamps on the Miles offense, having held the team to its two lowest-scoring marks of the season in a matter of seven days. But the final four seconds nearly made that point moot. Trailing by two points, Eddie Smith was fouled on a shot attempt that sent him to the free throw line. His first shot was true. But the potential game-tying take came off the right side of the rim and into the hands of Mykayle Carter. He forced up a contested shot that missed but fell onto the finger tips of Corey Trotter, whose attempt to push in the game-winner came off the opposite side and into the hands of Devin Booker, who corralled the miss and hugged it tight as the clock ran out.

That bruising, frenetic series encapsulated the entirety of the game. Both teams finding a way to contest most every shot. A foul could have been called on most of the plays as each side got after the other. But each team was able to find just enough offense when it needed it.

Tuskegee came out smoking, scoring the first nine points of the game and holding Miles without a bucket until Carter (nine points, six rebounds) scored more than five minutes into the game. But Steve Dulley answered with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to give the Golden Tigers a 12-2 lead at the 14-minute mark of the first half. The Golden Bears would slowly chip away, cutting the deficit to a single point on two Trotter free throws with 3:12 left in the half. TU would push the lead back out to seven points and went into the break with a 31-27 advantage.

The Golden Bears would finally tie the game at 31 on an Anthony Latty layup less than four minutes into the second half. Another Latty bucket on a feed from Chase Ballard gave Miles its first lead at 36-35. Down by two points with seven minutes left, Miles had its best offense run to open its biggest lead. Rodney Battle  made a jumper in the lane and Latty (six points, six rebounds) followed with a thunderous dunk to retake the lead. Carter (nine points, six rebounds) would then take a feed from Smith (nine points, four rebounds) and knock down a 3-pointer to put Miles on top 49-45 with five minutes remaining.

But Miles, which was shooting close to 40 percent from the field in the second half at that point, would miss its final nine shots and turn the ball over twice to close out the contest. Tuskegee would take advantage, ultimately taking the lead on a driving layup by Booker for a 50-49 lead with 38 seconds left. Battle would miss a 3-pointer and Gregg Boyd was fouled. He split two free throws with 12 seconds left, which set up the final sequence of the game.

Boyd scored a game-high 15 points and Deveraux Davis added 11 points to lead Tuskegee. Battle had 10 points and eight rebounds and Makai Vassell had seven points and a team-high nine rebounds for Miles, which hosts Spring Hill on Monday night. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.