SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A year ago, Miles got off to a slow start nearly fell victim to an big upset in the opening round of the conference tournament. Thursday night at Tiger Arena, the Golden Bears made sure there would be no need for any late-game heroics.

Miles never trailed against the East Division No. 7-seed Edward Waters, opening a double-digit lead in the first half and getting contributions from the entire roster on both ends of the floor in a convincing 71-52 win in the quarterfinals of the 2023 TIAA SIAC Basketball Championships presented by Cricket. The victory pushes the Golden Bears into the semifinals against Morehouse on Friday at 6:30 p.m., the fourth consecutive time that Miles (21-6) has advanced that far in the tourney.

The Golden Bears wasted little time jumping on the upset-minded Tigers (10-18). Miles made six of its first 10 shots and opened a 14-4 lead less than eight minutes into the contest. Edward Waters could not contain Rodney Battle as he started knocking down shot after shot, racking up 13 points after draining a 3-pointer with 6:39 left in the first half that pushed the Golden Bears to a 23-10 lead. Corey Trotter drained a 3-pointer late in the first half to give Miles a 16-point advantage before going into the half with a 34-20 lead.

Eddie Smith hit jumpers on consecutive possessions to start the second half to push the Miles lead to 18 points. But the Tigers turned up the pressure, forcing some Miles miscues and got back into the game. Edward Waters scored 11 straight points, the last two by Tavares Oliver, to cut the deficit to 40-33 with 12:37 left. But Miles responded by scoring seven straight, wth a 3-point play by Yasim Hooker, a dunk by Antony Latty off a feed by Chase Ballard, then Ballard getting two of his own to push the lead back into double figures for good. Miles made 11-of-14 free throws down the stretch and led by as many as 20 points in the second half.

Larry Kuimi had 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead Edward Waters. Battle (18 points), Hooker (12), Smith (11), and Ballard (10) all scored in double figures for Miles.