The more things change, the more they look the same for the Miles men's basketball team.

Injuries and roster turnover left this season's edition of the Golden Bears looking vastly different. But they have continued to win as they have always done in five seasons under head coach Fred Watson. It took a little extra time on Tuesday night, but Miles got a big bucket to force overtime before outlasting Allen 74-62 on Senior Night at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. The win gives Miles (19-5, 14-4) the SIAC Western Division title and No. 1 seed for the league championship tournament in two weeks. The Golden Bears have won a share of the crown every year it has been available during Watson's run at the school.

It looked as if the coronation would be postponed for at least one more game. Allen (14-12, 10-9 SIAC East) opened a 20-point lead in the first half and lead 38-24 at the break when Yellow Jackets big man Nakia Johnson banked an off-balanced 3-pointer off the glass at the horn. But Miles held Allen without a point for more than eight minutes to start the second half to pull within two points. An 8-0 run, finished with back-to-back 3-pointers by Chase Ballard (eight points, eight assists, five rebounds) and senior Mykayle Carter (14 points, five rebounds) gave the Golden Bears a 53-51 lead with 5:12 left in regulation.

A 3-pointer by Malik Lacewell gave Allen a 58-57 lead with 2:13 left in the second half. Two G'Shan Aldridge free throws with 29 seconds left put Miles in a three-point hole before senior Truitt Spencer (seven points, three assists) fixed that. His 3-ball from the corner was true and sent the crowd into delirium with 13 seconds left. Tyriq McAdoo had two shots at winning the game in regulation, but interior defense by Corey Trotter, who had a monster night (10 points and career-highs in rebounds, 22, and blocks, 5) made those shots difficult and forced overtime. From there, the Golden Bears closed the show. Alvin Miles drained a deep 3-pointer started the scoring in the extra period and gave Miles the lead for good. It was the only basket for Miles, which then proceeded to make 9-of-10 free throws the rest of the way while Allen missed 8-of-9 shots from the field.

Lacewell (11 points) was the only double-digit scorer for Allen. Miles had a game-high 22 points and added seven rebounds while Rylen Walker added nine points for the Golden Bears, who travel to face LeMoyne-Owen on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.