In the midst of Miles' current win streak, one of the tougher outs was Central State, which took the Golden Bears to double overtime last month in Ohio.

On Monday night, the Marauders again made it tough on Miles, erasing an early double digit deficit to take a small lead in the second half. But the Golden Bears (22-3, 18-1) were able to regain their composure and grab another victory. The 79-71 win at Knox-Windham Gymnasium was the 13th consecutive W for the home side and 12th straight win over CSU (15-14, 10-9).

A 3-pointer by Chase Ballard, followed by buckets from Todd Burt and Corey Trotter gave Miles a 20-9 lead with 11:39 left in the first half. But the Marauders scored the final nine points of the half to knot the score at 34 going into the break. Two early free throws by Raevon Thomas inside of the first minute in the second half punctuated an 11-0 run and gave Central State the lead.

But Alvin Miles had a quick answer on the ensuing possession, knocking down one of his three 3-pointers to put the Golden Bears back in front. He would score on the next possession as well and Trotter followed with an offensive putback to give Miles a 41-36 lead three minutes into the final stanza. Twice over the next six minutes, CSU pulled to within a single possession but the Golden Bears had the response both times. Ballard's 3-ball at the 15:51 mark pushed the lead to 44-38. Then, after the Marauders had closed the gap to two points, Burt (five points, four rebounds) followed with a 3-point play and Miles drained another 3-pointer to up the advantage to 56-48 with 11 minutes left.

Central State continued to battle deep into the second half before the Golden Bears finally created some real breathing room. Ahead by six with three minutes remaining, Ballard drained a jumper, Rylen Walker (nine points) had an offensive putback, and Miles made two free throws for a 12-point lead - the biggest of the night - with 1:44 to go that finally extinguished the Marauders threat.

Ramar Pryor (19 points) and Brandon Scott (15) were the high scorers for Central State. Miles (21 points, five assists, two steals), Ballard (16 points), and Trotter (13 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, two blocks) were the top scorers while Elijah Horton (four points, eight rebounds, two steals, block) was big on both sides of the ball for the Golden Bears, who close out the regular season on Senior Night against Kentucky State. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.