Albany State men hold off Miles

ALBANY — Miles College came into the HPER gym searching for their first SIAC win of the season.

They left Albany still searching.

Albany State shook off its Thursday night loss to Lemoyne Owen and defeated the Golden Bears 59-55 Saturday afternoon.

Darshtyn Baker was big for the Rams, scoring just about every time they needed him. Miles took a 47-46 lead with 7:45 left in the second half. Baker responded by scoring nine straight to give the Rams a 55-49 lead with about five minutes left.

The Golden Bears had their opportunities down the stretch. Trailing by two and with 12 seconds left, the Golden Bears tried to attack the basket to no avail. Earl Farnum grabbed the rebound to help close the game.

ASU head coach Michael Moore said his team did a much better job executing down the stretch than they have in previous games.

“They key was no turnovers down the stretch,” he said. “We protected the ball really well. They ran the offense all the way through and we just executed…and we rebounded the ball. We boxed the bigs out and put a body on them and we crashed the boards and didn’t give them a second chance.”

He noted that Baker’s leadership helped in a game that close. He said the senior guard has played in the SIAC and understood how Miles plays and was able to steady his team late.

Moore was also pleased with his team’s play against the tall and athletic Golden Bears. Despite Miles recording nine blocks as a team and winning the rebounding battle 48-35, Moore said his team boxed out when they needed to the most and gave themselves a chance to win, which was all they needed.

Larry Bullock was the second leading scorer with 10 points, while Demitri Wheeler led the team in rebounds with 14.

The win puts ASU at 6-8 on the season and 2-5 in the SIAC. They’ll head up north to South Carolina take on Benedict College this week.