Miles College beats Albany State to claim SIAC championship

The Golden Bears of Miles College outscored the Golden Rams of Albany State 12-4 in the final three and a half minutes of the game Saturday night to pull away and claim the SIAC basketball championship by a 69-56 score in Rock Hill, SC.

Albany State had led 8-0 at the beginning of the game and pulled out to a 22-7 lead when Kamil Brown drilled a three-pointer with 8:25 left to play in the first half. ASU’s biggest lead of the night was 14 points when they led 29-15 with 5:17 to play in the first half, but the Bears went on a 13-1 run to close the first half and trailed only 30-26 at the break.

The second half remained close until the very end. The Bears tied the game a couple of times before taking a slight lead, but ASU’s Napoleon Harris hit a jumper about midway through the second half to give the Golden Rams a 41-40 lead. The Bears continued to score and built a 55-48 lead before Harris hit another jumper to bring it back to 55-50 with 4:21 remaining. The Rams cut the lead to five one more time with 3:30 remaining when Brown swished two free throws but that was as close as Albany State could get.

The loss gives the Golden Rams a 17-14 season record and a second-place finish in the SIAC. Details about the upcoming NCAA Division II tournament should be released soon. The South Regional is scheduled to begin March 14th at the home of the highest seeded team.

Staff Photo: Joe Whitfield