Benedict falls to Miles in SIAC Championship
SAVANNAH, Ga. (BC) – The Benedict College Tigers, playing their fifth game in seven days at the 2023 TIAA SIAC Basketball Tournament presented by Cricket, had a cold shooting night and dropped a 60-46 decision to the Miles Golden Bears on Saturday night in the championship game.
Benedict shot just 26.2 percent, connecting on 17-of-65 attempts. Dontavius King led the Tigers with 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting. No other Tiger scored in double figures and the rest of the team combined to make 10-of-48 shots, or 20.8 percent.
“We got off to a very slow start and couldn’t make a shot,” said Benedict head coach Artis Maddox. “Hats off to Miles. They forced us into those tough shots and got rebounds and they scored and we couldn’t get a basket. We dug ourselves a hole, tried to come back, and fell a little short at the end.”
Benedict ends it season at 22-10 overall. Miles, now 23-6, earns the SIAC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Championships.
The Golden Bears scored the first seven points of the game. The Tigers were able to come back and tie the game, the final time at 16-16. Benedict trailed 23-19 with 3:09 left in the first half, but the Golden Bears scored the final 10 points of the half, including a buzzer-beating shot from more than half court by Yasim Hooker to give Miles a 33-19 lead at the break.
Miles scored the first two baskets of the second half to build their largest lead of the game, 37-19. Miles still had a 17-point lead, 47-30, midway through the second half when the Tigers put together a run to cut the lead to 49-41 with 4:24 left in the game after a fast-break dunk by Malachi McCoy. McCoy and King were both named to the All-Tournament Team.
Benedict missed their next five shot attempts and Miles pushed the lead back to 14 points with 1:13 left to play. The Golden Bears scored the final nine points at the free-throw line to secure the championship.
Benedict lost in the SIAC Tournament championship game for the second year in a row.
“We’ve just got to handle business and play better,” Maddox said. “No excuses, we just have to play better. It doesn’t matter if we have to play five games, four games, three games, two games or one game. On the biggest stage, we have to play better. I’ve got to do a better job of getting these guys prepared. I’ve got to do a better job coaching. I’ve got to do a better job overall. I’ll take the blame for this loss.”
