COLUMBIA, S.C. —
Miles forward
Najashi Tolefree scored nine of his game-high 18 points in the final six minutes to lead the Golden Bears to a 58-51 win over
Benedict Thursday night.
The Golden Bears (15-5, 13-5 SIAC) trailed 28-26 at the half but
Jayquan Hickles - starting in place of star forward
Cameron Jernigan - scored on his first possession in the second half and followed by splitting two free throws on the next possession to put Miles ahead. The teams would exchange the lead a couple of times but
Frankie Idlett, who just returned to the lineup after missing three games, drained a 3-pointer with 9:41 left to give Miles the lead for good. He drilled another triple two minutes later to push the advantage to 43-37 with 7:19 to go.
Benedict trailed by as many as seven points over the final minutes, first on two free throws from Tolefree (who also had 11 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks), then on buckets from
Isaiah Jones (eight points, five rebounds) and Tolefree that kept the margin at 52-45 with 2:30 left. Each time Benedict tried to get close, Miles had the answer as the Golden Bears completed the season sweep of the Tigers.
Landon Jefferies (10 points, five steals) and Tareeq Anderson (10 points, 12 rebounds) were the only double-figure scorers for Benedict, which shot just 24 percent from the field in the second half.
David Williams (12 points) and Idlett (10 points) helped paced Miles, which travels to Allen on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.