Letdown avoided as Lions take win

After his team played its best game of the season Tuesday night, Paine men's basketball coach Ron Spry worried about how it would perform against lowly Miles College.

He had every right to be anxious Thursday.

Brian Harper scored a game-high 23 points as the Lions held on for a 68-62 win over the Bears at Carter Gym.

Paine improved to 5-2 overall and stayed atop the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 4-0 mark. It also improved to 5-0 at home this season

The Lions jumped all over LeMoyne-Owen on Tuesday, but struggled to pull away from Miles (1-9, 1-5).

"That was my concern, because they played so well the other night," Spry said. "With any program, when you play so well, you think you can turn it on and turn it off. But every game is different. You've got to be prepared to face that challenge.

"I'm pleased with the fact that we played real well against LeMoyne-Owen and came back and got a victory tonight.

"All of that goes into the making of a good season and a good team, being able to respond to challenges."

Harper scored 20 of his 23 in the first half on 7-for-12 shooting. He popped one 3-pointer early in the second half, but was contained by the Bears' defense from there.

Justin Durham and Harper each knocked down a 3-pointer during a 10-0 run to close out the first half to give Paine a 40-37 lead at intermission.

With its strong inside game, Miles managed to keep the game close throughout. Anthony Ward led the Bears with 19 points, while Lance Tippett added 10.

"I knew they would be tough," Spry said. "They were extremely patient on offense. As a result of that, they shot the ball real well and got some high-percentage shots."

Tippett's layup with 1 minute remaining closed the margin to two.

Paine called three timeouts, trying to give itself a little breathing room in the waning moments. Spry said he wanted to get the inbounds pass to Harper in the corner, but he was covered.

The second option, LaTerrance Casey inside, was shut down as well. So point guard Titus Lucas got the ball and ran the shot clock down to 3 seconds before hitting the game-clinching 3-pointer.

"I had confidence in the shot and hit it," Lucas said. "I could've went by (my defender), but it would've been a tough shot."

Lucas scored all seven of his points in the final 4 minutes. Casey chipped in with 10 points.

Paine now hits the road for four games in 10 days. The Lions play twice in Atlanta before traveling to Kentucky State and Lane.

"These next four games are critical," Spry said. "They're going to tell us a lot."

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.