Patriots win close game over Miami-Hamilton
The Southern State Patriots returned home from a hard-fought battle with another victory, defeating Miami-Hamilton, 76-72.
Alec Smith (Lynchburg-Clay) led the Patriots with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Ryan Inman (Lynchburg-Clay) chipped in with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
The game was very tight all the way through. Smith and Gage Montgomery came up huge toward the end of the game to seal the win, with Smith hitting a big three and free throw. Also, Montgomery took a game-winning charge to put them away for good.
"Miami came ready to play," SSCC head coach Blake Kibler said. "They worked their pick and roll to perfection, and we had a hard time guarding it. We had spurts where we would play well, and then we would put it in cruise control and go through the motions.
"The good thing was we refused to lose. We got down by three late in the game, and they went on a huge run. We could have quit, but again, we refused to lose."
"A win is a win, whether it's ugly or not," he said. "Wins are hard to come by in our league, and I am glad we came out on top.
"Our defense is something we stress and something that still needs improvement. Guarding someone has been an issue for us all season, but we are getting better at it, and hopefully it continues."
Smith is averaging 19 points per game and is the second-leading rebounder in the league with 13 rebounds per game.
"Alec is a huge part of what we do and what type of kid we want in our program," Kibler said. "He plays hard on the court and is a Dean's List student off the court. Alec has improved so much from dribbling the basketball, to become a better three-point shooter.
"Hopefully we can get Alec a spot somewhere at the next level after his time is done here at SSCC."