LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Spalding University men's basketball team edged Hanover College, 52-49, Tuesday night at Derek Smith Gymnasium.

James Turner paced the Golden Eagle (4-3, 1-1 SLIAC) offense with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. Brandon Gabriel also finished in double digits with 10 points, while grabbing a team-high five rebounds and passed out four assists.

Wes McKinney led the Panthers with a game-high 13 points, and Michael Van Kleunen came off the bench to add 11 points.

The Golden Eagles got off to a slow start, and layups on back-to-back possessions by McKinney allowed Hanover to get off to a 4-0 lead. James Turner fueled a one-man seven point run, knocking down a three-pointer to pull SU within one, and converted a pair of layups to give the Golden Eagles a 7-4 lead 3:28 into the game. A Donnie Lewis three-pointer stretched Spalding's lead to five, but Hanover battled back to knot the score at 23 with one minute left in the half. However, the Golden Eagles scored the final five points of the half to take a 28-23 lead into the break.

Spalding outscored Hanover 8-4 to start the second half extending their lead to nine points at 36-27, their largest lead of the game, and still led by nine at 40-31 with 12:29 to go. A pair of Kyle James trifecta's helped ignite a 13-0 Panther run, and the Golden Eagles found themselves trailing 44-40 at the 7:03 mark. SU trailed the Panthers 49-46 with 3:56 remaining, but a Brandon Goeing layup, followed by a Gabriel jumper pushed SU back to the lead, 50-49. The Golden Eagles held Hanover scoreless over the final 3:55, and Goeing converted a pair of free throws to earn the 52-49 win.

Up next, the Golden Eagles will host their SLIAC home opener against Eureka College Saturday, December 20 at 3:00 p.m. EST at Derek Smith Gymnasium.