Official Game Statistics
South Alabama vs. Southern Miss Game Notes
MOBILE, Ala. -- Daon Merritt finished with 24 points and Domonic Tilford scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half as South Alabama built an early lead and played even the rest of the way in a 75-68 victory over Southern Mississippi Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center. The Jags shot 52.2 percent in the opening period, while at the same time limiting the Golden Eagles to just 33.3 percent.
Demetric Bennett also finished in double figures by chipping in 14 points. R.L. Horton led four Southern Miss players in double figures with 17 points.
South Alabama (6-3) scored the first four points of the game and built a 7-2 lead in the first five minutes. The score was 14-10, when the Jaguars used a 7-1 run fueled by a three-point play and a layup by Merrit to push the margin to double digits, 21-11, with 8:45 left in the half. Southern Miss (3-3) closed to within four twice before intermission, but each time USA answered, opening two more 10-point advantages before intermission. The difference was eight, 35-27, at the break.
The second half featured just a one-point difference, 41-40, in favor of the Golden Eagles. They cut the lead in half to four by the 18:02 mark by scoring the first four points out of the locker room, but Bennett hit a three-pointer on the next poessession to stop that rally. USM later got within five points at 56-51 with 5:57 left, but Bennett hit a pair of free throws and Merritt hit a jumper to take the lead back to nine.
South Alabama twice held a 10-point advantage in the final two minutes, although Horton's three with eight seconds left made the difference just five at 73-68.
"I thought it was a very physical game," Head Coach Ronnie Arrow said. "They are not a good... not a great... but an unbelievable rebounding team. That said, I think we did a good job boxing them out, but still have to go to work on the boards. Brandon was good with 11 rebounds. The biggest thing is holding a team to our goal of 41 percent shooting and they hit just 39 percent. We will win a lot of games that way. I think we took a step forward in becoming a good team."
Rebounding kept the Golden Eagles in the game as they totalled 42 boards, including 21 offensive, to the Jaguars' 26. South finished the game with a shooting percentage of 53.3 percent, a new season high. It also connected on 50 percent (eight of 16) from three-point range and on 70.4 percent (19 of 27) from the free throw line.
South Alabama now has over a week off for exams before returning to the Mitchell Center Saturday, Dec. 15 for the Ninth Annual Coors Classic. The Jaguars will host Mississippi State after Auburn takes on Southern in the 5 p.m. opener.
