University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Lose Close One, Finish Second In Iowa Tournament
12/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eagles Lose Close One, Finish Second In Iowa Tournament
IOWA CITY, Iowa ? Southern Miss led much of the second half, but fell behind late and dropped a 65-63 decision to host Iowa in the finals of the Gazette Hawkeye Challenge here Saturday night.
After trailing by as many as five points in the first half, the Golden Eagles cut that deficit to just one, 25-24, at the half, and quickly grabbed the lead in the second 20 minutes. Southern Miss built that lead to as many as four points, on several occasions in the second half, but Iowa pulled even at 60-60, on the 12th tie of the game, and built that to five points before Greg Johnson hit a long three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the final margin to two.
A couple of missed free throws late and a runner in the lane that refused to go down, killed Southern Miss chances late in the game, and Iowa hit key free throws to protect its slim lead and improve to 5-1, the same as the Golden Eagles, who suffered their first loss of the season.
Neither team played very well in the first half, except maybe defensively, The Golden Eagles shooting just .303 (10-33) from the field and Iowa a not-much-better .400 (10-25). The second half was a different story though. Iowa hit 11-of-23 (.478), and Southern Miss was even better, at .542 (13-24). However, Southern Miss committed 19 second half fouls and Iowa hit 16-of-20 free throws while the Eagles managed just 2-of-2 in the first half, and an even more important 8-of-13 in the second half.
Iowa also won the rebounding battle, 36-31, but made only 3-of-16 from the three-point line, while Southern Miss connected on 7-of-19.
The Golden Eagles put three players in double figures, led by Greg Johnson?s best scoring game of the season, at 21. David Haywood added a season- and career-high 13 points and Jasper Johnson had 12. Three different players had four rebounds each for the Eagles.
Tournament Most Valuable Player, Chauncey Leslie, led the tournament winners with 20 points, and Glen Worley added 14. Greg Brunner led all rebounders with 11.
For his performance in the two-game split in Iowa, Greg Johnson was named to the all-tournament team, along with Montana State?s Bo Segeberg, Jacksonville?s Calvin Warner, and Iowa?s Jared Reiner and Worley.
Following tonight?s game, the Eagles return home to face Arkansas State Dec. 14, in a 4 p.m., game.