University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Houston Wins Battle On The Coast, 76-75
1/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Houston Wins Battle On The Coast, 76-75
BILOXI, Miss. ? Louis Truscott?s layup, with :04 left, gave Houston a 76-75 lead; and, when Southern Miss failed to score, the Cougars left the Coast Coliseum with a one-point, Conference USA victory.
Mario Myles had a final Golden Eagle shot in the lane that would have meant victory for Southern Miss, but his shot rimmed out, leaving Southern Miss with its second three-game losing streak of the season.
Houston (4-11, 2-2) led by as many as 15 points in the second half, 63-48 at 7:10, only to see Southern Miss (9-7, 2-3) go on a 19-6 run over the next 5:17 to pull within two, 71-69 at 1:39, when Jasper Johnson connected on a jumper.
Houston went ahead by four with :37 remaining when Truscott hit a free throw that pushed the Cougars to a 74-70 lead. Myles countered with two charity shots at :23, pulling the Eagles back to two.
Myles then stole Houston?s inbounds pass off a double-team and drove the lane for the tying layup, and then the senior gave the Eagles a 75-74 lead when he converted the free throw after being fouled on the shot that tied the game.
But, with :11 seconds on the clock, Houston drove down the court, and Truscott collected a pass underneath and scored what proved to be the winning basket.
Three Golden Eagles shared high scoring honors with 15 points each. David Haywood, Greg Johnson and Jasper Johnson finished with 15 apiece. Jasper Johnson also pulled down a team-best nine rebounds.
The Golden Eagles held a 12-point lead, 20-8, at the 12:29 mark in the first half, using a 13-0 run in 4:46. The Cougars countered with a 21-8 run in the final nine minutes of the period and went into halftime up 37-35.
Houston shot 50 percent from the field in the opening session, while Southern Miss recorded a 45.2 field goal percentage. Owen and Hensley led the Cougars? late surge, each collecting nine points in the first half.
Jasper Johnson recorded the first-half high of 11 points for the Golden Eagles. The redshirt freshman came off the bench to shoot 5-of-11 from the field and collect four rebounds.
While Head Coach James Green was not happy with the loss, Athletic Director Richard Giannini called the first Coast game since 1994 a success. "Our Gulf Coast fans came out in large numbers today to support this game," he said. "This gives us a solid foundation to build on for future games here on the Coast."
Green gave the visiting Cougars credit for their determined play. "We played well for part of the first half," Green said. "We didn't play as well for much of the second half, but give our players credit, they hung in there and got us back to a point where we had a shot at winning the game.
"Also give Houston a lot of credit. They played with great determination, and did what they had to do to win."
Southern Miss tries to end its three-game losing streak when Louisville visits Green Coliseum for a Wednesday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m., game.
