University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Beat UWA, Head Into Regular Season
11/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Eagles Beat UWA, Head Into Regular Season
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss evened its exhibition record here Tuesday night with a solid 75-58 win against West Alabama, and the Golden Eagles now will have 10 days to hone their game before getting into the regular season, with a Nov. 21 home game against Alcorn State.
Southern Miss was a much improved team from the one that dropped a Nov. 5, 79-60 decision to Global Sports in the opening exhibition game for Head Coach James Green's team.
The visitors hung tough in the first half, outshooting the Eagles .379-to-.324, and trailed just 33-25 after 20 minutes, In fact, UWA was behind just four points, 25-21, with 3:01 left in the first half when Southern Miss outscored the visitors 9-4 to take a 33-25 lead into the locker room. Senior Charles Gaines led USM with 13 first half points, to go with 12 rebounds.
The Eagles' lead dwindled to as few as three points in the second half, but Southern Miss always seemed to find a way to reestablish a comfortable lead. Ahead 51-48 with 6:59 left in the game, Jasper Johnson went on a 77-second, nine-point scoring spree to push the Eagles safely ahead, at 60-49, at the 5:42 mark. That lead eventually grew to as many as 19 points, and the Eagles won by 17.
Gaines and Johnson finished the game with 18 points each and Gaines added to his first half double-double with three more second half rebounds to finish with 15. Jarekus Singleton added 10 points, Dante Stiggers eight and Jason Forte seven.
Cliff Mathis led the visitors with 14 points. Southern Miss won the rebounding battle, 44-34, and, while not shooting well from the floor, did shoot a respectable .774 (24-31) from the free throw line.
In addition to the regular-season opener against Alcorn, the Eagles also will host Texas Southern (Nov. 25), before hitting the road for a game at Murray State (Nov. 29), two games in the Dec. 5-6 tournament at Winthrop and a solo game at Arkansas State (Dec. 13), before finally returning home.
