University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Claim Winthrop Tournament Title
12/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Final Game Statistics
Eagles Claim Winthrop Tournament Title
Rock Hill, S.C. - Southern Miss used its best shooting game since early last season and rode that hot shooting to a solid 81-61 victory over Samford in the championship game of the Brothers Air/Head Shootout, hosted by Winthrop University.
The 4-1 Eagles beat Hampton in Friday night's tournament opener, and now will take a week off for final exams before taking their two-game win streak into a Dec. 13 game at Arkansas State.
Samford scored the first basket of the game and there were three early ties before Southern Miss took the lead for good at 9-6 on a David Haywood 3-point basket at the 13:31 mark in the opening half. The Golden Eagles led by as many as eight points in the first half and 41-35 at halftime, but Head Coach James Green's team opened the second half with a 17-1 run and a 58-38 lead midway through the second half.
Samford (2-2) cut its deficit to as few as 12 points, 67-55, just past the seven-minute mark, but the Golden Eagles used another spurt to quickly push the lead back to 19, and eventually won by 20, the largest margin of victory for Southern Miss this season.
"I thought we played a pair of solid games in this tournament," said Green. "We did a lot of things better than we have in the last couple of games, and we now get a week off to take care of finals and also to continue to work on some of the things we still need to improve on." In his Southern Miss tenure, Green-coached teams have won four in-season tournaments, and hold a 16-7 record in those events.
The Eagles also turned in their best shooting game of the season, hitting 35-of-63 for a .556 percentage, the best since an early-season game against South Alabama last season. Southern Miss made 5-of-6 from the free throw line, and 6-of-10 from 3-point range.
Southern Miss put five players in double figures, led by Jason Forte's 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting. David Haywood chipped in with 15, Charles Gaines added 14, Jasper Johnson 12 and Dante Stiggers 11. Southern Miss also easily won the rebounding battle, 34-18, again led by Gaines' seven. That rebounding today included a 15-4 edge in offensive rebounds.
Eddie Harper led Samford with 16 points, one of just two Bulldogs in double figures.
The five-player all-tournament team included Tyrone Walker of Winthrop, Devin Green of Hampton, Tyson Dorsey of Samford, and Stiggers and Gaines of Southern Miss. Gaines' 35-point, 20-rebound, two-game performance earned him the tournament MVP award.