University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Earn Spot In C-USA Tournament
3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eagles Earn Spot In C-USA Tournament
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Southern Mississippi had three players in double figures, led by Charles Gaines and Jasper Johnson with 16 points each, as the Golden Eagles defeated South Florida 70-62, in Conference USA action here on Saturday.
With the victory, Southern Miss assured itself of a spot in the March 12-15 C-USA Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky. Pairings will be announced next weekend, following the conclusion of the regular season.
In pregame "Senior Day" ceremonies, the Golden Eagles honored the team's only senior, guard Mario Myles, who, fittingly, was playing in his 100th game as a Golden Eagle.
In addition to his 16 points, Gaines also had 11 rebounds to record his 13th double-double of the season. Greg Johnson added 13 to lead the Golden Eagles (12-14, 5-10) to the win. Reggie Kohn put up 21 points for the Bulls (13-12, 6-8) and Will McDonald added 19.
?I thought our guys played great today,? Southern Miss Head Coach James Green said. ?We made some plays in the game. We did have too many turnovers, but we came up with big rebounds and scored when we needed to.?
With the score tied at 44 with 8:05 remaining, Southern Miss used a 13-3 run to take a 57-47 lead with 5:04 left. The Golden Eagles? David Haywood connected on three straight 3-pointers in the span.
But the Bulls battled back to eventually cut the lead to three at 65-62 on Kohn?s 3-pointer with :07 remaining. That would be the closest USF would get, though, as the Golden Eagles scored the next five points ? three free throws by Greg Johnson and a dunk by Gaines ? to end the game.
?We missed a lot of free throws today, but we still had chances,? South Florida Head Coach Seth Greenberg said. ?We were in position to win but we just weren?t tough enough in the end. You have to be tough to win these games.?
Southern Miss fought back from a nine-point deficit to take a one-point lead at the half. Jasper Johnson had 13 of his 16 points in the first period.
Southern Miss will end the regular season March 8, with a 7 p.m., game at Tulane.
