University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Fall Behind Early, End Season Against Saint Louis
3/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eagles Fall Behind Early, End Season Against Saint Louis
Louisville, Ky. - Southern Miss fell behind Saint Louis 23-3 early in the first half, and though the Golden Eagles fought back to within two points, at 48-46, with 7:24 left in the game, they could not get in front of the Billikens and concluded the USM season with a 69-56 loss in the second round of the Conference USA Tournament here Thursday night.
Saint Louis scored early and often and never trailed in the game. First, it was 3-0, then 5-0, 10-1, and eventually 23-3 before the Golden Eagles finally snapped a 6:11 scoring drought that lasted from the 17:24 mark to the 11:13 mark. In that same period, Saint Louis scored 13 points.
Scoring their season lows in the first half in both baskets and points, the Eagles trailed 33-16 after 20 minutes.
But, just as quickly as Southern Miss fell behind in the first half, the Eagles just as quickly got back in the game in the first half. in the first 3:21 of the second half, Southern Miss outscored the Billikens 13-2 to pull to within six points, 35-29. At the 7:24 mark, Jasper Johnson's 3-pointer pulled Southern Miss even closer, to within two, at 48-46.
That would prove to be as close as Head Coach James Green's team would get though. The Eagles still trailed by only four points, 56-52, at the 4-minute mark, but a couple of Saint Louis free throws and a 3-pointer pushed that to nine points, and that deficit proved to be more than the Eagles could overcome.
Freshman Anthony Drejaj turned in a career high game, with 27 points, to lead all scorers. Marque Perry added 15 and Josh Foster 10. The Billikens shot .636 (14-22) in the first half and .581 (25-43) for the game.
Southern Miss shot .400 (22-55), and got 19 points, and nine rebounds, from leading scorer Charles Gaines. Jasper Johnson added 15. The Eagles again won the battle of the boards, 28-26, and hit 10-of-12 free throws. Gaines made all 12 of his free throws in the tournament and ended the season making 20 of his final 21 free throw attempts.
Southern Miss finished the season at 13-16, overall, and 5-11 in C-USA play. Saint Louis moves on to a Saturday semifinal game against UAB.
