Southern Miss
Tennessee State
Basketball Rallies To Defeat Tennessee State, 84-74, Monday
12/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2005
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF)
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Down by as many as 14 points in the first half and by five at the break, the Southern Miss men's basketball team rallied with 50 points in the second half to defeat visiting Tennessee State, 84-74, Monday at Reed Green Coliseum.
Jarekus Singleton scored a team-high 21 points, 15 of them in the second half, to lead the Golden Eagles (4-6) to their second win in a row for the first time this season. Tennessee State dropped to 2-3 overall.
Southern Miss was down by as many as 14 points in the first half, when the Tigers went up 30-16 on Kareem Grant's 3-pointer with 7:35 remaining in the first half. The Golden Eagles would steadily chip away at the lead, though, pulling to within two points, 34-32, following a Singleton 3-pointer with 2:19 on the clock. Tennessee State answered with five quick points and took a 39-34 advantage into the break.
In the second period, Southern Miss opened with a 6-0 run to take its second lead of the game, 40-39, after Courtney Beasley's fast-break layup. The Tigers battled back with a run of their own, using a 9-0 streak to take its biggest lead of the second half, 48-40, with 16:11 left to play.
The lead would grow no larger and the Golden Eagles regained the lead at the 10:47 mark on Jason Forte's jumper. The lead would change hands once more, and it wasn't until 5:13 remaining that Southern Miss regained the lead for good, on a 3-pointer by Beasley, to go up 66-64.
Southern Miss eventually built the lead to 10 points in the closing seconds, when a Forte free throw gave the Golden Eagles the final margin of 84-74.
Following Singleton, Beasley and Forte each had 18 points, while Mildon Ambres had a game-high 14 rebounds. Craig Craft led the team with three assists.
For Tennessee State, Bruce Price had a game-high 27 points, and Kareem Grant added 18. Clarence Matthews finished with a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Southern Miss out-shot the visitors 47.2 percent to 42.6 percent from the field, and also had the rebounding edge, 41-27.
The Golden Eagles continue their seven-game homestand with a Wednesday night game against Bradley. Tip-off for the contest is 7:05 p.m., and single-game tickets will be $4.
