University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Basketball Wraps Up Calendar Year With Spring Hill On Friday
12/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2005
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss Golden Eagles continue with the sixth of seven-straight games at home Friday, hosting the Spring Hill Badgers in non-conference action at Reed Green Coliseum in the final game of the 2005 calendar year.
Tip-off for the contest is set for 7 p.m. Friday's game will be broadcast over the Southern Miss ISP Sports Network, with the "Voice of the Golden Eagles" John Cox and legendary coach M.K. Turk calling the action. Air time begins at 6:30 p.m., CT, with the Golden Eagle Courtside Show.
Southern Miss enters the game with a 5-7 overall record, winning its last game, 68-59, over West Florida on Tuesday. Spring Hill comes in with a record of 6-3 on the season, losing to McNeese State, 79-75, in its last outing.
Shaun Simpson currently leads the Golden Eagles with a scoring average of 9.3 points per night, followed closely by Jarekus Singleton (8.9 ppg) and Courtney Beasley (8.8). Beasley is coming off a career-high 20 points scored against West Florida. Mildon Ambres has the team lead in rebounds with 5.0 per game, while Kyle Lamonte is tops in assists with 39 on the year.
Spring Hill, under the direction of third-year Head Coach Robert Thompson, last played 11 days ago, traveling to Lake Charles, La., to take on McNeese State. The team opened the season with a win over Atlanta Christian College, before falling to South Alabama. The Badgers then reeled off a pair of wins over Trinity College and Pensacola Christian College, before dropping its second game of the season at Southeastern Louisiana. Following the loss, however, Spring Hill won three in a row, earning a second season victory over Pensacola Christian and then topping Methodist College and Wesley College.
The Badgers are led by a trio of players, including senior guard Krisner Green (6-1, 195), sophomore guard Noah Woolridge (6-6, 215) and sophomore center Barkley Falkner (6-8, 220). Green leads all players with 17.4 points per game, while Falkner and Woolridge follow with 13.4 and 13.1 points per game, respectively. Falkner has a team-best 12.3 rebounds per game, and Green leads the team with 25 assists this season.
The game marks the 61st meeting in the all-time series between the two schools, with Southern Miss holding a commanding 43-17 lead. Southern Miss won the first game of the series, 61-26, in 1938 and won three of the first four before the Badgers won four-straight and five of the next six. Beginning with the 1949-50 season, however, the Golden Eagles hold a 40-6 overall record, including winning the last 17 in the series. Spring Hill's last victory came in the 1962-63 season, when the Badgers won 106-99. The Golden Eagles are 7-0 in series games played at Reed Green Coliseum. The team won last season's meeting 76-60.
The game also is part of Southern Miss Athletics' "Eight is Great" ticket promotion and single-game bleacher tickets will be $5.
Following the game, Southern Miss wraps up its seven-game home stand against McNeese State on Monday, Jan. 2, at 7 p.m.
