University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Basketball Wins Season Finale, 66-64, Over TCU
3/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Basketball Wins Season Finale, 66-64, Over TCU
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Saturday's season finale was senior day for a pair of Golden Eagles, and their teammates made sure that the two -- David Haywood and Dante Stiggers -- went out with a bang.
Southern Miss picked up a 66-64 win in front of 3,941 in attendance at Reed Green Coliseum, and the two seniors were a big a reason for the win.
Haywood posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Stiggers made the defensive play of the game as the Golden Eagles left the basketball court for the final time in 2005.
The win snapped a nine-game losing streak for Southern Miss, which finished the year 11-17 overall and 2-14 in Conference USA. TCU dropped to 18-12 overall and 8-8 in the conference.
The teams traded the lead for much of the second half, but with the game tied 64-64, and TCU in possession holding for a final shot, Stiggers forced a five-second call from Horned Frog Corey Santee.
"During the timeout I told him (Stiggers) to go over to the official and tell him you?re going to get a five-second call," Southern Miss Head Coach Larry Eustachy said. "That was the biggest play of the game."
The call gave Southern Miss the ball with 10 seconds left, and a chance to win the game in regulation. And the Golden Eagles, who had struggled for most the year making the best of opportunities, converted.
While the seniors provided a spark for Southern Miss it was a junior, Jason Forte, who put back a Rashaad Carruth miss for the game-winner with two seconds left. A desperation, 30-foot, heave from TCU?s Aaron Curtis fell harmlessly short as the buzzer sounded.
Forte, who played only 12 minutes, entered the game for the first time in the second half only after Golden Eagle forwards Jarekus Singleton (broken nose from a TCU elbow) and Mildon Ambres (fouled out) left the contest. Still, Southern Miss was able to win the rebounding battle, 40-39, despite playing for long stretches with five guards on the floor, and Haywood, at 6-foot-4, the tallest of the group.
"It almost amazing that you can get them to play that hard," said Eustachy, the former national coach of the year, who completed his first season with Southern Miss. "That?s the hardest we?ve played all season, and it was a game where we had nothing to play for. I give them credit for that. I made it very clear that this was a huge game for me. We set the tone Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and it carried over to today.
"Dante and David were the most determined out there," he added. "They could have laid down a long time ago, but they kept coming every day and practicing hard. They won?t leave here with a championship ring, but they are a big part of what we are building."
For Southern Miss, Haywood finished with 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Michael Ford led Southern Miss with 19 points, while Singleton added 10.
"It feels good (to finish the season with a win)," Haywood said. "Looking back on the season that was the best way we could have ended it. It was a close game, and we played hard for 40 minutes."
For TCU, Santee finished with a team-high 15 points and four assists, but it was Marcus Shropshire who added 14 and kept the Horned Frogs in it down the stretch with a trio of three-point shots.
Southern Miss led 56-47 with just over six minutes left, but Shropshire scored 11 points over a 2:30 span, and his final bullet, a laser from the top of the key, gave TCU the lead, 60-58, with 3:20 remaining in the game.
The Horned Frogs hung onto the lead until 32 seconds left, when a Carruth three-point shot knotted the score, 64-64, setting up the final sequence.
The Golden Eagles led 33-29 at the half, as TCU missed 15 of its first 18 from the floor and shot only 32 percent (10-of-31) in the opening 20 minutes. The Horned Frogs shot 36 percent for the game (21-of-59). Southern Miss made 40 percent of its field goal attempts (23-of-57), converting 50 percent in the first half (12-of-24).
Southern Miss made 11-of-15 free throws (73 percent), while the Horned Frogs were able to convert only 14-of-22 (64 percent).
