University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Loyola (N.O.)
Golden Eagles Hold Off Loyola (N.O.), 78-67
2/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2011
Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format 
HATTIESBURG, MISS. - Southern Miss fought off a hard-charging Loyola (N.O.) squad, defeating the Wolfpack, 78-67, Tuesday night at Reed Green Coliseum.
Junior guard Maurice Bolden recorded his first double-double of the year, and fifth of his career, scoring 22 points and grabbing a season-high 13 rebounds. Senior forward Gary Flowers posted his second straight double-double and team-leading seventh of the season with 12 points and 14 boards. Flowers also scored his 1,000th career point, becoming the 35th Golden Eagle to achieve the feat.
Senior guard R.L. Horton contributed 15 points. Senior forward Josimar Ayarza and junior guard Angelo Johnson had nine points apiece, and sophomore guard LaShay Page added eight points.
The Golden Eagles (21-6) started off leading 11-4 over the first 3:29. However, Loyola (N.O.) went on an 11-2 run to take a 15-13 lead 3:12 later. But Southern Miss came right back, matching it with an 11-2 run of its own to take a 24-17 lead with 9:03 to play in the half.
Loyola pulled to within three points 38 seconds later, but the Black and Gold increased its lead to 11, 41-30, with 2:02 to play.
A three-pointer by Richard Kohnke and a layup by Ryan Brock made it a six-point game, by Horton's jumper with six seconds left sent Southern Miss into the break with a 43-35 advantage.
Brock opened the second half with a lay-up, but Southern Miss followed with a 17-5 run to take its biggest lead at 60-42 with 13:52 to play.
However, the Eagles went cold, as LUNO scored nine straight points to pull to within nine points. The teams traded baskets with Southern Miss taking a 68-58 lead with 5:58 remaining. However, a jumper by Brock and a trey by Kohnke made it a five-point game.
Two free throws by Page pushed the lead to 70-63, but a jumper by Corey Gray made it 70-65 with 4:03 to play. The Eagles, however, scored eight of the final 12 points for the victory.
Southern Miss shot 47.5-percent (29-of-61) from the floor. They connected on 5-of-10 (50.0%) three-pointers and were 71.4-percent (15-of-21) from the free throw line. Loyola (N.O.) hit 52.0-percent (26-of-50) from the field and was 7-of-17 (41.2-percent) from behind the arc. However, they were just 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. Southern Miss also outrebounded the Wolfpack, 40-to-21.
Loyola (N.O.) was led by Ryan Brock, who scored a game-high 28 points. Corey Gray chipped in 14, and Richard Kohnke added 12 points and five rebounds.
Southern Miss jumps back into conference play this Saturday, Feb. 26, when it heads to Orlando, Fla., to face UCF. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT from UCF Arena.
