University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Mississippi College
Southern Miss Defeats Mississippi College, 77-68, in Exhibition Play
11/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to 42-6 all-time in exhibition play, and have won the last 17 straight.
Davon Hayes led all scorers with 19 points, while adding five rebounds. Norville Carey had 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks and Kevin Holland added 11 points and five assists.
The game was tied at 56 with 6:53 to play. Holland hit a three-pointer and Rasham Suarez converted a three-point play. Stacey Mack hit a jumper, but Eddie Davis drained a three, pushing Southern Miss' lead to 65-58 with 5:17 to play.
However, Mississippi College roared back. Mack made a jumper, followed by a pair of three's from Jay Case and Jaron Edwards to give MC a 66-65 lead with 3:28 remaining in the game.
But, a pair of free throws from Holland and Carey propelled the Golden Eagles to victory.
Southern Miss started the game cold. The team's traded baskets before the Choctaws scored five straight points to take a 7-0 lead. But, Hayes came into the game for the first time 4:40 into the game and immediately went on a 10-0 run by himself, including hitting two straight threes, to give Southern Miss a 12-7 lead.
Tory Rice hit one-of-two free throws, followed by a jumper to cut the lead to 12-10, but Keljin Blevins hit pushed the lead back to five with a three. Edwards hit a jumper, but a three-point play by Blevins followed by a Holland jumper game Southern Miss its largest lead of the first half, 20-12, with 8:59 to play.
After the teams traded baskets, Case hit a three-pointer. The teams again traded baskets, and after Shadell Millinghaus hit one-of-two free throws, Johnny Rucker drained a three to pull MC to within 25-22 with 5:12 to play in the half.
Hayes made a pair from the free throw line, and after a jumper by Case, Hayes hit a three. Michael O'Donnell then hit one-of-two from the charity stripe to push the lead back to seven with 3:43 remaining.
The teams then traded five-point spurts. Tristan Moore hit a jumper, followed by a free throw from Carey. But, Giancarlo Santiago's jumper with six seconds remaining sent Southern Miss up just 37-33 at the half.
"We had a lot of players playing in positions that they're not playing in," said Southern Miss head coach Doc Sadler. "Therefore, we turned the basketball over way too much. We had a number of guys who played more minutes than they normally would. I thought our effort was just okay, and that is something that we have to bring, and I think we will. "
The Golden Eagles shot 51.1-percent (24-of-47) from the floor, including 7-of-18 (38.8%) from three. They also connected on 22-of-26 (84.6%) free throw attempts. Mississippi College was 24-of-57 (42.1%) from the field, and shot 35.3-percent (6-of-17) from three. Southern Miss won the rebounding battle, 38-to-24.
Southern Miss opens the 2014-15 regular season next Friday, November 14, when it hosts crosstown foe William Carey. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
