Crowley's Career Night Leads Southern Miss Past Liberty

Friday, November 18

Lynchburg, VA

6 PM

Southern Miss

4-0,0-0Sun Belt

Liberty

2-2,0-0ASUN

Southern Miss.

Liberty

Crowley's Career Night Leads Southern Miss Past Liberty

11/18/2022 10:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Wow. That's all that is needed to describe Southern Miss' 76-72 win over Liberty on Friday night at Liberty Arena. The win in Lynchburg, Va. gave the Golden Eagles (4-0, 0-0 SBC) their first 4-0 start since the 2010-11 season.

CAREER HIGH 21 POINTS 🎯@TheRealAC5 | #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/9BrudXMvLP
— Southern Miss MBB (@SouthernMissMBB) November 19, 2022

It was a tale of two halves that ultimately saw Southern Miss escape with the opening round win of the Cancun Challenge. The Golden Eagles jumped to a 14-2 lead behind Austin Crowley's eight points in the opening minutes of the game. Crowley would go on to score a career-high 25 points.

The lead extended to 14 after Nico Aguirre came off the bench and knocked down a shot from the elbow. It then ultimately grew to 17 when Felipe Haase drained a 3-pointer and flashed his trademarked 'Pow Pow' signal.

A Crowley jumper put the Golden Eagles up 39-22 going into the break. That didn't mean anything for a Liberty team playing in front of a near capacity crowd. Southern Miss shot 59 percent from the floor in the first half and kept the hot hand going out of the locker room.

DeAndre Pinckney knocked down a corner three in front of the Southern Miss bench to make it a 20-point lead in favor of the Black and Gold. The Carol City, Fla. native scored again to give the Golden Eagles a 26-point lead, their biggest of the night.

But before they could even blink, a 26-0 Flames run evaporated the commanding advantage. Darius McGhee scored 11 of his game-high 29 points during that run to tie the game at 52-52 with 9:23 left in the game.

With Liberty Arena rocking at this point, Haase and Marcelo Perez combined to score five points and swing momentum back to Southern Miss. Liberty answered again and so did the Golden Eagles.

Liberty took its second lead of the game – first since scoring the first points – with 5:23 left on the game clock. Again, Crowley and Southern Miss answered. Crowley knocked down two big free throws and then Denijay Harris did the same to make it a two-point Golden Eagle advantage.

Haase hit another massive triple with three minutes left on the clock that gave Southern Miss the lead for good. Liberty would get within one, but six made free throws down the stretch proved to be the difference maker.

Southern Miss went 16-of-21 from the charity stripe and forced 16 turnovers against a team that was averaging 11 per game heading into Friday night. The Golden Eagles forced at least 10 turnovers for the fourth time this season.

Haase finished with 23 points and accounted for three of Southern Miss' eight 3-pointers. Crowley had four himself, while Pinckney had the other. Harris and Pinckney each provided eight points off the bench. Donovan Ivory and Perez added five each which includes Ivory's clutch free throws down the final stretch.

Ultimately, Southern Miss held the lead for nearly 33 minutes of the game, while Liberty held it for a mere 59 seconds. The Golden Eagles join Louisiana and James Madison as the only 4-0 teams in the Sun Belt.

Up Next
Southern Miss will take on Winthrop at the Cancun Challenge on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. CST.