Wednesday, March 5
Pensacola, Fla.
5 PM
Southern Miss
11-22,5-13Sun Belt
64
vs
78
(9) Georgia Southern
17-15,8-10Sun Belt
1
2
F
Southern Miss.
24
40
64
Ga. Southern
33
45
78
Southern Miss Suffers Season-Ending Loss to Georgia Southern
3/5/2025 7:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Southern Miss (11-22, 5-13 Sun Belt) had its season come to an end on Wednesday night as it lost 78-64 to Georgia Southern (17-15, 8-10 Sun Belt) at the Sun Belt Championships.
The Golden Eagles ended the season with Denijay Harris leading the team in scoring for the 15th time – he finished with 14 points after going 6-for-11 from the field. Harris ended his collegiate career with 956 points.
Georgia Southern shot 70 percent from the floor in the second half en route to shooting 52.5 percent for the game. Meanwhile, Southern Miss was held to a 38.1 percent shooting clip.
Christian Watson scored in double figures with 11 points after making a career-high three three-pointers. Alfred Worrell Jr. scored 12 points after going for a career-high 22 in the first round win against Coastal Carolina.
How it Happened
A day after scoring a career-high 22 points, Alfred Worrell Jr. started off with a bang as he gave Southern Miss a 5-2 lead with a three-pointer. The Golden Eagles shot 50 percent over the first five minutes of action, while Denijay Harris had a quick four points.
Georgia Southern took advantage of a Golden Eagle scoring drought that gave the Eagles an eight-point lead at the halfway mark of the first half. Southern Miss' scoring drought last 6 minutes after DeAntoni Gordon broke the dry spell with a pair of free throws to make it 17-11.
Jose Benitz gave Southern Miss its first field in nearly eight minutes as he forced a turnover and converted it on the other end. Then, Worrell Jr. stole a pass for a quick layup to trim the Eagles' lead to 19-15 with 6:36 left in the half.
Georgia Southern punched back to the quick momentum change with a Bradley Douglas dunk and Eugene Brown III three-pointer. The Eagles then took a nine-point lead into the break after Douglas drained a three-pointer with under a minute left in the half.
The Eagles opened the second half with a force as they went on a 12-2 run to pull ahead by 19 just over four minutes into the half. A Gordon jumper broke a four-minute scoreless streak and gave a quick burst of energy to the Southern Miss side, but Georgia Southern answered right back to silence the Golden Eagle faithful.
Southern Miss chipped it down to a 12-point game with a 7-0 run that saw Watson make a corner trey. The Golden Eagles then went through a three-minute scoring drought that led Georgia Southern open its lead back to 18.
Southern Miss cut it back to 13 after a string of defensive stops en route to a 7-2 run in under a minute – that made it 66-53 at the final media timeout. However, Georgia Southern ended the game making nine of its last 10 shots.
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters against Georgia Southern: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #7 Christian Watson, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #12 Neftali Alvarez, #13 Denijay Harris
- Southern Miss' first points were scored by Denijay Harris
- The first Golden Eagle off the bench was Alfred Worrell Jr. at the 17:03 mark of the first half
- Southern Miss moved to 1-3 at the Sun Belt Tournament
- Georgia Southern evened the season series at 1-1 after today's win
- Southern Miss finished the season with an 11-22 record
- Southern Miss held Georgia Southern to five three-pointers after the Eagles came in averaging 9.6 per contest
Player Notes
- DeAntoni Gordon made a season best six free throws on six attempts – his attempts were also a season high
- Jose Benitez tied his career high in steals with three. He also had three against Xavier (La.) last season
- Neftali Alvarez has a three-pointer in three of the last four games
- Denijay Harris reached double figures in scoring for the 28th time this season and for the 13th consecutive game
- Christian Watson drained a career-high three three-pointers
- Watson finished with 11 points to reach double figures for the 15th time this season
- Alfred Worrell Jr. scored 12 points on a pair of three-pointers. He finishes the Sun Belt Tournament with 34 points over two games
The Golden Eagles ended the season with Denijay Harris leading the team in scoring for the 15th time – he finished with 14 points after going 6-for-11 from the field. Harris ended his collegiate career with 956 points.
Georgia Southern shot 70 percent from the floor in the second half en route to shooting 52.5 percent for the game. Meanwhile, Southern Miss was held to a 38.1 percent shooting clip.
Christian Watson scored in double figures with 11 points after making a career-high three three-pointers. Alfred Worrell Jr. scored 12 points after going for a career-high 22 in the first round win against Coastal Carolina.
How it Happened
A day after scoring a career-high 22 points, Alfred Worrell Jr. started off with a bang as he gave Southern Miss a 5-2 lead with a three-pointer. The Golden Eagles shot 50 percent over the first five minutes of action, while Denijay Harris had a quick four points.
Georgia Southern took advantage of a Golden Eagle scoring drought that gave the Eagles an eight-point lead at the halfway mark of the first half. Southern Miss' scoring drought last 6 minutes after DeAntoni Gordon broke the dry spell with a pair of free throws to make it 17-11.
Jose Benitz gave Southern Miss its first field in nearly eight minutes as he forced a turnover and converted it on the other end. Then, Worrell Jr. stole a pass for a quick layup to trim the Eagles' lead to 19-15 with 6:36 left in the half.
Georgia Southern punched back to the quick momentum change with a Bradley Douglas dunk and Eugene Brown III three-pointer. The Eagles then took a nine-point lead into the break after Douglas drained a three-pointer with under a minute left in the half.
The Eagles opened the second half with a force as they went on a 12-2 run to pull ahead by 19 just over four minutes into the half. A Gordon jumper broke a four-minute scoreless streak and gave a quick burst of energy to the Southern Miss side, but Georgia Southern answered right back to silence the Golden Eagle faithful.
Southern Miss chipped it down to a 12-point game with a 7-0 run that saw Watson make a corner trey. The Golden Eagles then went through a three-minute scoring drought that led Georgia Southern open its lead back to 18.
Southern Miss cut it back to 13 after a string of defensive stops en route to a 7-2 run in under a minute – that made it 66-53 at the final media timeout. However, Georgia Southern ended the game making nine of its last 10 shots.
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters against Georgia Southern: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #7 Christian Watson, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #12 Neftali Alvarez, #13 Denijay Harris
- Southern Miss' first points were scored by Denijay Harris
- The first Golden Eagle off the bench was Alfred Worrell Jr. at the 17:03 mark of the first half
- Southern Miss moved to 1-3 at the Sun Belt Tournament
- Georgia Southern evened the season series at 1-1 after today's win
- Southern Miss finished the season with an 11-22 record
- Southern Miss held Georgia Southern to five three-pointers after the Eagles came in averaging 9.6 per contest
Player Notes
- DeAntoni Gordon made a season best six free throws on six attempts – his attempts were also a season high
- Jose Benitez tied his career high in steals with three. He also had three against Xavier (La.) last season
- Neftali Alvarez has a three-pointer in three of the last four games
- Denijay Harris reached double figures in scoring for the 28th time this season and for the 13th consecutive game
- Christian Watson drained a career-high three three-pointers
- Watson finished with 11 points to reach double figures for the 15th time this season
- Alfred Worrell Jr. scored 12 points on a pair of three-pointers. He finishes the Sun Belt Tournament with 34 points over two games
Team Stats
USM
GS
FG%
.381
.525
3FG%
.273
.263
FT%
.833
.692
RB
31
40
TO
15
16
STL
9
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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