Southern Illinois University
4-6
Southern Mississippi
3-7
Southern Miss uses late surge to beat SIU, 72-69
12/07/2019 | 4:18:00 | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - In a game of runs, the Southern Miss men's basketball team made the last one. A 5-0 spurt to close the game gave the Golden Eagles a 72-69 win over the SIU men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon at Rose Green Coliseum.Â
SIU (4-6) looked like it might run away with the game early on. The Salukis started the game 5-for-6 from the 3-point line -- including a perfect 4-for-4 from star freshman Marcus Domask -- to take a 24-7 lead. But Southern Miss (3-7) immediately answered with a 14-0 run and even took a first-half lead. But SIU closed the half on a 15-6 run to take a 42-34 lead into halftime.
"I thought we came out and started really well," SIU head coach Bryan Mullins said. "Guys were locked in and following the game plan. They made the extra pass.We got good shots. In the middle of the first half, we made too many turnovers and let them get back into the game. To start the second half, we were up eight and they came out with a 6-0 or 8-0 run. That set the tone for the second half. We have to do a better job coming out of halves."
Southern Miss became the first team this season to score easily against SIU's stout defense, which came into the night allowing opponents to shoot just 40%. None of SIU's first nine opponents had shot better than 50% from the floor, but the Golden Eagles shot 57.4% on Saturday in their home gym. After SIU's 24-7 lead, Southern Miss shot 24-for-34 (71%) in the game's final 30 minutes. During one 14-minute stretch, the Golden Eagles went 15-for-16 from the floor (94%). Most of the looks were layups, and USM won the point-in-the-paint battle 40-to-24.Â
"We have to do a better job of competing on every single possession," Mullins said. "That's the thing with these guys, especially with so many guys who don't have Division I experience: how important every possession is in college basketball. You give away a couple here. Now, they have their heads up; they make a couple threes, and it changed the game."
Harwin Francois provided a spark for SIU, pouring in 10 of his career-best 14 points in the first half. Senior guard Eric McGill added a balanced stat line with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Marcus Domask led SIU with 17 points.
"Harwin gives us a good lift," Mullins said. "He played well last game, and today he made some big shots in the first half. He's going to get better and better. He works really hard."
Southern Miss had a 10-point lead with 4:30 remaining, and SIU made a remarkable comeback to nearly steal the game. Trent Brown and Ronnie Suggs Jr. sparked the run with a pair of 3-pointers, and McGill calmly drew a foul on a 3-pointer with the shot clock running down and made all three free throws. Francois tied the game and then hit a pair of free throws to give SIU a 69-67 lead in the game's final 90 seconds.Â
But SIU then committed three-straight turnovers -- the final three of a season-high 18 turnovers in the game -- and Southern Miss hit five free throws down the stretch to take a 72-69 lead. Domask got a good look at a would-be game-tying 3-pointer at the final horn, but it was off the mark.
"If we don't take something from it, it's a lost opportunity," Mullins said of the loss. "We have to learn from this game. It's a game that if we play the right way, we had a chance to win. Road games are tough; that was our thought of the day yesterday: the hardest thing to do in college basketball is to win on the road. If we can compete better on every single possession, we could have pulled away with this one."
Â
