OXFORD — Cedrick Bowen’s dunk with 0.1 seconds left in overtime lifted Charleston Southern to a 66-65 victory against Mississippi in the season opener for both teams.
Bowen, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, followed a miss on a driving layup attempt by Saah Nimley. After a replay review, Bowen’s athletic, two-handed dunk was ruled good. Ole Miss had its inbounds pass intercepted at the buzzer.
“We’re all very disappointed,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “It’s the first game of a long season. For us to be as inefficient as we were throughout the course of the game, we were very fortunate to be in the game.”
Arlon Harper led the Buccaneers with 17 points, while Will Saunders and Bowen had 12 apiece. Charleston Southern missed a potential game-winning 3-point shot in regulation, and led 29-17 at halftime.
Martavious Newby and M.J. Rhett had 14 and 11 points, respectively, for the Rebels. Ole Miss struggled offensively, shooting 19 of 63 (30.2 percent) from the field and led only once after the opening three minutes, on a 3-point shot by LaDarius White, 65-64 with 59 seconds left in overtime.
It was only the second win by Charleston Southern over a power conference team. The Buccaneers defeated South Carolina 85-81 in December, 1996. The Buccaneers, who were picked fifth in the Big South Conference preseason poll, trailed only once after the opening three minutes of play.
Charleston Southern was 22 of 67 (32.8 percent) from the field and struggled from the free throw line, hitting 14 of 27.
However, the Buccaneers compensated by forcing 17 turnovers, mostly in the first half while building a double-digit lead.
The Buccaneers won the rebounding battle, 54-50, including 10 apiece from Aaron Wheeler and Nimley. Ole Miss had seven rebounds apiece from Dwight Coleby and Newby.
“Rebounding continues to be a huge nemesis for us,” Kennedy said. “Rebounding was our undoing, as it should have been. They played well enough to win the game.”
Ole Miss converted 19 of 63 (30.2 percent) shots, and went more than 8 minutes without a field goal in the first half. The Rebels had a first half stretch of 11 consecutive misses from the field, compounded by eight turnovers.
Despite the struggles, Ole Miss forced overtime on a twisting, scoop shot layup by Stefan Moody with 15 seconds left. In overtime, the Rebels led on White’s only basket of the second half with 59 seconds left to set up Bowen’s game-winning dunk.
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