Hattiesburg, Miss. – Southern Miss (10-20, 5-12 Sun Belt) lost a shootout to South Alabama (20-10, 12-5 Sun Belt) at Reed Green Coliseum on Thursday night. The Golden Eagles and Jaguars combined for 23 three-pointers in South Alabama’s 88-82 win.
Denijay Harris picked up his league leading 17th double-double of the season thanks to a 25-point, 11-rebound performance. The Golden Eagles got another 21 points from Cobie Montgomery, who caught fire from deep with five three-pointers.
South Alabama jumped on Southern Miss early en route to opening a 17-point lead in the first half. The lead held steady at 10 heading into halftime before the Golden Eagles came out of the break with adjustments made.
The Golden Eagles used a flurry of runs in the second half to cut it to a one-point game twice in the first 10 minutes. The first came on an Alfred Worrell Jr. three-pointer and second on a Montgomery free throw. South Alabama, though, got a Judah Brown three to fall to turn it into an 11-point game.
Trailing by 10 with 2:26 to play, Montgomery made a corner three-pointer to get the deficit into single digits. Neftali Alvarez drained a deep trey to cut it to six, then Worrell and Harris cut it to four with 20 seconds left. Harris’ dunk gave him the double-double off a missed three-pointer.
Southern Miss had a good opportunity after that thanks to a potential Alvarez steal. However, after reviewing it it was deemed Jaguar ball. That led to a pair of free throws for South Alabama to extend the lead to six with 15 seconds left. The Golden Eagles had a pair of shots fall short after that, resulting in the home loss.
Southern Miss shot 50 percent for the fifth time this season, while shooting 51.9 percent in the second half. Montgomery’s 21 points tied his career high, while Alvarez’s 10 assists were a career best.
All 13 Golden Eagles that were dressed out saw action and all but two scored. The Southern Miss bench accounted for 28 points to South Alabama’s 31.
The Golden Eagles now host Troy on Friday night in the regular season finale. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. and will follow the Lady Eagles’ 5 p.m. game.
Nuggets and Notes
– Southern Miss’ first points came from Denijay Harris
– Denijay Harris reached double figures for the 10th consecutive game after scoring 25 tonight. He has 26 double-digit performances this season and 44 in his career
– Harris scored 20 points for the eighth time this season and the ninth time in his career
– Harris is tied for the sixth-most double-doubles in a single season at Southern Miss with 17
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