Hattiesburg, Miss. – Coastal Carolina (9-19, 2-13 Sun Belt) spoiled Southern Miss’ (10-18, 6-10 Sun Belt) return to Reed Green Coliseum with an 87-78 win on Thursday night.
Not all was lost, though, as Denijay Harris worked his way into the Southern Miss record book. His 21-point, 11-rebound performance gave him his 15th double-double of the season and put him in the top 10 for double-doubles in a single season in program history.
Cobie Montgomery also provided a bright spot as he nailed four three-pointers and produced a three-pointer in 23 of the last 24 games – he had his streak snapped last game at ULM. The Golden Eagles also got 13 points from Neftali Alvarez.
Southern Miss hosts Louisiana on Saturday night as it celebrates senior night. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN+.
How it happened
Andre Curbelo got the scoring started for Southern Miss on a pull-up jumper just under two minutes into the ballgame. The Golden Eagles went into the first media timeout trailing by one after starting the game two-for-five from the floor.
The Golden Eagles and Chanticleers both went on a dry streak for the next four minutes as Coastal Carolina went nearly two minutes without any points, while Southern Miss failed to make a field goal over a three-and-a-half-minute span. However, three consecutive free throws from Neftali Alvarez gave the Golden Eagles a one-point lead at the second media timeout.
Southern Miss came out of the media timeout with a Cobie Montgomery triple and John Wade III jumper that put it ahead by four. The Chanticleers managed to keep the Golden Eagle lead at bay while they rallied with a 6-0 to take a four-point lead of their own with 7:21 left in the opening frame.
Coastal Carolina continued to extend its lead and ultimately took a 36-29 lead into halftime. The Golden Eagle went the final 2:37 without scoring a point after Denijay Harris scored six-straight to pull within one. Southern Miss, though, missed its final four shots of the half as it shot 32.1 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
Southern Miss opened the second half by forcing a backcourt violation in the first five seconds and then capitalized with a DeAntoni Gordon jumpshot. After Gordon’s basket, the Chanticleers responded with back-to-back Jordan Battle three-pointers. That put Coastal Carolina ahead by 12, then it pushed its lead to 13 at the first media timeout.
The likes of Jose Benitez, Brewer Carruth and Cobie Montgomery provided a spark off the bench, but for each play the trio made, Coastal Carolina had an answer. Southern Miss managed to make it an 11-point game with 11:09 left and had momentum on its side until a 9-2 run had the deficit at 18.
A pair of Harris free throws helped start a 14-3 run for Southern Miss that made it 72-60 with 6:29 to play. Coastal Carolina responded to every punch Southern Miss threw and the Golden Eagles eventually got within eight with 1:18 on the clock. That was as close as they would get, though.
Nuggets and notes
• Denijay Harris finished in double figures for the 24th time this season and for the 42nd time in his career after finishing with 21 points
• Harris has scored 10+ points in the last eight games
• Harris moved into the top 10 for double-doubles in a single season at Southern Miss as he now has 15
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