TROY, Ala. – Southern Miss (9-12, 4-5 Sun Belt) men’s basketball ended its four-game road swing with a 70-61 loss at Troy (13-7, 5-4 Sun Belt) on Monday night. Denijay Harris kept pace with his offensive numbers as he led the Golden Eagles with 21 points.
After being down 27 in the second half, the Golden Eagles ended the game on a 20-4 run. The only Trojan points in the seven-minute stretch were a pair of Jackson Fields’ dunks. John Wade III scored all seven of his points over the final three minutes of the game and Neftali Alvarez added seven points himself.
Nine different Golden Eagles scored for the second consecutive game and freshman Christian Reid finished one shy of his career high with five points. Cobie Montgomery extended his made three-pointer streak to 17 consecutive games after draining a shot late in the ballgame.
The Southern Miss defense forced 17 turnovers on the Trojans, which was the most by an opponent since Milwaukee turned the ball over 17 times on Nov. 30. The difference in the game was the free throw numbers as the Trojans went to the line nine more times than the Golden Eagles and made eight more free throws.
Southern Miss will now make its long-waited return to Reed Green Coliseum on Wednesday night to host Arkansas State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday’s game is part of a mini homestand that includes a Saturday afternoon game against Georgia Southern before Southern Miss heads back on the road for four-straight games.
How it Happened
Southern Miss started the game with three-straight defensive stops in hopes of setting the tone for the opening half. However, four minutes into the game Troy went on a 12-2 run to pull ahead of the Golden Eagles.
Meanwhile, Andre Curbelo came off the bench and scored back-to-back buckets to give Southern Miss a spark in the scoring column. Denijay Harris joined in on the scoring and scored the next seven Golden Eagle points. The only issue was the Trojans sprinkled in a 9-0 run during that stretch to take a 16-point lead at one point.
Neftali Alvarez then found some offensive luck and scored seven points over the next three minutes to get the Golden Eagles back in the game. Though the Trojans still led by double digits, Southern Miss slowed down the pace of their scoring to slow down the game.
Harris finished the first half with 14 points as Troy went into the locker room with a 13-point advantage. Both teams shot 40.7 percent from the field, but Troy held a 14-4 edge at the free throw line and scored 12 of their 39 points from the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes.
The second half boiled down to a pair of 20-point runs by both teams. Southern Miss started the half by cutting the deficit to eight after DeAntoni Gordon and Harris combined for a quick run. Troy then erupted for a 21-7 run that blew the game wide open.
The Trojans built their lead to 27 with 8:20 left to play. Troy then failed to score another field goal for the next five minutes as Southern Miss went on a 10-0 run that included all five of Reid’s points. That’s when Fields landed his two massive dunks that interrupted the Golden Eagle run.
Fields’ baskets at the 3:46 and 3:22 mark were the final Troy points. The Golden Eagles went on another 10-0 run to make it a 20-4 run to end the game. Southern Miss was eying the comeback, but missed shots on open looks dashed any hopes it had.
Jose Benitez scored the final basket for the Golden Eagles as Troy held on for the nine-point win. The Trojans ended the game on a 3:22 scoring drought and missed its final four shot attempts
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