South Alabama Coach Richie Riley discusses their 78-61 upset victory over top seed Southern Miss in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Quarterfinals Saturday, Mar. 4, 2023. (Aimee Cronan/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)
by Hunter Dawkins, Publisher/Owner – thegazebogazette@gmail.com
South Alabama (18-15) scored 52 points in the second half on their way to defeating the top-seeded Southern Miss Golden Eagles (25-7) in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship at the Pensacola Bay Center, 78-61.
South Alabama Forward Owen White led the Jags with 23 points, a new season-high. Followed by South Alabama Guard Isaiah Moore added 17 points and seven assists with only two turnovers, and Greg Parham II also had 17 points off the bench, going 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
Southern Miss Forward Denijay Harris put up 18 points and 12 rebounds to record his second-straight double-double, while going 7-of-12 from the field. The Mississippi product had eight points and eight rebounds at halftime to help Southern Miss take a one-point lead into the locker room.
USM Senior Forward Felipe Haase joined Harris with eight points at the break before going on to finish the game with 18. Harris put the Golden Eagles up four early in the second half after intercepting a Jaguar pass and streaking down the court for any easy dunk, but that lead didn’t last long.
South Alabama ripped off a 9-0 run to take a five-point advantage. The eighth-seeded Jaguars maintained that lead for the next four minutes until a Harris jumper tied the game. Picayune point guard Mo Arnold then six-straight points to swing the lead back in Southern Miss’ favor.
However, White answered to give South Alabama the lead for good. The Jaguars went on a 20-2 run to make it an 18-point deficit for Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles could never answer the run and ultimately saw their postseason hopes slip away.
Southern Miss Guard Austin Crowley added 13 points for Southern Miss and DeAndre Pinckney pulled down nine rebounds. Arnold finished with eight points after being inserted back into the starting lineup today.
“We just found a way to beat a really good team. You don’t go through this league and win the regular season without being a really good team,” said USA Coach Richie Riley. “Jay [Ladner] has done an incredible job with them. They have really good players. Today, especially in the second half, we were able to find a way to win. That shows how much growth our guys have made throughout the season. They continue to get better, continue to fight, and it showed in the second half. It took a great effort to beat them.
Southern Miss shot 37.3 percent from the floor for the game and went 4-of-17 from deep. Crowley and Haase each had two three-pointers.
The Golden Eagles earned an automatic berth to the National Invitational Tournament after winning the Sun Belt regular season title last week. They will await their fate on March 12 after the selection show.
