Juniors Cortez Edwards, Dominic Magee and Tyree Griffin helped Southern Miss defeat cross-town rival William Carey, 75-58. The win gives the Golden Eagles their first four game-winning streak in the Doc Sadler era.
“We were not very good offensively in the first half,” said Head Coach Doc Sadler. “Today in the first half, we looked to get ourselves shots. We only had three assists and then had 12 in the second half on 18 field goals.”
The Golden Eagles struggled early in the first half, as they faced deficits as much as seven points at 24-17. William Carey never gave up the lead for the first 17 minutes of the first half. Early shooting trouble plagued Southern Miss as it was 1-for-10 from the three-point line and shot 29 percent from the field.
But the duo of Edwards and Magee put together a 14-4 run in the final minutes of the half to give Southern Miss a 28-26 lead.
“We weren’t playing with energy and they had energy because it was a big game for [William Carey],” Edwards said. “They set the tone but we matched it and then we exceeded it. We can compete with anybody. We just have to be focused.”
Edwards mainly kept Southern Miss afloat in the first half with his 14 points, six of which came through perfect shooting from the free throw line.
“We played much better in the second half,” Sadler said. “To even have the lead at halftime was amazing to me. I thought we should have been down 10 or 15 points. Give our guys credit, we were struggling but one of the things that continues to keep us in games is that we are not turning the ball over.”
In the second half, the Golden Eagles broke the game open at the 15:26 mark with an 11-2 run to put them ahead 49-38. This led to Southern Miss taking as much as a 19 point lead by the end of the night.
Edwards and Magee both finished with double-doubles which is the first time since 2011 that a pair of teammates posted double-doubles. Edwards finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds as well as shooting 10-for-12 from the free throw line. Magee finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Griffin finished with 14 points.
The Golden Eagles will go on the road to play No. 19 Florida State on Dec. 21 at 1 p.m. and then play Mississippi State in Jackson, MS on Dec. 23 at 6 p.m.
