Scoreboard

Golden Eagles outlast Aggies in semis

UAA Media Relations

Golden Eagles outlast Aggies in semis

ANCHORAGE (Nov. 25) – LaShay Page scored 22 points to lead a huge second-half surge Friday as Southern Mississippi rallied for a 80-72 victory over New Mexico State in the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout semifinals at Sullivan Arena.

With the victory, USM (4-1) advances to Saturday's 8 p.m. title game against Murray State. Both teams will be playing for their first Shootout championship gold pan.

NMSU (4-1) suffered its first loss of the season despite 19 points and five assists from guard Christian Kabongo. It was also the first loss in five all-time Shootout games for the Aggies, despite Kabongo setting a tournament record with 15-of-15 free-throw shooting.

NMSU led throughout the first half but USM never let its deficit grow larger than six and trailed just 37-33 at halftime. Page, a 6-2 junior guard, then got hot, hitting his first five shots after the break to help the Golden Eagles surge ahead.

Guard Neil Watson, who scored eight of his 12 points on perfect free-throw shooting, gave USM its first lead at 45-44 on a layup at the 14:41 mark of the second half. After a pair of free throws by Kabongo, USM's Cedric Jenkins answered with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to give his team the advantage for good.

The Golden Eagles built their lead up to 71-61 on a layup by Angelo Johnson with 4 minutes remaining, then hung on despite major foul trouble after putting their opponents in a free-throw bonus situation just four minutes into the second half. Of USM's eight-man rotation, two players fouled out, three finished with four fouls and two more players had three.

One night after tying the record for free throws made in a game with 35, NMSU shot 30 of 44 at the line against USM. The physical Aggies now stand just 17 charities shy of tying the Shootout record for free throws made in tournament (82 by UCLA, 1990) with tomorrow's 5:30 p.m. third-place game against San Francisco still on the horizon.

Page was the hero of the night, however, shooting 9 of 12 from the field, including a 6-of-6 effort from inside the arc. Guard Maurice Bolden added 17 points and reserve forward Jonathan Mills had nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds as USM won the battle of the boards, 38-26.

NMSU also got double-figure scoring from forwards Wendell McKines (17 pts, 5 rebs) and Tyrone Watson (10 pts, 4 rebs).

NOTES: The previous record for individual free-throw percentage was 12-for-12 held by Vanderbilt's Phil Cox (1982 vs Clemson) and DePaul's Bobby Simmons (2000 vs Syracuse) … Thursday's semifinals were the 400th and 401st games in the history of the Shootout; college basketball's oldest in-season tournament is celebrating its 34th edition in 2011.
Print Friendly Version