5 days Ago By [email protected] (Charles Salzer)
Southern guard/forward Puoch "PJ" Dobuol (24) elevates for the dunk in the second half of the game against Ecclesia on Sunday, November 17, 2024 F.G. Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON Southern guard Michael Jacobs (10) finishes with the dunk against Ecclesia in the second half on Sunday, November 17, 2024 F.G. Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save After spending nearly the entire first two weeks of the season on the road, the Southern men's basketball team made the most of its first home game of the season on Sunday. Sparked by a tight defense that harassed visiting Ecclesia College all game, Southern cruised to a 131-42 at the F.G.
Clark Activity Center. Southern (1-3) was coming off a 70-68 loss at East Texas A&M, a game it had a chance to win with a last-possession 3-point shot. The Jaguars put away Sunday's game in the first half.
Ecclesia (0-5), which competes in the National Collegiate Christian Athletic Association, was averaging 20 turnovers per game. Southern forced the Royals into hitting that number in the first half alone. Although Southern played its entire bench and sat its starters for most of the second half, the Jaguars played their ball-hawking style of defense even after they led 59-12 at halftime.
It was a contributing factor as Ecclesia took only 45 shots, less than half of the 96 taken by Southern. "One of the things we do is we try to pick people up (defensively)," Southern coach Kevin Johnson said after Southern forced 33 total turnovers. "That's what we do.
I don't want to come out here and not work on the stuff that we do." All totaled, Southern had eight players score in double figures. P.
J. Doboul had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, as did A.J.
Barnes with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Jayce Depron also finished with 16 points. At the free throw line, Southern made 11 of 15.
It was a welcomed result for Johnson after the Jaguars made only 10 of 22 against East Texas A&M. Ecclesia started the game strong making its first two field goals. Justin Reaves' 3-pointer two minutes into the game gave the Royals their only lead of the game at 5-4.
From there, Southern's defense took over. Southern forced turnovers on seven of the Royals next eight possessions. That fueled a 20-0 run, one in which the Jaguars made 9 of 11 shots while the Royals went 0-for-5.
In the second half, Southern continued to increase its lead. The Jaguars hit 100 points with 9:49 left to play on an alley oop pass from Tidjiane Dioumassi to Doboul. Ecclesia was short-handed in the game with only six players available.
The Royals starters all played at least 35 minutes. Reaves was the top scorer with 14 points. "Southern is very athletic and we couldn't keep them off the boards," Ecclesia coach Cary Shelton said after Southern won the rebounding battle 59-27.
"I didn't expect to come in here with five players and have my guys play 38 and 39 minutes. They pressured us the whole game and I didn't expect that.".
