SU defense conquers Braves

Southern proved that being brave is not everything; you need to have defense to back it up. And defense is exactly what the Jaguars had Saturday night in the F.G. Clark Activity Center when they defeated Alcorn State 72-55.
“The guys were playing with great effort,” said head coach Rob Spivery. “You could tell they were having a lot of fun. The first half, I thought was just outstanding. That’s the results of playing good defense.”
Leading the Jaguars in scoring was junior guard Deforrest Riley-Smith with 22 points and was 6 of 7 in 3-point shots.
“I’ve got to hit,” Riley-Smith said. “You have to knock the open looks down.”
Going into the second half, Southern started playing sluggish coming from a 40-18 lead, maintained their lead by out-rebounding the Braves with 30 defensive rebounds and capitalizing on 15 points from Alcorn State turnovers. The Jaguars had their biggest lead of the game — 24 points — with a lay-up by senior guard Alvin Mott with 1:16 remaining in the half, bringing the score to 74-50.
Southern shot its season’ best 28 for 50 in field goals and 11 of 19 from behind the arc. Along with Riley-Smith, three other players scored in double-figures. Mott had 14 points and was 2-for-3 in 3-pointers, while senior forward Peter Cipriano contributed 11 points and senior guard Chris Alexander 10.
“I thought we got a little lackadaisical and sloppy in the second half and we lost some focus,” Spivery said. “If we want to be a championship team, we cannot afford those kinds of lapses. Overall we played well, but we have to get better and win the games at home and on the road.”