Jaguars win in blowout

The Southern University Men’s basketball team began the second half of Southwestern Athletic Conference play on Saturday night against Grambling State and defeated the Tigers 76-43.
The Jaguars (5-17, 4-6 SWAC) returned home to the friendly confines of the F.G. Clark Activity Center and snapped their three game losing streak, which began on January 20 against Alabama State.
Grambling (8-9, 6-4) defeated the Jaguars 67-70 on January 6 at Grambling, but has had trouble winning at Southern in recent years.
The Tigers have not won in Baton Rouge since 1997, and are 0-11, including two SWAC Tournament losses at the Clark Center.
In the win, senior forward Deforrest Riley-Smith led the way with 23 points, including five 3-pointers. Guard Chris Davis added 15 points and four assists, while forward Joseph Jack had 10 points and eight rebounds and freshman forward Douglass Scott six points, a season high 13 rebounds and three assists.
“Tonight we didn’t get off to a great start in the first five minutes, but we hung in and executed on offense quite well to end the first half,” said head coach Rob Spivery. “But once we started doing what we wanted to do, we got some transition baskets that opened up our offense.”
Entering the game, the Jaguars’ plan seemed to be as simple as ever. Contain Grambling point guard Andre Ratliff who had totaled 63 points in the last two games.
“Our goal in the game tonight was to contain their point guard Ratliff,” Spivery said. “In the first half he was pretty much their whole offense, but once we settled into the game we did a great job on both ends.”
Ratliff finished the game with 20 points and five assists, but had only three points in the second half.
In the blowout victory, the Jaguars shined in front of the largest crowd (3,154) the Clark Center has hosted this year.
“It was good to see the number of people out tonight, to watch us play,” Spivery said. “I thought we exerted a lot of effort and played some exciting basketball, so hopefully the fans will be back on Monday night against Jackson State.”
The Jaguars next home game will be versus the Tigers of Jackson State on Monday, February . The Tigers posses the nation’s leading scorer in Trey Johnson.
Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.