Complete Turnaround

In the 77-62 win that the Southern University men’s basketball team (8-16 overall, 5-10 Southwestern Athletic Conference) pounded on the University of West Alabama, the Jags immediately began attacking a Tigers defense that seemed to be playing in shock during the first half. The Jags offense was working for good shots, outscoring West Alabama 39-9 (which happened to be the score at the end of the first half) and the defense forced eight turnovers then gathered 13 defensive rebounds in the first half.
SU head coach Ben Jobe emphasized to his team that they had to play hard. Obviously that must have been the same speech that UWA head coach Rick Reedy preached to his players during halftime. In the second half of regulation UWA outscored SU 53-38, but that still was not enough to help them win the game.
“It was a good win and we needed one badly,” said Ben Jobe. “Losses earlier in the year were educational.”
Winning the game gave the Jags momentum for their next game.
“It helped the team,” said senior guard Victor Tarver, after scoring 20 points and 12 assists against the Tigers. “Just hope that the next time goes right for you and this time went right”.
However, the team was not just carried by one man. Sophomore forward Peter Cipriano helped with eight points and eight rebounds.
“I think we need to keep the chemistry because we still have a couple of games left in the SWAC.”
Last Saturday, Southern beat the Hornets of Alabama State 57-54. The Jags outscored them in the first half, but then slacked off in the second half. Hence, the Hornets (12-12 overall, 9-5 SWAC) sent the game into overtime, and the Jags pulled off another win.
In the game, SU made 19 field goals in 55 attempts and was 5-for-22 behind the arch. The difference for Southern was the free throws. Out of 19 shots attempted from behind the line, they only missed four.
West Alabama and Alabama State should have warned their neighbor Alabama A& M (12-11 overall, 10-4 SWAC) about the Jags. It must be something in their water, because when they came to Baton Rouge, Southern made a clean sweep. On Monday, Southern won 94-93 in overtime.
“It was a courageous victory, made a million mistakes, but did good things at the right time, Trayvean (Scott) played good defense,” said Jobe. “If it had not been for him it would have not been possible. Tim (Johnson) did an excellent job on offense. We hung in there and won the ball game.”
With less than three seconds left on the clock, sophomore guard Tim Johnson hit a three-point shot to send the game into overtime. Overall he scored a game-high 25 points.
Tarver contributed with six assist and five steals, while sophomore guard Trayvean Scott had nine assist eight points, and two steals.
The Southern defense led to 26 turnovers by Alabama A&M.
“We have to be tough in critical times. I can’t complain, we played a team that plays hard all the time,” said Tarver.
Southern will be playing the Braves of Alcorn State University Saturday and will be facing the defending SWAC champions with a vengeance. This is the first time in two seasons that the Jags have won two or more consecutive games and they are currently eighth in the conference standings just two games behind Grambling State.