SU Men bounce back, roll pass MVSU

Amidst rampant turmoil currently surrounding the athletics department pertaining to stipulations in which all teams will be banned from postseason play if the necessary documents are not submitted by the deadline and approved by the NCAA., character is built.  The Southern University men’s basketball team showed its mettle Monday night in the F.G. Clark Activity Center, defeating the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils 83-74. 
After suffering their first home conference loss in 16 games on Saturday to Arkansas-Pine Bluff 64-58 in a rather sluggish performance, the Jaguars gathered their composure and played with high energy against MVSU (8-18, 4-9), advancing to 15-11 overall and 11-2 in Southwestern Athletic Conference competition.
“I thought it was time for some mental work (prior to practice) and I challenged them a little bit, they showed basketball character. That was a team that wasn’t going to give us anything, they didn’t lay down and was going to fight us to the end,” SU coach Roman Banks said.
 Senior guard Malcolm Miller finished with a game-high 27 points, efficiently shooting 10-of-14 from the field, while junior forward Calvin Godfrey contributed 17 points and 13 rebounds,  guard Yondarius Johnson adding 11 points for the night.
The Jaguars displayed their second unit’s depth and versatility, after losing forward Damien Goodwin in the first half due to a head injury he acquired fighting for a loose ball, by getting quality minutes from another backup forward, Bryce Clark. 
“We’ve got bodies. We have people who come in, play defense and rotate.
After a while I think we wore them out, and they didn’t have an answer for all the bodies we had. Bryce came in and worked hard and did what he’s supposed to do, rebound and score when he gets the ball around the rim,” said Goodwin. 
In 11 minutes of play, Clark produced 9 points and 4 rebounds.
Unlike Saturday’s contest, Southern led throughout the entire first half and held a 37-29 advantage at halftime.
After Miller knocked down two free throws (MVSU disciplined for an illegal substitution technical foul) to begin the second-half, SU increased their lead to 10 points, and then came the Delta Devils storming back.
With 16:35 remaining in the half, MVSU took its first lead of the game 45-43, after a steal/layup sequence by Jordan Washington.  During that scoring run, they only missed once, making seven of their first eight attempts.
Trailing by 8 with just over 13 minutes to go and cognizant of that first conference loss to MVSU last month in Mississippi, Godfrey swung the momentum by igniting the SU offense on a three-point play opportunity.  Combined with five points from Bryce Clark, the Jaguars tied the game  at 57,  with eight and a half minutes left.
“We were quite upset that we let that one slip away, so we wanted to play as hard as we could from the beginning to the end,” SU forward Calvin Godfrey said.
The Delta Devils were never able to get back within striking distance, as Malcolm Miller took over down the stretch with an array of 3-point baskets, layups, and free throws en route to SU’s largest lead of the night, 70-60 with just under 4 minutes to play.
Coach Banks stressed the importance of playing with increased energy after he felt his team played uninspired this past Saturday.  His players responded to those sentiments vigorously, jumping out to a 17-5 lead to start the game.
“We knew we had to get off to a good start because these guys are sneaky and they can take off on you. Coach really pumped us up. He told us it was going to be war for us and we were pumped and excited to get out there. We knew we had to play solid from the beginning,” Malcolm Miller vehemently stated.
The Southern-Mississippi Valley State contest was broadcasted by ESPNU.  Up next for the Jaguars is a road matchup against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs in Normal, Alabama on Saturday.