Jags men’s hoops upset by Division II school

The Southern Jaguars basketball team suffered an upset at the hands of a Division II school: The University of West Alabama.
The Jags (0-2) shot poorly and played even worse in what was an ugly game in the Felton G. Clark Activity Center.
A crowd of only 350 people witnessed a poor shooting night from the Jags who shot only 31% (19-61) from the field and only 13.6% (3-22) from the three point line.
The Jags not only had trouble hitting their shots they struggled finding their shots.
“We missed leadership in Victor Tarver; he’s our only pure point guard on the team,” said Ben Jobe, Southern’s head coach.
Tarver is out with an ankle injury he re-injured during the season opener against LSU. He is expected back Saturday against Centenary. Senior G/F Deandre Bell is expected to be out until late January with a fracture in his left foot.
Poor shooting was the main reason the Jaguars scored only 3 points in the final 6:30 of the second half.
“We don’t really have a go-to man in the clutch. I don’t know if it’s a lack of confidence or a lack of ability,” said Jobe.
They Jags also missed an inside presence as they were out-rebounded for the second game in a row.
Southern, who is known for its “run-and-gun” offense, was forced into a slow pace game by the Tigers, who seemed to confuse the young team at times.
“Alabama did a good job of executing their offense,” said Jobe.
Leading the Jaguars in scoring was Brian Johnson and Tim Johnson with 11 points apiece. Nicholas Egland also contributed 10 points and 7 rebounds.
“We need to get Brian rolling, we need him and Tim scoring but they need help,” said Jobe.
Steven Sims scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in leading the Tigers to victory.
The Jags are also playing without Peter Cipriano who was expected to give them a lift on the inside but has yet to be cleared by the NCAA clearinghouse. Turnovers and transition defense continued to hurt the Jags as in previous games as they turned the ball over 15 times and allowed 14 points off turnovers.
The Jags next embark on a six game road trip beginning with Centenary and ending December 17