Tigers pull away in second half
Texas Southern got more than it wanted from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which came into Thursday’s SWAC contest with only three wins in 21 games.
But the Golden Lions came to play and made a game of it. Fortunately for the Tigers, they turned it on down the stretch to come away victorious. Erasing a nine-point firsthalf deficit and clinging to a one-point lead deep into the game, TSU prevailed 79-65 at the H&PE Arena.
“We were fortunate to get clicking in the second half,” Tigers coach Johnny Jones said of his team, which shot 72.7 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes. “We got off to a good start, and in the middle of the (first half ), the team we were playing became more confident and made shots and stayed in the game.”
Karl Nicholas collected 18 points and 10 rebounds from the post to propel the Tigers. Justin Hopkins had an impactful 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting for the Tigers, who also received 23 points from Michael Weathers.
It wasn’t until the final seven minutes that TSU (9-8, 6-3) distanced itself from UAPB, which dropped its 11th straight game, and took away any suspense.
The Tigers led 52-51 before a layup by Nicholas upped the lead to 54-51 with 9:07 left. Following another basket by UAPB to get within 54-53, a 3-pointer by Hopkins made it 57-53 at the 7:12 mark. From there, the Tigers took command and won going away.
“In the second half, we were better defensively,” Jones said. “Our press helped us in creating more energy and turnovers. That allowed us to get the lead and put us in position to pull away.”
Dequan Morris posted a team-high 15 points for UAPB (3-19, 2-11), which led 34-32 at halftime. Nicholas Jones added 13 points, and Shaun Doss chipped in 12.
Both teams shot well from the field throughout the 40 minutes. TSU shot 56.6 percent (30 of 53) and outrebounded the Golden Lions 29-21. The Tigers were 8 of 17 on 3-pointers. The Golden Lions were successful on 23 of 44 shots (52.3 percent) and 7 of 15 on3s.
“We’re capable of, in terms of shooting, around 50 percent,” Jones said. “We’ve been holding our opponents to 39 percent. Tonight, we allowed them to shoot over 50. That’s uncharacteristic of how we play.”
In the beginning, TSU started off strong like the Tigers were expected to against a heavy underdog. The Tigers scored the first five points and led 12-3 less than five minutes into the game.
Early on, the Tigers had little trouble with the Golden Lions’ zone defense. Hopkins opened the scoring with a 3-pointer. A basket by Nicholas upped the advantage to 5-0. And a steal followed by dunk from Weathers put TSU ahead 14-5 with 14:08 remaining in the opening half.
Weathers’ dunk gave TSU a nine-point lead, its largest of the half. What looked like a cakewalk proved otherwise.
Sloppy play by TSU and a switch to man defense by UAPB benefited the Golden Lions, who went on a 26-8 run for a nine-point lead of their own.
A 3-pointer by Joshuwan Johnson put UAPB ahead 29-20 with 5:15 left in the half.
TSU managed to erase the deficit and tie the score 32-32 before falling behind by two at the break.