Former Starkville High School and East Mississippi Community College standout Josh Skinner had a season-high 16 points Thursday night to lead four players in double figures in the Mississippi University for Women’s men’s basketball team’s 87-71 victory against Campbellsville University – Somerset at Pohl Gymnasium.
D.J. Clark added 14 points and 17 rebounds to help the Owls (2-12) record the program’s first home victory.
“(I am) really excited to get the win tonight,” The W coach Brian Merkel said. “Somerset is a really tough team, and I’m proud of how our guys responded to some adverse moments throughout the game. We are looking forward to building on this win with a road game on Sunday.”
Skinner was 6-for-10 from the field to eclipse his previous season high of 13 points. He was 4-for-7 from 3-point range.
Clark, who scored in double figures for the fifth game in a row, had, and 10th this season, had his fourth double-double. He eclipsed his previous season high of 15 in rebounds. Clark added five assists and two steals.
Tavonta Jones and Tre Pinkston also recorded double-digits against the Tigers with 12 and 10 points respectively.
The Owls were 31-for-66 from the field (47 percent), including 8-for-19 (42.1) from 3-poimnt range. The W held Campbellsville – Somerset to 36.6-percent shooting (26-for-71).
The W will travel to Somerset, Kentucky, for a rematch against Campbellsville – Somerset at 2 p.m. Sunday.
n Southern Mississippi 77, Middle Tennessee State 70: At Hattiesburg, Tyree Griffin had a team-high 21 points and seven assists Thursday to lead the Golden Eagles past the Blue Raiders in a Conference USA game at Reed Green Coliseum.
Southern Miss (9-7, 1-3 C-USA) won in its first home game in 30 days.
“I’m not sure we played better tonight than we had been playing (in recent losses), but we scored more points,” Southern Miss coach Doc Sadler said. “The thing that we have to continue to do is something we did tonight: shoot even at the free-throw line. Both teams made 13 free throws. I thought there were two big keys: we allowed only five offensive rebounds and didn’t let Antonio Green, who is averaging 20 points per game, go crazy on us. We also had guys make some shots. That was as many threes as we have had in a while, and that’s what’s going to be a key for our future.”
LaDavius Draine added 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Gabe Watson added 12 points for the Golden Eagles.
Southern Miss led by as much as 16 with 15 minutes, 32 seconds to go after Griffin connected on a 3-pointer. The Blue Raiders cut the deficit to 65-59 at the 2:54 mark, but Griffin hit two free throws and Kevin Holland added his second 3-pointer of the night to push the margin to 70-59 with 1:42 remaining.
Green was 3-for-14 from the field and finished with 10 points. Donovan Sims led MTSU (3-13, 0-3) with 28 points.
Southern Miss will play host to Alabama-Birmingham at 4 p.m. Saturday (ESPN +).
Junior Colleges
n Northeast Mississippi Community College 70, Itawamba C.C. 56: At Fulton, DeAnthony Tipler had a game-high 14 points to lead the Tigers past the Indians in the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division game at the Davis Event Center.
Former Starkville High School standout Jordan Temple added 12 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Former New Hope High and West Lowndes High standout JaQuante Bell added seven points and four rebounds for NEMCC (11-2, 1-1 MACJC North).
Cartisco Brown had 11 for ICC (5-7, 0-2).
ICC will travel to West Memphis, Arkansas, on Monday to take on ASU Mid-South C.C. at 6 p.m.
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