SU closes with strong run to beat Loyola in New Orleans

There is no place like home for the Southern University men’s basketball team.

Southern rallied with a 12-5 run in the final six minutes, setting four team season highs, in a 73-68 victory over Loyola on New Orleans on Thursday afternoon at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

The Jaguars (4-9) snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 2-0 at home.

The team set season highs in points (73), field goal percentage (.500), field goals made (29) and steals (10).

“We want to defend our home court all season long, with a realistic goal of winning 90 percent of our games here,” Southern first-year basketball coach Roman Banks said. “That’s a sign of a good program.

“Shooting 50 percent from the field was nice, and our guys stayed the course. We showed some discipline, and we didn’t panic when we were down. We made some mistakes, but we made enough plays. It was a good win for us.”

Southern took the lead for good at 64-63 on a 3-pointer by junior guard Derick Beltran off an assist from Jameel Grace with 5:35 remaining. That basket started an 8-0 run that ended on a driving basket by Cameron Monroe. Loyola hit 3-of-4 free throws to cut the deficit to 69-66 with 1:53 remaining.

Grace’s third steal, and a layup increased the lead to 71-66 with 40 seconds remaining. Senior forward Quinton Doggett added a dunk with four seconds left.

Doggett led the Jaguars with 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots.

Beltran and Grace added 13 points each and combined for seven assists and five steals. Cameron Monroe added 10 points and Fredrick Coleman nine points and eight rebounds.

“We needed this win,” the 6-foot-9 Doggett said. “I just played my role by rebounding, scoring in the post and blocking shots. We didn’t play up to par on defense in the first half. We stepped it up on defense in the second half and that helped our running game. We’ll continue to work hard every day.”

Loyola (8-5) hit 14-of-27 shots in the first half, but cooled off in the second (9-of-33). Loyola led 38-36 at the half. The Wolfpack outrebounded Southern 36-34.

Corey Gray led Loyola with 20 points, 10 in each half. Freshman McCall Tomeny, who was the Class 1A title game MVP for Christian Life Academy, scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half. Tomeny added seven rebounds. Chris Joseph added 12 points.

“McCall is a good player, and we recruited him here,” Banks said.

“McCall has been getting better every game and was averaging 10 ppg,” said eighth-year Loyola coach Michael Giorlando. “He gets to the (free throw) line a lot for us.

“Southern is very athletic and didn’t quit. I was disappointed for us that we couldn’t sustain our lead. We had looks in the paint and just didn’t finish.”

“Our tempo wore Loyola down in the end,” Banks said. “Shots they were making early, they missed. I wanted to see how we’d do against a team similar to what we’ll face in conference, and I think we passed the test.”

Southern opens Southwestern Athletic Conference play Jan. 3 at Prairie View A&M.