Jaguars top Jackson State in overtime
Down the stretch, the Jaguars started to fall apart.
Yet again, they found a way to pull together when they absolutely had to.
Jameel Grace scored six points in overtime and grabbed a key rebound in the closing seconds as Southern outlasted the Tigers 49-44, winning for the eighth time in its last nine games.
Grace led all scorers with 18 points in 40 minutes, while Quinton Doggett added 12 points and 12 rebounds and two blocks.
Derick Beltran, playing on a sprained right ankle, had nine points and six rebounds in 39 minutes for SU, which won despite shooting only 38 percent from the floor and 11-for-18 at the free-throw line.
Kelsey Howard led the Tigers with 16 points on 5-of-25 shooting. He had a chance to tie the score late in overtime, but his long 3-pointer, with two Southern defenders contesting, caromed off the rim.
Grace grabbed the rebound and sealed the win, making two free throws with 1.3 seconds remaining.
“I’ve been saying it from when I walk through the door: I’ve got to get Grace to play,” first-year coach Roman Banks said.
“He hasn’t won a player of the week award. ... But I know Jameel is the most important player. He has really taken ownership of this team, and he understands that on some nights, he might score more than some, but he’s got to be that same leader on that court.”
Monday’s game gave Southern back-to-back road victories for the first time since 2005-06, when the Jaguars opened SWAC play with wins at Prairie View and Texas Southern.
SU defeated Grambling on Saturday night, winning for the first time on its archrival’s home floor since 2000.
Monday also marked the Jaguars’ second overtime victory in less than a month. On Jan. 21, they rode a strong defensive effort to get the best of Alabama A&M at home, 75-69.
Southern remains alone in second place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings.
The Jaguars (13-11, 9-2) return home to face Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday afternoon, followed by a Feb. 13 game against league-leading Mississippi Valley State, which remains undefeated in SWAC play after 11 games.
Monday night, the Jaguars clinched a two-game season sweep of Jackson State — the first time they’ve done that since 2005-06, when they won three games against the Tigers, including one meeting in the conference tournament.
Monday’s win was also Southern’s first at Jackson State since 2007.
But it only came after the Jaguars withstood a valiant charge from JSU down the stretch.
Southern had a six point lead, 37-31, with less than six minutes remaining.
That’s when JSU’s Raymond Gregory woke up the crowd, and his teammates, with a dunk that shook the backboard and cut SU’s lead to four points.
From there, the Jaguars started to come apart — in part because of Grace, who eventually led the team in overtime.
On five consecutive possessions, Southern botched an alley-oop pass, which the Tigers intercepted; Grace committed two shot-clock violations; Grace missed an open jumper; and Grace traveled.
Meanwhile, Jackson State kept working.
With the shot clock at 2 seconds, Jonathan Lewis launched a 3-pointer and drew a foul from SU’s Mike Celestin.
Lewis completed the four-point play, giving JSU a 39-37 lead.
Southern rallied and led by two points with the clock winding down in regulation — but Sydney Coleman tied the score at 41 on a putback dunk with 5 seconds remaining, sending the game to overtime.
Jackson State (5-18, 3-8) played Monday night’s game without its two best players, Jenirro Bush and Christian Williams.
Bush suffered a season-ending injury early in SWAC play, and Williams missed Monday’s game with an unidentified injury.
“They fought hard and played hard,” JSU coach Tevester Anderson said of his players. “They showed a lot of character, but in the end, we just couldn’t get the basketball down.”
Grace opened the scoring in overtime with a jumper that hit the rim and bounced high into the air before it fell through the basket.
Doggett put SU ahead by four, 45-41, on a dunk.
JSU came within one on a 3-pointer by Lewis, but Grace scored again on a teardrop runner in the lane, giving Southern a three-point lead.
The Tigers never scored again, and Southern escaped with another win.
“We won on the scoreboard,” Banks said. “But the only way we’re really going to be a winner is if we learn a lesson from it.”