Jaguars aim to keep win streak going
“The good thing is, I think we’re still a team in progress.” Roman banks, Southern coach
In two days, the Southern men’s basketball team will host what might be the game of the year in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
In two days, the out-of-nowhere Jaguars face first-place Mississippi Valley State. It will be their last chance to take down the Delta Devils, maybe gain some ground in their quest to finish first in the SWAC — an unthinkable feat for Southern just two months ago.
But first things first.
At 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the F.G. Clark Activity Center, the Jaguars (13-11, 9-2) host Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-19, 4-7). If they want to keep a little heat on Valley, they’ll need to defeat the Golden Lions in a game that could be a whole lot tougher than it appears at first glance.
First, Arkansas-Pine Bluff warmed up.
Second, these teams have played once already, and in that meeting, Southern needed all 40 minutes to outlast UAPB.
Third ... well, how do we put this nicely? While the Jaguars deserve all sorts of praise for winning, first-year coach Roman Banks said, they haven’t exactly dominated their opponents.
“I tell them all the time, you can win on the scoreboard, but still lose,” Banks said. “We won these last two games on the road, and that’s good. But we have to learn something from it.”
Southern has won five straight games, including a pair of victories last week that were equal parts impressive and worrisome. The Jaguars won at Grambling for the first time since 2000 — but only after they fell behind 16-0 to start the game.
“We just knew that in the second half, we had to come out more aggressive,” point guard Jameel Grace said. “We started off slow. You just can’t start off that slow.”
Two days later, Southern played at Jackson State, where it had not won since 2007. JSU was without its top two players, Jenirro Bush and Christian Williams, who have suffered season-ending injuries.
“Our (players) saw that, and they were like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to cruise through this one,’” Banks said. “We’re not a good enough team to where we’re just going to win cruising.”
They proved it. SU blew a six-point lead late in the second half and went into overtime before it prevailed 49-44.
At several points during that game, Banks was seen shaking his head, pounding his shoe into the floor and showing other obvious signs of frustration.
Exhibit A: On one possession, Grace penetrated the lane and passed to Derick Beltran on the perimeter. Beltran, a smooth jump-shooter, had an open look — but he passed to post player Fred Coleman, who is not a smooth jump-shooter.
“You want (Derick) to put the shot up and hope that Fred will get the rebound,” Banks said. “So that’s what we’ve got to get the understanding of. So the good thing is, I think we’re still a team in progress.”
The good news, of course, is that the Jaguars still have a chance to finish first in the SWAC.
With seven regular-season games left, Valley, undefeated in conference play, has a two-game lead on Southern.
SU cannot play in the postseason, thanks to NCAA penalties that stem from the team’s low multi-year Academic Progress Rate.
Southern has already filmed and posted a short video promotion for the Valley game, urging fans to pack the building for it.
In the meantime, however, there’s the small matter of defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Which might not be a small matter at all.
Though the Lions began this season with one win their first 17 games, including an 0-4 start in conference play, UAPB coach George Ivory said last month that “the big picture for us is the SWAC tournament,” noting that he thought it was more important to get a decent seed and heat up in time for March.
Perhaps the Lions are doing just that.
They have climbed from last place to sixth, and they head into Monday’s game on a three-game winning streak.
Even last month, when UAPB wasn’t hot, it nearly got the best of Southern anyway.
Beltran drained a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left, lifting the Jaguars to a 69-68 win.
In fact, of Southern’s nine conference wins, five have been by fewer than 10 points, and two have come in overtime.
In other words, winning hasn’t been easy.