Jan. 20, 2007

Final Stats

ASU vs. Southern Photo Gallery

Montgomery, Ala. - It won't be often that Lewis Jackson will look back at statistics from a basketball game and feel good about 31% shooting. But because the final score read ASU 49 - Southern 44, he'll take it.

"An ugly win is better than a pretty loss any day," Jackson said. "You have to find ways to win games when you aren't shooting the ball well, and we were able to do that tonight."

The Hornets made only 14 out of 45 field goal attempts in the game, and missed all nine of their 3-point shot attempts. ASU did remedy a long-standing problem this season by making 21 out of 27 free throws, easily their best performance from the charity stripe all year. The Hornets also committed a season-low 9 turnovers.

Things started out pretty good for ASU as they surged to an early 10-4 on Andrew Hayles' 3-point play. The Hornets extended the lead to eight on Moses Edun's short jumper on the next possession.

However, the Jaugars - led by former ASU head coach Rob Spivery - responded with a 15-4 run, to move ahead 19-14.

At halftime, Southern's 25-18 lead was powered by a dominating presence on the glass. The Jaguars pounded ASU in rebounding 25-12, with many leading to easy putbacks for Southern.

"We were just flat in the first half," Jackson said. "They had outworked us, and at halftime we challenged our guys to play with greater intensity and effort."

Whatever Jackson said worked, as the Hornets outrebouded their bigger and more physical opponent 20-12 in the second half. Miguel Morton's inspired play - 16 points and four huge blocks - fired up his entire team.

"Miguel was good out there tonight," Jackson said. "He's really getting better and we'll need that inside presence to be effective."

With the Hornets down by one with less than six minutes remaining, Morton had a huge slam dunk carrying two Jaguars to the rim with him. He was fouled on the play. His free throw gave ASU a 42-39 advantage and the went on the win from there.

Hayles scored nine points in the victory. Dustin Richmond, rebounding from a concussion he suffered against Alabama A & M, scored eight. Richard Lott also had eight points and contributed a team-leading seven rebounds.

Chike Ekweozer paced Southern (4-15, 3-4 SWAC) with 12 points. Deforrest Riley-Smith, who entered the game as the Jags' leading scorer, only managed four points. While Riley-Smith injured his ankle early in the game, Jackson credited the Hornets defense for slowing down the explosive scorer.

"Moses (Edun) did a really good job on him," Jackson said. "That guy can really score and we knew we had to make him work for whatever he got."

The Hornets (5-11, 3-3 SWAC) host Alcorn State on Monday night. The men will play at 6 p.m. in a game that will be televised nationally by ESPN U.