The Hornets trailed by five (71-66) with one minute left but a free throw from Torloft Thomas and a field goal from Terrance LeFlore cut the lead to 71-69.  The Hornets had one last chance to tie the score but a lay-up from LeFlore with five seconds left rolled off the rim and the Jags got a break-away dunk to end the game 73-69.

The Hornets have now lost five conference games with all five being by less than seven points and three of them coming by four points or less.
 
"It was a good hard fought ball game," Head Coach Lewis Jackson said.  "Our guys competed extremely well we just didn't make the plays down the stretch.  We had several chances to tie the score and we took bad shots and then we missed a layup there at the end of the game and we just can't do that."
 
Jamel Waters had a game-high 22 points to go with his four assists and two steals.  Tony Armstrong scored 12 points, but was one of three ASU players to foul out of the game.  Corvon Butler came off the bench and scored 11 before fouling out.
 
ASU (6-12/1-5) shot 41 percent from the field and hit seven of 16 three point field goals for 44 percent.  ASU also out rebounded the much taller Jags 43-35 with Bobby Brown, Armstrong and Butler grabbing seven each.  Once again the Hornets had trouble getting to the free throw line and only attempted 16, but did not shoot as well as they could have only hitting 10 of those for 63 percent.
 
Trelun Banks had 21 to lead Southern.  Jared Sam scored 15 with nine of his points coming at the free throw line.  Adrian Rodgers had 11.
 
Southern (13-7/4-2) finished the game shooting 48 percent from the field and hit seven of their 20 three point attempts for 35 percent.  Even though they only hit 55 percent of their free throws they still hit 16 of their 29 attempts.
 
The teams went into the locker room even at 35.  The opening 20 minutes was a game of runs as both teams had several runs throughout the half with the Jags ending the half on a 6-0 run to even the score on back-to-back threes from Banks.
 
Banks finished the half with 10 points to lead Southern while Rodgers had seven and Hyder five as Southern finished the first half shooting 47 percent from the field.
 
For the Hornets Armstrong had 10 points and Butler came off the bench to score nine and Thomas added eight.  ASU shot 44 percent from the field and held a 22-16 advantage on the boards.
 
"I still believe this team is going to make some noise in the conference," Jackson said.  "We just have to learn to play with more poise and patience at the end of games."
 
ASU continues the current road trip with a game at Alcorn State Monday, Jan. 25.  The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.  The game can be heard live on the ASU Hornets Sports Network.