Dec. 6, 2005

Box Score

Southeastern (4-1) won for the fifth time in the last six meetings against Southern (0-6) and the fifth straight time in Hammond dating back to 1994.

Like many of the close finishes that have occurred in the intra-state rivalry, the SU Jaguars quickly turned a first half blowout by Southeastern, into a nail-biter with six of the last eight games decided by five points or less.

Ralph Hishaw made one of two free throws to close the deficit to 61-51 before Chris Alexander's three-point play with 58 seconds left got Southern to within 61-54. Woods made two free throws on Southeastern's next possession to push the Southeastern lead back to 62-54, but Alexander responded with a pair of free throws to get the Jaguars back to 63-56.

After Jerrid Campbell rebounded a Harden miss, Alvin Mott drilled a 3-pointer with 33 seconds remaining to get Southern to within 63-59 before Deforrest Riley-Smith's 3-pointer with 19 seconds left closed the gap to 63-62.

On Southeastern's next possession, Woods was fouled by Alexander and the senior made both free throws to give the Lions a 65-62 lead. Southern drove the ball down the floor and a potential game-tying shot, an Alexander's 3-point try in the waning seconds, clanked off the front of the rim.

Chris Alexander led Southern, which shot 50 percent (24-for-48) for the game and 58 percent (15-for-26) in the second half with 17 points while Hishaw added 15. Campbell grabbed eight rebounds for the Jaguars, who lost its second straight game to an in-state opponent and third overall on the season.

"We only played 20 minutes of basketball. We didn't play at all in the first half," first-year Southern coach Rob Spivery said. "We dug a hole for ourselves. But I have to give our guys a lot of credit. They showed a lot of character, a lot of pride, to fight their way back to have a chance at the end. I'm just disappointed it took us 20 minutes to start playing."

Southern will host Louisiana Tech, Saturday night at 7 p.m., in Seymour Gym.