Maybe there is something to that RGC Magic.
The Southern Miss men rode the support of a raucous home crowd at Reed Green Coliseum in a thrilling second-half comeback to defeat Troy 64-63 Saturday afternoon in a key Sun Belt Conference game.
Both teams left the coliseum 11-8 overall and 5-2 in conference, and for the Golden Eagles it avenged an embarrassing 82-56 road loss to the Trojans just one week earlier.
Senior Victor Iwuakor hit a floating jump shot in the lane with 2.9 seconds left in the game to complete the rally from an 18-point deficit midway through the second half.
“We have an incredibly tough group of kids,” said USM head coach Jay Ladner. “It’s an incredibly tight group, a resilient group. Given the circumstances we’ve faced, this is what our administration means when they talk about Southern Miss grit.
“I think you saw another chapter of that today.”
A season-high crowd of 5,587 watched a barn-burner that saw USM trail for most of the game, but never-quit attitude fueled the Golden Eagle comeback.
“I think it was just us staying together and staying confident,” said senior Donovan Ivory. “A lot of teams, you see a big deficit, it’s easy to check out of the game, and I don’t think we ever did that.
“We knew we were at home, and we have to win at home. We had faith in our guys and our defense as well. The key is mentally staying in the game and executing offensively and defensively. And that’s what we did.”
Southern Miss played for the third straight game without senior starters Andre Curbelo and Victor Hart. Curbelo’s return is uncertain, but Hart is day-to-day and is expected back in the lineup for next week’s games.
In their absence, and with leading-scorer Austin Crowley having a rare off night, several players stepped up to fill the holes.
Ivory led all scorers with 20 points, and junior Cobie Montgomery, who made just his third start of the season, scored 13 points, including 11 in the first half on three big 3-point shots that allowed USM to overcome a 9-point first-half deficit.
In both halves, the Golden Eagles rallied on the strength of their defense, especially with Iwuakor in the low post. Iwuakor finished with 11 points, but more importantly, had nine rebounds, eight on the defensive end.
“We feel pretty good right now,” said Iwuakor. “Crazy game, wasn’t it?
“Coach talked about (defensive rebounds after the last game. I think they had 10 (offensive) rebounds. We knew we had to do better and get the job done.”
Troy, which lost its second consecutive game, by a total of four points, used the 3-point line to forge big leads in both the first and second half. The Trojans were 6 of 16 from beyond the arc in the first half as they built a 27-18 lead.
But the Golden Eagles started finding the range from 3-point range on their end. Montgomery swished a pair of treys in a 7-0 run that got them back in the game, then added another one with 2:44 left in the half.
Troy led 34-33 at halftime after Crowley’s 3-point attempt rimmed out at the buzzer.
“Troy does a really good job of playing the passing lanes and denying the ball,” said Ivory. “They’re really aggressive on defense, and that can make it hard to get into action sometimes. Again, it comes down to trusting each other and making the right play.”
Crowley put USM ahead 35-34 with a quick basket to start the second half, but the next seven minutes were all Troy.
The Trojans used the 3-ball to outscore the Golden Eagles 22-3. Troy senior Christyan Eugene put Troy back in front with a fast-break layup, then nailed three 3-pointers to help build a 56-38 lead with 13:52 to play.
At that point, it looked like déjà vu all over again, and the large crowd was dead.
“Coming back from 18 points, in that kind of game against that kind of team is tough,” said Ladner. “I knew we were going to come back, but it’s hard to come back from 18 down against a team of that caliber. They’re very well-coached.”
Ivory got the comeback started with a 3-ball, then floated a 10-footer in the lane, followed by Montgomery scoring a fast-break layup off a turnover in a quick 7-0 run that got USM – and the crowd – back in the game.
“A big part of our success at Reed Green is the fan base, and everybody showing up,” said Ivory. “It’s real hard to come in here as an opposing team and play.”
And while the Golden Eagles were chipping away at the deficit, their defense was clamping down on defense. USM held Troy to just seven points in the last 13-plus minutes of the game.
“They beat the snot out of us on the interior last week, I mean, they embarrassed us,” said Ladner.
“We adjusted our defense plan, but a lot of it comes down just want-to. Our inside guys knew they didn’t play well over there, and I think collectively they had the mentality that they weren’t going to let that happen again.”
While Eugene finished with 19 points to lead Troy, his contribution was mostly limited to the Trojans’ second-half surge.
“I thought we did a great job on him,” Ladner said. “Where he hurt was with the 3-ball, but he only shot 11 balls.
“He’s an incredible athlete, first-team all-conference preseason and he was all-league last season. He’s a great player. They’re a veteran team at the guard positions and I’m really satisfied with the job we did on them."
Crowley had a quiet game with 11 points, but he hit two key field goals, one a second-chance basket and the other a critical 8-foot jumper with 1:32 left that close the gap to 63-64 and set the stage for the last-minute heroics.
Again, it was defense that made it happen. On the ensuing possession, the Golden Eagles forced a shot-clock violation, but Ivory’s 3-point shot was off the mark.
Troy got inside for a layup after Ivory’s miss, but the shot was no good and Ivory secured the defensive rebound, and with the shot clock off, USM worked the ball inside to Iwuakor, who floated a shot in the lane from 10 feet that rolled around and fell through good.
“My team had their trust in me,” said Iwuakor. “I just had to get it up. We were just playing basketball, doing what we’d been doing in our offense. I don’t think I have (hit a game-winning shot in a game). It was a good one for me.”
Both teams called time out to set their personnel, but Troy was unable to get a shot off in the last seconds as time ran out.
“This team is gaining confidence,” said Ivory. “I think we’re closing games well and learning how to win and finishing games as a team. We’re getting more comfortable offensively, learning how to play together.”
Ladner’s trick now is to get his team back down to earth after two thrilling comeback victories and get ready for a two-game road trip next week, Wednesday at Coastal Carolina and Saturday at Marshall.
“We’ve got to come back down and get ready for Coastal Carolina,” said Ladner. “That’s a hard place to play, and they’ve got a pretty good team. So we’ll have to put this one behind us pretty quick and get ready for a long travel week.”
