Men’s Basketball Falls To Southern In SWAC Opener

BATON ROUGE, La. – A big second half run by Southern was the difference as the Jaguars handed TSU a 58-51 loss in both team’s SWAC opener on Sunday.
 
Texas Southern would set the tone early with a 13-2 first quarter surge as they claimed an 18-8 lead. TSU was near perfect from the field during that span as they shot 6-of-8 from the field. However, the tide of the contest turned over the next 10 minutes as Southern responded with a 16-6 run which saw them tie the contest at 24-all with 2:04 remaining. PJ Henry would end the drought via a jumper with 1:14 remaining as TSU claimed a 26-24 halftime lead.
 
Both teams went back-and-forth to open the second half as a Henry jumper kept TSU close (32-30) with 14:35 remaining. But like the first half, Southern regained momentum and broke open the contest by outscoring TSU 18-7 over the next 9:32 as they claimed a 50-37 lead with four minutes remaining.
 
A 7-0 run aided by free throw shooting allowed TSU to creep back in the contest as the lead was cut to 50-44 after Zytarious Mortle’s three-pointer with 1:45 left. Southern would ice the game at the free throw line from that point with six free throws despite TSU scoring seven points over the final 1:35.
 
Jonathan Cisse led TSU with 11 points while Kenny Hunter grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
TSU is back in action on Monday at Grambling State for a 7:30 p.m. start.