JSU meets Southern during battle of the big cats

Darrius Barron

Blue & White Flash/ Sports Editor

 

The Jackson State University Tigers welcomed students back to their dear old college home with a late game win for the men’s team over the Southern University Jaguars on Jan. 14, 2019.

During Monday’s victory, the Tigers capitalized off Southern’s poor ball security finishing with nine steals, scoring 26 points off those turnovers.

JSU also had their fair share of turnovers with 10, but Southern was not as successful as

they scored just nine points off turnovers.

Both teams had a total of 46 personal fouls— Southern with 26 and the JSU with 20. The Tigers ended the contest shooting 58 percent from the free throw line— 20-26.

After leading the matchup for 26 minutes, the Jaguars seemed to lack the speed and stamina to finish the Tigers down the stretch.

There were five lead changes and two scoring ties throughout the game, but the Tigers brought their clutch mentality as they held their six-point lead to finish the game.

The Jaguars played a lackluster game down the stretch and it showed as the game ended with a 12-4 run in JSU’s favor. Southern would go on to lose by a six-point deficit— 58-64.

Junior guard Venjie Wallis and Milwaukee native, Chris Howell scored nearly half of the Tigers points, combining for a total of 31— Wallis, 17 and Howell, 14.

Halfway through the season, the Tigers of Jackson State have a current overall record of six wins and 11 losses.

Even with the 6-11 record, the Tigers are still 3-1 in the division and currently hold the fourth seed.

They’re tied with Alabama State and a half of a game behind Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and Prairie View A&M who sit atop the division, tied at 3-0.

The Lady Tigers also had a Monday night matchup against the Southern Jaguars but were not as fortunate.

During the division matchup, the Lady Tigers were able to shoot nearly 50 percent from the field. They also cleaned the glass with 34 rebounds and racked up 13 assists.

The Lady Tigers played an aggressive style of defense that led to nine steals.

Although they played a great game, they could not capitalize in the end to get the win and lost by two points. Southern scored 76 points to earn the home win over JSU’s 74.

Senior guard from Sacramento, Jasmine Redmon scored 13 points shooting 4-9 from the field. She also added four rebounds and three steals.

Kaisah Lucky, a junior guard added 12 points and shot 89 percent from the free throw line, making 8-9.

With this home loss, the Lady Tigers’ overall record sits at 5-10 overall and 8^thin SWAC play at 1-3.

Monday night’s matchup against the Lady Jaguars consisted of six lead changes, seven scoring ties, and the Lady Tigers’ largest lead was nine points.

The Lady Tigers was able to turn those 26 turnovers by the Lady Jaguars into a magnificent 33 points, and played a great driving game by scoring 30 points in the paint.

Monday’s game ended a two-game home stint for both Tiger teams. They now face a three-game road trip starting with Prairie View A&M University on Saturday Jan. 19, and finishing with Grambling State University on Saturday Jan. 26.