Better effort results in another bitter loss for USM

From University of Southern Mississippi Sports Information Department

HOUSTON, Texas (WDAM) - In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was an impertinent king whose eventual eternal doom was to roll a large stone to the crest of a hill, only to see the stone roll all the way back down as he neared his goal.

The University of Southern Mississippi got a taste of that agony firsthand Saturday afternoon, except instead of a stone and hill, the Golden Eagles were faced with a basketball and wooden court.

After suffering its worst loss of the season Friday, USM fought through an early 14-point deficit to chase Rice University to the wire before falling 76-68 Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse.

USM whittled its deficit to five points by halftime, and scored the first basket of the second half to make it a one-possession game.

But as they would over the final 19 minutes, whenever the Golden Eagles pulled close, the Owls would answer again and again , either with shoulder-sagging 3-point shots or smart feeds into the post.

For example: After a bucket by junior postman Tyler Stevenson got USM within 64-60, a 3-pointer by Riley Abercrombie and two free throws after a Golden Eagles missed shot gave Rice a 69-60 lead with 3 minutes, 24 seconds, to play.

USM surged once again, scoring six consecutive points to get within 69-66 with 1:20 left in the game, but the Owls got a basket down low from day-long pest Max Fiedler to bump the lead back to five points.

Fiedler and Quincy Olivari then combined to hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to hold off the Golden Eagles.

USM coach Jay Ladner, who started his postgame remarks by apologizing for Friday’s 88-62 loss to the Owls, said the first six minutes of Saturday’s contest proved too much to overcome.

USM (7-12, 3-9 Conference USA) dropped its sixth consecutive game as Rice (12-8, 6-6) swept the two-game series.

“The bottom line is, you can’t just play people close,” Ladner said. “You can’t say, ‘If we’d have done this or we’d have done that, then things would be different.’

“You have to play 40 minutes. Not 34 minutes, but play focused for the whole 40 minutes.”

Stevenson, who scored just nine points Friday, offered up a career performance on two sprained ankles Saturday, scoring 29 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

But he was the lone Golden Eagle in double figures, a fact not lost on Ladner.

“We’ve got a few too many guys who are up and down,” Ladner said. “We need more consistency, not only game to game, but in a game.

“We need to be more consistent, as a team and as individuals.”

Olivari, who went for 29 points against USM Friday, scored 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds Saturday.

Fiedler added 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots, while Travis Evee had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.

On the afternoon, Rice hit 14-of-15 free throws and knocked down 14 shots from beyond the 3-point arc.