LSUS men grab wild win over Tougaloo
February 18, 2005
February 18, 2005 By Pesky Hill
Special to The Times
It was wild and wooly at The Dock Thursday night -- but the LSUS Pilots stayed the course and steered their way to a 94-86 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference victory over Tougaloo College.
The game was marred by five technical fouls, one ejection and 37 turnovers.
"We don't mind it being chaotic," LSUS coach Chad McDowell said. "But we don't want it to be sloppy. There just never was a flow to the game."
Despite falling behind 14-3 in the first four minutes of the game, LSUS won its ninth straight game and 13th of its last 14 The Pilots(23-6) are tied for the GCAC lead with the University of Mobile with a 14-1 record. Tougaloo dropped to 8-17 overall and 3-12 in the conference.
Fredricko Payne, held to seven points in the first half, sparked the Pilots in the second half and finished with 26. But Payne had plenty of help.
Derrick Sowell, a 6-foot-1 leaper from the tiny community of Natchez, had back-to-back dunks and three overall in the second half. Sowell had 11 points and six rebounds.
Former Huntington High product Derrick Rogers worked his way for 20 points and 10 rebounds while Fredrick Hughes added 20 points.
The second technical foul and ejection of Tougaloo's Dennis Holder seemed to give the Pilots a spark with 6:09 left in the first half. LSUS parlayed the free throws into a 24-23 lead -- their first of the game-and roared to a 41-32 cushion at intermission.
Payne and Rogers provided most of the scoring.
Sowell's first dunk gave LSUS its biggest lead at 72-56 with 11:17 left in the game.
However, coach Broderick Owens' Bulldogs actually cut the margin to six points on a 3-pointer by Marquis Lowe with 3:35 remaining.
Fortunately for the Pilots, Justin Collins and Rogers helped the Pilots secure the win down the stretch and keep the Pilots on top of the conference race.
