Pilots KO Knights of Southern N.O., 97-92
1/17/2004

The LSUS Pilots hosted the Southern University of New Orleans Knights Saturday night and were looking to improve upon their current 2-3 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference record.

Coming into the contest Head Coach Chad McDowell knew his Pilots were in for a tough challenge against the No. 24 team in the NAIA national rankings.. The Pilots however did not back down to their biggest challenge of the year.

In the first half, it was the Pilots who controlled the tempo and used a well- balanced scoring attack to lead the entire half. SUNO managed to cut a 15- point lead to 8 by the half, which saw the Pilots with a 47-39 advantage.

The second half began with the Knights making 14 of their first 15 field goal attempts. SUNO (8-4, 3-2 GCAC) not only managed to erase the Pilot lead, they built a 12 point advantage of their own with six minutes to play.

The Pilots (9-8, 3-3), however, overcame the 12 point deficit and came back to defeat the Knights, 97-92. Fredericko Payne continued to lead the scoring for the Pilots as he poured in 28 points. The biggest basket of the night, however, came from Pilot guard Justin Collins when he drained a 3-point attempt in the waning minutes to put the Pilots ahead.

Every Pilot scored against the Knights. Travis Cash and Derrick Sowell finished with 16 points, and Derrick Rogers ended with 12. Other scorers for the Pilots were Freddy Hughes with 8, Abraham Saxson and Justin Collins had 7 each, Brandon Malveaux 2, and Chavis Rose finished with 1 free throw attempt made.

The Pilots will travel to Mobile, Ala., Jan. 24-26 for games against the University of Mobile Saturday and Spring Hill College Monday. The Pilots will return home Jan. 29 to host Central Baptist College, of Conway, Arkansas.

Issued by Allan Cantwell (sports@lsus.edu)