Southern stumbles down stretch, falls to Tougaloo

• By PERRYN KEYS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 15, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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At 9:56 p.m. Friday, Southern men’s basketball coach Rob Spivery walked to midcourt at the F.G. Clark Activity Center and met his counterpart, Tougaloo College coach Lafayette Stribling.

Spivery offered a handshake and a kind word. He was gracious to the visiting coach, even after a season-opening 78-67 defeat to an NAIA school — a defeat that Spivery, and almost everyone else in the building, probably didn’t expect.

The best news for Southern is that its next game isn’t for another week; the Jaguars travel to Baylor for a game Nov. 22, followed by five more games within Louisiana — at home against Talladega; at UNO; at home against Southeastern Louisiana; and two games against Nicholls State.

Friday night, Southern lost without two of its top frontcourt players — Tim Brown and Earnest Jones, who were suspended for what the staff called a violation of team rules.

The Jaguars committed 18 turnovers and scored just six points over the final six minutes, allowing the hot-shooting Bulldogs to pull away.

Tougaloo (4-0), trailing by three points at halftime, warmed up in the second half, shooting 59 percent from the floor and 43 percent from 3-point range.

Bulldogs guard Marques Ruffin scored 12 of his 14 points after the break. Jeremy Cable had a game-high 17 points, while Jermaine Hodges added 15.

Former Istrouma player Chris Davis led Southern with 16 points, while Barry Honoré added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Sophomore forward Douglas Scott led the Jaguars with 11 rebounds.

SU out-rebounded its leaner opponent, 43-32, but allowed Tougaloo to score 28 points in the lane.

Friday’s game featured six ties and four lead changes. It also featured back-to-back first-half dunks from Davis and Honoré, which had the home fans screaming with approval.