Johnson paces USM in double overtime

By By Stan Caldwell / EMG Sports Writer
Feb. 5, 2003
HATTIESBURG With the season hovering dangerously on the brink of swirling down the drain, the University of Southern Mississippi men's basketball team did the smart thing, they got the ball to Jasper Johnson.
The redshirt freshman from Hollandale swished two of the biggest baskets of the season for USM Tuesday to propel the Golden Eagles to a gutsy 82-80 double-overtime victory over UAB in a Conference USA clash at Reed Green Coliseum.
Big doesn't begin to describe this victory. USM (10-9, 3-5) snapped a five-game losing streak with the win and dropped UAB to 12-6 and 4-3.
The most positive plays came from Johnson, who hit the right shots at the right time for the Golden Eagles. It was Johnson's 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation that forced overtime, and it was Johnson's soft 12-footer with 0.1 seconds left in the second overtime that won it for USM.
Until then, USM had tried every which way to hand the Blazers the game. As has been their custom all season, the Golden Eagles played erratically, mixing stretches of brilliance with periods of ineptness.
The first 10 minutes of the game was a period where USM couldn't do anything right. UAB got off to an 8-2 start, then used 7-0 run to forge a 17-7 lead. During the early part of the game, the Eagles committed 10 turnovers, and missed a total of six shots from inside three feet for the half.
But junior Greg Johnson hit four straight jump shots during a 15-6 run that got USM back in the game.
Johnson's biggest shot, though, came at the very end of the half, when he nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to send USM into halftime with its first lead of the night, 30-29.
In two of the losses in their five-game losing streak, the Eagles saw opponents use big momentum swings at the end of the first half to seriously damage USM's chances.
Indeed, USM opened the second half by outscoring UAB 10-2 to lead 40-31 with 17:09 to play in the second half. Leading the way was sophomore point guard Dante Stiggers, who hit three straight shots during the early part of the period, and finished with 12 points, after going scoreless in the first half.
But just as quickly as they'd turned things their way, the Eagles lost their way. The Blazers closed the gap with a 5-0 run, then outscored the Golden Eagles 15-2 over a six-minute period to lead 59-52 with 7:09 to play.
With the game and the season slipping away, USM turned it back around again, outscoring the Blazers 8-3 to close the gap to 62-60.
After Morris Finley hit one of two free throws with 33.6 seconds to play, Stiggers drove the lane for a layup with 16.0 seconds left. But Finley hit a pair of free throws to give UAB another three-point bulge, leading to Jasper Johnson's game-tying shot and a 65-65 tie.
In the first overtime, UAB jumped to a quick four-point lead, but the Eagles fought back and tied it again, and it remained tied at the end of the period, 71-71.
The second overtime was a game of "can you top this." There were three lead changes and three ties in the second extra period alone, and Jasper Johnson had a big hand in nearly every play. Johnson converted 5-of-6 free throws, blocking a shot and getting a defensive rebound, and that was before his game-winning shot.
After Charles Gaines made two free throws with 29.7 seconds remaining in the period after going 2 of 7 from the line previously to give USM an 80-78 lead, Finley drove the baseline for a layup to retie the game again.
Disaster almost befell the Eagles when they came back down the court, when they lost the handle and Eric Bush streaked down the court on a 2-on-1 break. But Stiggers forced a pass to Blazer freshman Richard Jones and managed to break up the shot with a foul on Jones with 8.3 seconds left.
Jones missed both free throws, Stiggers quickly brought the ball down and found Jasper Johnson open along the right baseline. Johnson took the shot as the clock reached the final second and hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
And just like that, the Golden Eagles are back in the National Division race.