Sports briefs: January 29, 2013

Men’s basketball wins at Tulsa

Southern Miss men’s basketball improved to 17-4 overall and 6-0 in conference play with a 62-59 win at Tulsa on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles went into halftime with 31-30 lead, and the game remained close until the final buzzer. Jonathan Mills hit three of four free throws within the last nine seconds to preserve the win.

The Eagles’ 6-0 start is the best start for the school in conference play since the 1990-1991 campaign in the Metro Conference.

Dwayne Davis led the Eagles in scoring with 11 points and seven rebounds. Mills added nine points and a game high 11 rebounds.

Southern Miss has a week off before heading to Birmingham to play UAB at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The game is scheduled to be televised on CSS.

Strong second half lifts women’s basketball over Rice

After falling behind 41-23 at halftime, the Southern Miss women’s basketball team used a massive second half to win 76-57. The win improves the Lady Eagles to 11-8 overall and 3-3 in conference play.

After trailing by 19 points at halftime, Jamierra Faulkner grabbed two quick steals to spark a 25-5 run by USM to go ahead 48-46. The Eagles would not look back and eventually outscored Rice 53-16 in the half.

Faulkner, who earned Conference USA Player of the Week honors for her efforts, finished the game with 26 points, along with a school and C-USA record of 16 assists.

The Lady Eagles travel to Birmingham on Thursday to face UAB. 

Men’s tennis wins three matches over weekend

Southern Miss men’s tennis posted three wins over the weekend, with a 6-1 win over Jacksonville State on Friday and a pair of 7-0 wins over Nicholls State and Jackson State on Sunday.

Friday started off with the Golden Eagles winning the point for doubles to take an early 1-0 lead. The Eagles finished strong, with Paulo Alvarado, Juan Escobar, Matt Frost, Andrew Goodwin and Vasco Valverde all winning their singles matches to record the other five points on the day.

Sunday was even better for the Eagles, as they recorded 7-0 victories in both matches.

The day started at 10 a.m. as the Eagles hosted Nicholls State. After winning doubles, the Eagles won all singles titles to sweep the match 7-0.

At 2 p.m., the Eagles dominated Jackson State, as the Eagles did not drop a set in any match. Brad Marriot swept his opponent 6-0, 6-0.

The team will head to Las Vegas, Nev. this weekend to participate in the UNLV Invite. The first match is Friday at 10 a.m.