COLLEGE PARK, Ga. – A blocked three-pointer at the buzzer denied the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff a chance at overtime as the Golden Lions’ basketball season ended late Thursday night.
Southern University senior guard Michael Jacobs blocked UAPB senior guard Alex Mirhosseini’s would-be game-tying shot, securing the Jaguars’ 84-81 win in the SWAC tournament quarterfinals at the Gateway Center Arena in the Atlanta area.
No. 6-seed UAPB (13-19) trailed most of the night but led 79-78 after a jumper by senior guard Quion Williams with 42 seconds remaining. Southern senior forward Terrance Dixon Jr. quickly answered on the other end with a go-ahead layup, providing the game with its 10th and final lead change. There were nine ties.
The Golden Lions got two looks at the rim on the other end but couldn’t convert, forcing them to foul with 13 seconds remaining. After No. 3-seed Southern (16-16) made two free throws, Williams opted for a quick two-point shot rather than a game-tying three-pointer with 6.5 seconds on the clock.
UAPB coach Solomon Bozeman said the quick two wasn’t what he wanted.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“Any time it’s under 10 (seconds) like that, you gotta go for a three,” Bozeman said. “We were down three with 6 seconds left, or whatever it was, 4 seconds left. You gotta go for, you gotta go for a three.”
UAPB forced a jump ball after a timeout, but the arrow favored Southern. UAPB had to foul again, and sophomore guard Fazl Oshodi made two more Southern free throws with 3.4 to play, setting up Jacobs for the game-sealing block.
Williams led UAPB with 21 points and 10 rebounds, with senior forward Jaquan Scott adding 20 while batting foul trouble. Mirhosseini scored 15 points.
The Jaguars shot 56.9% from the field and made 10 of 16 from three-point range. Oshodi led with 18 points, followed by forward Malek Abdelgowad with 17.
Oshodi joined senior guard Cam Amboree in making four three-pointers apiece. Bozeman said Southern getting those threes while also scoring 32 points in the paint was too much to overcome.
“They hurt us with the big (Abdelgowad),” Bozeman said. “The big got loose. What we didn’t want to do is give up threes, and the big score down there, and that’s where we made our mistake today. The big kid got loose and scored some baskets for them. … You can’t give up the two and the three, and we gave up too many threes tonight.”
Southern led by as much as 15-5 early after UAPB got off to a cold-shooting start, but the Golden Lions rallied with a 9-0 run. Williams made a pair of free throws to give UAPB a 28-27 edge.
The Jaguars had a 6-0 run later in the half and ultimately led 39-37 at the break. They dominated the glass in the first half, outrebounding UAPB 19-8. That included a 7-1 edge on the offensive end, which led to seven second-chance points for Southern.
Senior forward AJ Barnes went into halftime with one fewer rebound than the entire UAPB team. Barnes finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Golden Lions did much better on the boards in the second half, outrebounding Southern 18-10, including 9-1 on the offensive glass. However, Southern limited UAPB to three second-chance points in the second half.
The Jaguars advanced to face No. 2-seed Florida A&M in the semifinals Friday night.