Southern’s (2-0) basketball team returned home with an unblemished record following two games at the Division II Tipoff in Las Vegas last week, an early season warm-up before the Lions hit the meat of the schedule and the all-important conference games.

Game one put Southern up against St. Mary’s (Texas), a team that reached the sweet 16 a year ago, but after facing two Division I opponents already in the preseason, the Lions were confident.

“I think we have potential for a bright future,” said senior forward Jordan Talbert.  “Having the majority of our team back and a couple new additions, we’re going to make some noise in the conference.”

As the game began, the Lions jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead but after the Rattlers made a run, Southern trailed 14-12 with just over 12 minutes left in the first half. The Lions would struggle with this deficit throughout the half as St. Mary’s stretched the advantage to nine before heading to the locker room up six at 29-23.

The beginning of the second half marked a turning point in the contest as the Lions came out on an 8-2 run to tie the game before kicking their offensive attack into high gear.  

Matching the Rattlers score for score down the stretch, the Lions were able to tie the game multiple times. And as the game closed within six minutes to play, Cameron Cornelius came through with a three-point play to give Southern a 51-48 advantage, a lead that the Lions would not relinquish

Leading the Lions in scoring was senior guard Marquis Addison with 24 points on 9-14 from the field. He was followed on the stat sheet by Talbert, who had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Cornelius who scored 11.

The Lions used 27 turnovers to score 27 points and made key adjustments in the locker room as part of Southern’s own version of Jekyll and Hyde—shooting 54 percent from the field and scoring 38 points in the second half after 25 percent and 23 in the first.

“We were a little more anxious than usual our first game and it showed,” said Talbert.  “Once we settled down, we shot a lot better and it carried on to game two.”

The second game put the Lions up against Eastern New Mexico. But after the previous games’ up and down performance, Southern was able to play solid basketball, shooting over 43 percent form the floor, helped in large part by Talbert’s second consecutive double-double.

The game was once again a back and forth battle as the teams exchanged the lead throughout the first half, but a bucket by senior newcomer Slim Magee put the Lions ahead 22-21, a lead they would build into a 33-25 lead at the half.

The second half was more of the same as the Greyhounds fought back to tie the game on multiple occasions. Then Talbert once again stepped up to seal the contest, hitting key freebies down the stretch before Lane Barlow and Matt Everson ended the game at the line.

“It felt great to be able to put the team ahead with those free throws,” said Barlow.  “After having what could be a costly turnover, it was big to be able to redeem myself.”

Cornelius led Southern in scoring with 15 in game two, followed closely by Talbert’s 14 and 13 rebounds. Also playing quality minutes were Barlow, who had 13 points, and Greg Renfroe, who grabbed nine boards.

The Lions will open the home schedule against Ark.-Fort Smith at Leggett and Platt Athletic Center on Nov 19, at 7 p.m.