Greyhounds Overcome Slow Start

ASU Mid-South hosted the Rockets of SAU Tech to begin the second half of Region 2 play. The Greyhounds would overcome a slow offensive start to pull out the 66-65 victory in The Dog House.

"I couldn't be more proud with how hard our guys played tonight. We've struggled playing with that type of intensity for 40 minutes, but they did exactly that tonight and it paid off in the end. We didn't shoot the best and not scoring a field goal in the first 7 minutes, but were able to keep it close until we were able to get it going. It all started on the defensive side of the ball. We really iterated that we needed to value the ball more and give us more opportunities, and we did just that. 5 turnovers in a 40 minute, physical game is very impressive. Our guys got the job done. I couldn't be more proud of them and their efforts." head coach Cody Hastings said after the game.

In a rematch of a game on January 8th in which the Greyhounds won 78-71 but would later have to forfeit, ASU Mid-South welcomed the Rockets to The Dog House. In a tight defensive battle the Rockets would hold the Greyhounds without a field goal for the first 7 minutes of the game. During that stretch the Greyhounds were able to keep the game close, and would eventually take an 8 point lead with 6 minutes remaining in the first half. The Rockets battled back, and once again their defense held ASU Mid-South to just 2 points in the final three minutes. The Rockets missed a layup as the buzzer went off and helped the Greyhounds take a 34-33 lead into the half.

The second half was much like the first where neither team could seperate themselves. It was a back and forth dog fight in which saw Darren Wallace would hit a go ahead 3 point shot with 40 seconds remaining to give the Greyhounds a 1 point lead. On the ensuing possession, the Rockets Mckenzie would miss a layup in which Darren Wallace would go up and grab a rebound with 11 seconds remaining and got fouled. Wallace would miss the first one, but would hit the second to push the Greyhounds lead to 2. Jesse Washington would then block Kelvin Bowers shot, which left the Rockets just .4 seconds left. ASU Mid-South would be called for a foul on the shot attempt, but the Rockets would miss the first shot and make the second. With only .1 on the clock, all the Greyhounds had to do was just inbound the ball, in which Washington would inbound to Chapin for the time to run out giving the Greyhounds the 66-65 win.

Jesse Washington led all scorers with 17. Je'Marion Westbrook had 16 points and tied a game high 7 rebounds. Kyrin Dock would go on to score 12 points all in the first half, but also had a game high 8 assists. Freshman Darren Wallace rounded out the double digit scoring for ASU Mid-South scoring 11.

The Greyhounds move to 11-11 on the season and 2-4 in region play. Up next, ASU Mid-South hosts ASU Newport in a history game as it's the first ever inter-ASU system schools facing off against each other on Saturday, February 3. Tip-off is set for 5:00.