Greyhounds Pull Out Win to Hand SAU Tech First Region Loss

Down 8 points at the half, the Greyhounds held the SAU Tech Rockets to 4 points in the first 8 1/2 minutes of the second half to take the lead, then held the visitors off down the stretch for a 73-71 victory Thursday night at The Dog House.

SAU Tech (9-4, 4-1) was the lone unbeaten team in region play entering Thursday's contest on a 7-game winning streak, and showed why in the first half as they went to 7'1" center Treyon Johnson early and often to lead 39-31 at the half. But the Greyhounds came back in the second half with a defensive game plan that slowed the Rocket attack and allowed them to take a 55-45 lead with 11:00 left to go. SAU Tech, however, would not go down easily as Johnson tied it from the free throw line at 62-62 with 5:32 remaining and took a 64-62 lead at the 5:01 mark with another basket in the paint.

J.T. Smith then put the Greyhounds back on top 67-65 with a three-pointer with 3:57 to go, but after 2 ties and 2 more lead changes SAU Tech hit a layup in transition with 45.9 seconds left to take a 70-69 lead. On the ensuing possession, J.T. Smith was fouled and calmly sank both free throws to put the Greyhounds back in front 72-71 with 24.6 seconds left, and the Rockets missed a three-pointer and with 6.0 seconds left fouled Jeremiah Jones who came down with the rebound. Jones sank 1 of 2 free throws for the final count as SAU Tech's last-second three-pointer was off the mark.

Sam Smith finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Greyhounds while J.T. Smith, Kylon McCullough and Jeremiah Jones scored 14 points each. J.T. Smith led the rebounding effort with 9 boards to go with a team-high 4 assists. The Greyhounds shot just 42.6% from the field and 4-of-20 (20.0%) from the three-point line, but helped themselves by turning the ball over only 11 times against the Rocket defense.

The win puts ASU Mid-South (10-2, 3-1) back in the lead in region play as they travel to National Park College Saturday in Hot Springs before returning to The Dog House Monday night for a rematch with St. Louis Community College.