Greyhounds Get Region Win at SouthArk

The Greyhounds got 48 points from their frontline in taking an 81-72 win over the South Arkansas Community College Stars at the SACC Gymnasium in El Dorado in the first NJCAA Region 2 games for both teams.

Throughout most of the first half, ASU Mid-South led by a single possession until expanding their lead late in the first half and led 42-36 at halftime. Then in the second half, South Arkansas tied it at 42-42 before the Greyhounds went on a 5-0 run and led 62-56 on a Christian Thompson bucket with 8:30 remaining. But then both teams went scoreless for the next two minutes until the Stars reeled off 5 consecutive points to trim the Greyhound lead to 62-61 with 5:10 remaining to play. But ASU Mid-South answered as Jailen Anderson powered inside for a layup, and Thompson found T.J. Stewart cutting to the basket twice for close baskets as the Greyhounds went up 68-64 with 2:59 remaining. South Arkansas would cut it to two points twice more, the latter being at the 1:37 mark, but the Greyhound defense would force two turnovers in the next three possessions and score on every possession including knocking down free throws for the final count.

South Arkansas took a 42-40 rebounding advantage but was held to just 37.5% shooting from the field and 19.2% from the three-point line as ASU Mid-South shot 50.9% for the game.

The Greyhounds used their size advantage well as 6'9" Christian Thompson scored 24 points with 8 rebounds, T.J. Stewart finished with 13 points and 6 boards, and Braxtyn McCuien scored 11 points and pulled down 4 rebounds. Jailen Anderson scored 18 points to go with 7 rebounds and a game-high 4 assists, while Jesse Washington chipped in 9 points.

ASU Mid-South (11-6, 1-0) travels to Williams Baptist University JV on Monday before returning to The Dog House on Thursday to host the Southern Arkansas University Tech Rockets (14-6, 1-0) at 7:30pm following the women's game at 5:30pm.