Rebels Men’s Basketball drops season opener in OT
Ole Miss dropped its opening basketball game of the season, a 66-65 overtime loss to Charleston Southern Friday night.
Given that the Rebels were 19-of-63 from the field, had 17 turnovers, and were outrebounded 54-50, it is not surprising they led for only 2:13 of the game.
(For complete game stats, click here.)
Following the game, Coach Kennedy commented: “For us to be as inefficient as we were throughout the course of the game, we were very fortunate to be in the game.”
Behind a three-pointer from LaDarius “Snoop” White, the Rebels went up 65-64 with 1:06 to go in overtime and it looked as if they were going to pull off the win.
Martavious Newby led Ole Miss with 14 points and seven rebounds. (Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics.)
However, with possession of the ball, the Rebels turned the ball over out of bounds with 8.2 seconds remaining in the game—and in heartbreaking fashion, watched as Charleston Southern’s Cedrick Bowen followed a missed layup by Saah Nimley with a tip-dunk with 0.1 seconds remaining to give Charleston Southern the 66-65 win in front of 5,841 at the Tad Smith Coliseum.
Martavious Newby had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Rebels. His shooting was almost perfect for the night, as he went 4-for-5 from the field, 4-for-4 from the free throw line and 2-for-2 from 3-point range.
M.J. Rhett had 11 points for Ole Miss, while Jarvis Summers, who fouled out of the game with 2:06 left in regulation, finished with 8, as did LaDarius White.
Though Kennedy described the team as “stunned,” he also explained that they have to move on and prepare for their game at Troy. “The great thing is we play another game on Monday, and we have 31 more games,” he said. “
“You have to do your best to learn from it. It’s going to hurt and it should. We have to try to get to 1-1 in another test on the road.”
The loss ended a 10-game winning streak Ole Miss owned in season openers and was also the first loss in a season opener during Kennedy’s tenure.
(YouTube Highlights courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics.)
