Southern Miss continues hoops home stand

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss men's basketball team will continue a three-game homestand this Tuesday, Dec. 27th, when it hosts Belhaven. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.

This will be just the third meeting between Southern Miss and Belhaven. The Golden Eagles hold the all-time series lead, 3-0, with two of the games being held in Hattiesburg. This will be the first game since the teams met in the 2007-08 season opener.

Southern Miss enters Tuesday night's contest with a 10-2 record. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 53-51 victory over USF.

Darnell Dodson recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Maurice Bolden recorded his third double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

LaShay Page leads the Black and Gold with 14.3 points, good for 11th-place in Conference USA. He is third in the league in three-pointers made (2.9) and is seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.380).

Angelo Johnson is second on the team with 12.3 points. He is also sixth in the league in assists (3.6) and seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7). Bolden is scoring 11.8 points while grabbing a team-leading 6.8 rebounds. He is also sixth in the league with 1.5 blocks per game. Neil Watson is adding 10.8 points while connecting on 91.8% of his free throws, good for second in C-USA and 11th in the country (through 12/19).

As a team, Southern Miss is scoring 72.3 points and allowing just 63.6. The Golden Eagles are hitting 42.1-percent of their shots and 39.2% of their three-pointers, which leads Conference USA. Their opposition is connecting on 43.0% from the field and 36.1-percent from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles hold the advantage on the boards, as they are outrebounding their opponents 36.2-to-31.3, a difference of 4.8 per game. The Golden Eagles are also leading the league and are fourth in the NCAA (through 12/19) in free throw percentage (.773).

Head coach Larry Eustachy is in his eighth season at the helm of the Southern Miss men's basketball program. He has compiled a 127-106 (.545) record during his time as head coach. In 21 years, Eustachy has an overall record of 387-251 (.607).

Belhaven comes into Tuesday's game with a 4-9 record. The Blazers are coming off a 75-65 victory over Truett-McConnell College.

The Blazers were led by senior forward Daryl Arnold with season-highs of 26 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the year. Junior guard Jordan Butts added 16 points off the bench, with nine of them coming at the free throw line. Sophomore guard Chris Cofield added 10 points and four assists and junior forward Andrew Marshall recorded nine rebounds.

Belhaven is led by Arnold with 14.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 12 blocks. Senior guard Woodie Howard is second on the team with 11.2 points while also pulling down 4.5 rebounds. Butts is scoring 9.1 points and Marshall is adding 6.2 boards.

As a team, Belhaven is scoring 63.7 points per game while allowing 71.5. The Blazers are shooting just 38.8-percent from the floor while their opponents are connecting on 45.3-percent. Belhaven is pulling down 35.2 boards per game, while allowing 41.1. The Blazers are also connecting on just 25.9-percent of its three-point attempts while holding their opposition to just 32.6%.

Head coach Tom Kelsey is in his eighth season at the helm of the Belhaven men's basketball program. He has compiled a 109-92 (.542) record during his tenure as head coach. In 13 seasons overall, Kelsey is 192-168 (.533).