By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – Steve Knight looked down at the final box score as if he was trying to glean some wisdom, some meaning after a disappointing night of basketball for the William Carey University men.
The Crusaders, the seventh-ranked team in the NAIA preseason poll, came up on the short end of a 72-68 score Thursday night in their Southern States Athletic Conference opener against Blue Mountain at Clinton Gym.
Carey, in the middle of a busy week that includes four games in six days, fell to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in conference. BMC improved to 4-1 and 1-0.
“They just outworked us,” Knight said. “They wanted it worse than we did. They’re a tough-minded team, and we knew that coming in. They just wore us out.”
In the end, the culprit that showed up in the box score was rebounding. The Toppers owned a 50-30 overall advantage on the boards, and were brutal on the offensive glass, getting 19 offensive rebounds, which resulted in 18 second-chance points.
In particular, the Crusaders had no answer for Da’Juonta Ross, a 6-foot-5 senior, who had 18 points and 16 rebounds for Blue Mountain. Of his 16 boards, nine were on the offensive glass, which was one more than Carey had as a team.
“It was a tough, physical game, and it was too physical for some of our guys,” said Knight.
“We just couldn’t handle Ross. He’s a guy who’s not a particularly good shooter, and he sometimes gets out of control. But if he’s got a chance to get an offensive rebound, he’s going to go up and get it. Of his 18 points, I’d say a dozen were because of offensive rebounds.”
Nevertheless, Carey dominated the first half, leading by as many as 12 points in the first 20 minutes, and the Crusaders took a 37-29 lead into the halftime locker room. But Knight said he thought it should have been more.
“We kind of let them off the hook in the first half, and I think they knew it,” said Knight. “We had some chances to extend the lead, but just didn’t make plays, and they hit some big shots to keep themselves in the game.”
Carey paid for that in the second half, as the Toppers reeled off an 11-5 run to narrow the margin to 42-40.
Crusader senior Cameron Douglas hit a 15-foot jump shot on the next possession, but BMC then reeled off nine unanswered points to take a 49-44 lead.
That lead was extended to nine points, 56-47, when Lukas Durasas and Tyree Beason hit back-to-back 3-point shots for the Toppers.
Khalil Jordan hit a trey for Carey, igniting a 12-2 run that put the Crusaders back in the lead with 5:24 to play.
But Ross was boss down the stretch for Blue Mountain, scoring nine of his points in the final five minutes of play.
In back-and-forth action, Ross got a putback basket, then the Crusaders lost him on a drive down the lane, and finally, he was left wide-open on an inbounds play for a layup that put the Toppers ahead for good, 67-66 with 1:19 to play.
“We had some guys who competed, but I thought at times our thought processes weren’t very good,” said Knight.
The Crusaders still had a chance at the end, trailing 70-68 with 12.3 seconds to play, but Carey senior Rodney Mallett left a layup short off the rim, and the Toppers converted a pair of foul shots with 2.4 seconds left to ice the game.
Douglas led Carey with 17 points, and senior Dalen Dotson added 15 points for the Crusaders. Beason led all scorers with 22 points for Blue Mountain.
It won’t get any easier for the Crusaders, who host Bethel (Tenn.) at 4 p.m. Saturday, then Carey travels across town Sunday for an exhibition contest against Southern Miss. Tipoff at Green Coliseum is set for 2 p.m.
“The guys are pretty down right now,” said Knight. “We’ve got to find a way to get some of our shooters back on track.”
As tough as the men’s loss was to take, it was easier than what the Lady Crusaders went through in an excruciating 66-65 defeat to the Lady Toppers.
Blue Mountain’s Carissa Horton threw in an off-balance left-handed hook shot after grabbing an offensive rebound off her own missed free throw with 2.6 seconds to play to snatch victory from Carey’s grasp.
The Lady Crusaders led for much of the game, building an 11-point lead late in the third quarter, and WCU led by 58-51 with 6:11 to play in the game after McKinley Seal hit a 3-point shot.
However, BMC went on an 11-0 run to take a four-point lead with 2:05 to play. The Lady Toppers still had a four-point margin when Seal hit a trey with 41.5 seconds remaining to close the margin to 64-63.
Carey got a turnover on a steal by freshman Lauren Rowley, who passed to senior Tariah Mouton for an uncontested layup to give the Lady Crusaders a 65-64 lead with 18.4 seconds remaining.
The Lady Toppers missed a shot, but Horton grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 3.3 seconds to play, setting up the frantic final play.
Danyelle Lewis had 19 points and Rowley added 13 points, both off the bench, for Carey (1-2, 0-1). Emilee Murr scored 20 points for Blue Mountain (3-3, 1-0) to lead all scorers.
The Lady Crusaders host Bethel (Tenn.) at 2 p.m. Saturday, then travel to New Orleans on Monday to battle Dillard.
Carey Basketball Summaries
Thursday at Clinton Gymnasium
WOMEN
Blue Mountain 66, William Carey 65
BMC 17 15 12 22 – 66
WCU 17 19 12 17 – 65
BLUE MOUNTAIN (3-3, 1-0 in SSAC): Jade Wells 7 (10 rebounds), Olivia Chadwell 12, Emilee Murr 20, Kandice Ricks 13, Gigi Lewis 4, Karmen Payne 2, Carissa Horton 8. TOTALS – FG 21-47 (3FG 10-23), FT 14-22 (66).
WILLIAM CAREY (1-2, 0-1 in SSAC): Rachel Thompson 6, Lachen Terrell 4, McKinley Seal 6, Savannah Richardson 2, Danyelle Lewis 19 (7 rebounds), Lauren Rowley 13 (7 rebounds), Rebekah Engle 2, Tariah Mouton 9, Catoria Blackman 4. TOTALS – FG 26-61 (3FG 10-26), FT 3-7 (65).
MEN
Blue Mountain 72, William Carey 68
BMC 29 43 – 72
WCU 37 31 – 68
BLUE MOUNTAIN (4-1, 1-0 in SSAC): Da’Juonta Ross 18 (16 rebounds), Lukas Durasas 6, Tyree Beason 22 (7 rebounds), Brandon Williams 8, Jonah Simpson 1, Exavian Young 8, Luka Tejic 7, Will Gardner 2. TOTALS – FG 25-60 (3FG 5-16), FT 17-23 (72).
WILLIAM CAREY (4-3, 0-1 in SSAC): Cameron Douglas 17, Jartavious Dobbs 2, Anthony Jones 4, Dalen Dotson 15, Rodney Mallett 8, Brandon Cranford 9, Demetrice Clopton 1, Marques McGee 2, Khalil Jordan 6, Jvari Thigpen 4. TOTALS – FG 24-59 (3FG 4-19), FT 16-22 (68).
