Senior Boban Jacdonmi had a career night in the season-opener of the Jay Ladner era for the Golden Eagles as they defeated Delta State 90-71 Tuesday evening. Jacdonmi finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds having only had 30 points and 38 rebounds last season in total.
"He's a player that has not experienced a lot of personal success, but he plays his tail off every single day. I was so glad to see him have such a big night. I thought he made a great move to start the game with a left-handed jump hook, and hopefully, this will be a confidence-booster for him, especially with our lack of seniority on the team," said Ladner.
Jacdonmi started the night off scoring eight of the Golden Eagles’ first 10 points. Five minutes into the game Southern Miss had an eight-point lead over the Statesmen.
Delta State’s Austin Laatsch responded with a three to close within three, however, Jacdonmi Artur Konontsuk extended the Southern Miss lead with a field goal and two Konontsuk free throws.
Southern Miss controlled the first period as they widened the gap between them and the Statesmen by going on a 10-0 run with 7:34 to play. Delta State only scored four points in the final seven minutes, while Southern Miss continued to pile on.
When the halftime buzzer sounded, Southern Miss had widened their gap to 20 points, taking a 49-29 lead into the locker room.
Southern Miss controlled the second period as Keyshaun Street nailed back-to-back three-pointers and Tyler Stevenson went back-to-back on dunks throughout the period.
The Golden Eagles led by as many as 26 in the second period.
"Being able to get that first win under your belt is a special feeling, especially at home and coming back to my school," Ladner said. "By the same token, we have to take it one game at a time, and we have a lot of work to do. I think that if you saw the exhibition last Tuesday, we made some improvements, but we have a long way to go."
Southern Miss starts the season 1-0 on the year. The Golden Eagles will travel to South Alabama on November 9th while Delta State plays Florida Southern College in the GSC/SSC Classic this Saturday to start their regular season.
Stat Leaders
Southern Miss: Boban Jacdonmi - 29 points, 10 rebounds
Delta State: Keyshaun Street - 28 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
Notes
This was the first regular-season meeting between the schools since 1976.
Sophomore Tyler Stevenson's career-high 18 points (9-for-15 shooting) bested his 15 from the 2018-19 season opener.
Sophomore Jay Malone collected a game-high 10 assists in his debut, the most by a Golden Eagle since Tyree Griffin (10) versus UTSA in the home finale on March 9.
Senior Leonard Harper-Baker (13 points, nine rebounds) was one board shy of his fifth double-double. He also had a career-high six assists.
Freshman Artur Konontsuk was efficient with 13 points (4-for-5 FG, 4-for-4 FT) in 28 minutes with just one turnover.
The Golden Eagles were 4-for-11 from long-range. Last year, the team was 5-3 when making five or fewer.
