Southern Miss came out of the halftime break strong, even taking the lead over Old Dominion for a few moments, but the Monarchs proved too much for the short-handed Golden Eagles as they fell 68-58 at home in C-USA play.

"It's a tough one," head coach Jay Ladner said. "Old Dominion did a better job at shooting the three than they traditionally do, and we were slow to adjust to it. We spotted them a 10-12 point lead that ultimately was the margin. On a positive note, I was proud of our team to trail by as much as 15 and get ahead. We had expended a lot of energy at that point and weren't able to sustain it."

Old Dominion was 7-16 from the three-point arc in the first half along with 43% from the field which gave the Monarchs a 33-23 lead going into the halftime break.

Southern Miss fired back in the second half with a 9-1 run as LaDavius Draine nailed back-to-back threes on the run to pull within three, 34-32. The Golden Eagles kept the pressure on and eventually a Tyler Stevenson jump shot put Southern Miss ahead 47-46.

Old Dominion’s AJ Oliver responded with a pair of threes to give Old Dominion the lead back while Southern Miss could not keep pace. A 17-0 run late put the dagger in any attempt for the Golden Eagles to make it a game.

"We played very well the first 10 minutes of the second half. One of the things we talk to our players about is consistency individually, in practice and anything else we do each day. I take full responsibility for that. We have to find ways to even things out. The defensive effort should never fluctuate and be our stabilizer in games we're not shooting as well as other times,” said Ladner.

What’s next

Southern Miss falls to 7-16 (2-7) and will host Charlotte Saturday at 2 p.m. while Old Dominion travels to Louisiana Tech this Saturday with a record of 9-13 (5-4).

Notes

This was the second time in three games (third for the season) that Southern Miss used just seven players (also at UAB and South Alabama).

Tyler Stevenson’s 18 points and 10 rebounds produced his third double-double of the season and his career.

LaDavius Draine had a game-high 22 points, leading all scorers.