Flowers scores 17 points and Southern Miss holds off late SMU rally for 56-53 victory

Southern Mississippi holds off SMU 56-53

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Gary Flowers scored 17 points and Southern Mississippi avoided another late-game letdown by defeating SMU 56-53 on Tuesday night.

Trailing by 10 points with just over a minute left, SMU (10-11, 3-4 Conference USA) mounted a rally to cut the lead to 54-53 with 10 seconds left.

But a pair of free throws by Angelo Johnson gave Southern Miss (13-8, 3-4) its final lead, as SMU’s Derek Williams missed an off-balance 3-point shot as time expired.

Williams scored 24 points, but had a team-high five turnovers. The Mustangs committed 14 turnovers and had just seven assists.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for SMU, and gave Southern Miss its third straight win against a Conference USA opponent.