Rams' Season Comes To A Close In Rome

ROME, Ga-- The University of Mobile men's basketball team fell to Southern Polytechnic State University 70-57 in the opening round of the 2011 SSAC Tournament.

Mobile ends the season with a 15-14 record.

Matthew Turner led Mobile with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting, Kevin Calloway finished with 14 points and Donte Walker chipped in 10 points and 6 rebounds for the Rams. Bentley Hylton added 6 points and 9 boards.

Darrien Beacham led the Hornets with 14 points, while Rashad Gill added 13.

SPSU out shot Mobile 48% to 41% from the field and knocked down 7-of-19 from the 3-point line, compared to a 1-of-12 shooting effort from behind the arc by Mobile. Neither team was a factor from the free throw line, combining for only 17 made freebies.

The Rams started out taking a 6-0 lead before the Hornets finally got on the board at the 17:15 mark. A 3-point play from Turner gave Mobile an 11-4 lead, but the Hornets answered with 9-0 run to grab their first lead of the game, 13-11 with 11:56 left. The teams traded leads until Brock Dockery sank a 3-pointer to give the Rams a 23-19 lead with 4:53 left. Over the next 3:32, the Hornets went on a 1-0 surge to take a 29-23 lead, with 5 turnovers from Mobile aiding the run. SPSU then took a 31-27 lead into the break.

Southern Poly then hit their first 2 3-pointers of the 2nd half and pushed the lead to 41-29 just 3:12 into the half. The Rams pulled back within single digits on a bucket from Calloway to make it 32-41 with 15:38 left, but the Hornets again answered with a run, using an 11-2 spurt to surge ahead by 18 points with 11:38 TO play. They led by as many as 19 points and Mobile never got within single digits again.