Feb. 12, 2005

LSU-Shreveport stops Mobile's streaks
No. 14 Pilots top No. 3 Rams 90-78 to gain share of first in GCAC

By TOMMY HICKS
Sports Reporter - Mobile Register

MOBILE, Ala. -- Streaking was canceled at the University of Mobile Saturday night by LSU-Shreveport. The visitors, ranked No. 14 in the NAIA poll, used their high-powered offense to hand the No. 3-ranked Rams a 90-78 loss at Pharr Gymnasium, ending several winning streaks for Mobile.

Not only did the Rams lose their streaks, they also lost their advantage in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.

The loss dropped Mobile to 23-4 overall and 12-1 in the GCAC and ended a 23-game winning streak on its home floor (17 of those collected this season) and a 17-game win streak dating to a late November loss to Trevecca Nazarene.

LSU-Shreveport (21-6, 12-1) is tied with the Rams for first place in the GCAC standings. If the teams remain tied for first at the end of the regular season and all the tie-breakers used to determine the champion fail to determine a winner, the regular-season title could be determined by a coin toss. With that title -- and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament March 1-5 in New Orleans -- goes one of the GCAC's two automatic berths to the NAIA national tournament.

" They came in and took it to us," Mobile coach Joe Niland said. "They did a great job. They were ready to play and they played well and stuck to their game plan.

" We played very poor on defense. Very, very poor. We tried to do too much and we didn't move with any energy, but (LSU-Shreveport) had a lot to do with that."

The Pilots grabbed control of the game in the final four minutes of the first half. Mobile had taken one of its few leads when Gimel Lewis scored in the paint to make it 32-30. The Pilots made back-to-back baskets, and Mobile's Ravi Amunagama hit a pair of free throws to knot things at 34-34 with 3:54 to play.

From there, LSU-Shreveport scored nine unanswered points before Mobile managed a Tramaine Perry free throw with 53 seconds to go. Justin Collins hit a 3-pointer for LSU-Shreveport 30 seconds later to give the Pilots a 13-1 run and a 47-35 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Rams made a couple of runs at the Pilots' lead -- cutting the deficit to 63-57 with 9:30 left and to 77-70 with 2:15 to go -- but each time LSU-Shreveport made short runs to end Mobile's momentum.

The Rams were led by Lewis' 21 points and 14 rebounds. He was 7-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-7 at the free-throw line. Gabe Feagin scored 20 points and handed out eight assists. Chris Bolden finished with 13 points and Tramiane Perry had 10 points and 10 rebounds, but was just 4-of-15 from the floor (including an 0-for-5 effort from 3-point range) and 2-for-6 at the fre- throw line.

Mobile committed 21 turnovers and shot a light 9-of-32 from 3-point range.

Fredericko Payne, the leading scorer in NAIA, bettered his 26.7-points-a-game average with 28 points, hitting just 8-of-20 shots but making 5-of-11 3-point tries. Justin Collins scored 18 points, including a 3-of-3 showing from behind the arc. Derrick Sowell scored 15, with Derrick Rogers getting 11.

The victory avenged a 108-101 loss to Mobile on its home floor for LSU-Shreveport in January and extended the Pilots' win streak to seven games.

Mobile has three games this week, beginning with trips to Tougaloo on Monday and Belhaven on Thursday. It returns home Saturday to face Xavier. LSU-Shreveport stays in town to play at Spring Hill College Monday night.

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