Mustang men follow freshman Fall to win, 58-53 (Photo by Brittany Oswald, The Daily Campus)

The SMU men’s basketball team overcame sluggish starts in both halves and rallied to triumph over Southern Miss on Saturday, 58-53.

Inspired by relentless defense and a career night from Bamba Fall, the Mustangs came together as a team and exhibited tremendous poise to win the game.

The first half was an interior struggle, as Southern Miss’ posts, Mildon Ambres and Jason Forte, waged war on the glass. With his imposing strength on the block and his ability to make tough turnaround jump shots, Ambres proved to be an especially difficult defensive assignment.

While Ambres’ versatility pushed Southern Miss forward, sophomore guard Derrick Roberts did his best to keep the Mustangs afloat.

Indeed, Roberts was like a shot of offensive adrenaline, as he either scored or assisted on five consecutive possessions in the first half.

Roberts began his surge with a short jumper in the post and followed that make with consecutive treys, a long two and an assist to Fall for the easy deuce.

By halftime, the Southern Miss lead was four points. The second half began with a shift in momentum favoring the Golden Eagles.

Southern Miss ran up the lead to nine, sparked by Jason Forte’s fast break dunk. The Mustangs turned up their defensive intensity and forced Southern Miss into a series of mistakes.

Bryan Hopkins and John Killen caused the opposing guards to make several costly turnovers. Indeed, while Donatas Rackauskas blocked out offensive rebounders, Bamba Fall blocked 5 shots.

Fall’s most exhilarating highlight came with less than 10 minutes left in the half, when he blocked Jason Forte’s dunk attempt. Furthermore, Fall was clutch on the offensive end as he converted on eight of 10 free throw attempts, an unusual feat for a seven-footer. With five minutes and 49 seconds left in the game, the Mustangs built their lead up to six and managed to hang on to the lead for the win.

Fall led the team in scoring with 14, while Roberts and Devon Pearson chipped in 13 and 12, respectively.

“That was one of the hardest fought games from start to finish – to win a game like that, you have to be mentally tough,” Coach Jimmy Tubbs said.