The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Southeastern Louisiana
Rebels Edge Southeastern Louisiana 68-62
12/21/2005 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2005
Final Stats
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Dwayne Curtis had 23 points and Brian Smith hit two decisive 3-pointers in the final 3 minutes to help Mississippi defeat Southeastern Louisiana 68-62 on Wednesday night.
Ole Miss (8-3) erased a nine-point deficit in the final 13 minutes behind Bam Doyne, who finished with 15 points. Curtis, a 290-pound Auburn transfer, added nine rebounds and made 10 of 15 shots.
Smith, a backup guard who's the son of Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, hit consecutive 3-pointers, the last giving Ole Miss an insurmountable 62-58 lead with 1:56 remaining.
Southeastern Louisiana (5-5) didn't get closer than three the rest of the way in losing its fifth straight.
Ricky Woods led the Lions with 14 points. Chris Lee and Quennell Green had 11 points each, while Joseph Polite finished with 10.
Southeastern led by as many as 12 in the first half and held a 40-31 lead at halftime, but the Lions made just four shots in the final 15 minutes.
Ole Miss, which trailed 50-41 with 14:25 left, used a 13-2 run and took its first lead at 54-52 on a layup by Todd Abernethy with about 6 minutes remaining.
The Rebels finished a six-games-in-12-days stretch with a 5-1 record. They outrebounded Southeastern 40-30, forced 15 turnovers and shot 45 percent.
