In the second game, the first ever meeting between Southern Mississippi and Coppin State, the home fans got to see Norville Carey play, albeit for just a total of 8 minutes. Photo: supplied

The much awaited and eagerly anticipated Tropical Shoot Out featuring four NCAA Division One College teams tipped off last night, Friday December 20, 2013 in the Multi-Purpose Sports Complex. Photo: supplied

The first game of the opening night saw the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, Junior Ben Dillard scoring a career-best 18 points to lead four Trojans in double figures as UALR (4-6) topped Jacksonville State (5-9) 75-50. Photo: supplied

The first game of the opening night saw the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, Junior Ben Dillard scoring a career-best 18 points to lead four Trojans in double figures as UALR (4-6) topped Jacksonville State (5-9) 75-50.

UALR never trailed in the game, but was unable to pull away from the Gamecocks, who came back to tie the game at 60 on a 3-pointer by Avery Moore with 5:54 remaining. Senior Leroy Isler drained a triple on UALR's next possession to break the tie, but Jacksonville State refused to go away. The Gamecocks got the deficit to back down to one on Teraes Clemmons' shot from the top of the key with 3:25 remaining.

UALR pushed its lead back up to three on two free throws by Dillard, then went up four on another free throw by Isler. After a JSU free throw, two more at the charity stripe by Neighbour at the 1:34 mark put UALR up five.

Dillard's final two of the game gave the Trojans a seven-point cushion with 14 seconds remaining.

Sophomore Josh Hagins chipped in 16 points and grabbed six rebounds in 33 minutes. Senior Will Neighbour tallied his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore James White finished a point shy of his second career double-double with nine points and a career-high 12 boards. Isler scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

In the second game, the first ever meeting between Southern Mississippi and Coppin State, the home fans got to see Norville Carey play, albeit for just a total of 8 minutes.

Southern Miss got things going early and never looked back, advancing to the Championship Game of the BVI Tropical Shootout with an 88-74 victory over Coppin State.

Daveon Boardingham led the Golden Eagles with 14 points and four blocks.
Jerrold Brooks had 13 points and six assists, while Michael Craig had 12 points, seven points and four assists. Neil Watson added 11 points, eight assists and three steals.

Carey shot 3 of 4 from the field on his way to a 7 point total.

"We had a nice energy level to start the game," said Southern Miss head coach Donnie Tyndall. "Our press was pretty effective. We were very unselfish all game, and defensively we sped them up a little bit."

Southern Miss came out hot from the opening tip, scoring the first 10 points and hitting five of its first six shots. After Michael Murray hit a three-pointer to get the Eagles on the board, Michael Craig hit a jumper. Daquan Brickhouse hit a three for CSU, but Deonte Houston followed with a three-of his own.

Andre Armstrong connected on a three-point play, but Southern Miss scored the next eight points to take a 23-9 lead just seven minutes into the game.

Coppin State scored six straight points to cut the deficit to eight, Southern Miss went on a 12-4 run over the next six minutes to take a 39-23 lead. Brickhouse hit two free throws, but a dunk from Craig and a Brooks layup pushed the lead to 18.

Dallas Gary hit one-of-two free throws and Watson followed with two from the charity stripe. After Sterling Smith hit one-of-two from the line, Boardingham connected on a layup to give Southern Miss its largest lead of the game, 47-27.

CSU then scored seven straight points, but Chip Armelin hit one-of-two free throws and Boardingham hit a layup to send Southern Miss into the half with a 50-34 lead.

The second half was more of the same, as Coppin State never got closer than 13 points.

Southern Miss shot 59.3-percent (35-of-59) from the field, but was just 6-of-21 (28.6%) from three. Coppin State connected on 45.7-percent (21-of-46) from the floor and just 5-of-19 (26.3%) from three. The Golden Eagles won the rebounding battle, 37-to-27, and also recorded a season-high 27 assists.

Murray scored a game-high 23 points and Armstrong added 16.

Southern Miss will face Arkansas-Little Rock in the Championship Game at the Multi-Purpose Sports Complex, tonight, December 21, 2013.

Tip off is scheduled for 9 P.M.