HATTIESBURG, Miss. (Interstat) — Southern Mississippi opened its men’s NCAA Division I basketball season with an 82-35 victory over non-divisional opponent Tougaloo on Monday at Reed Green Coliseum. The Golden Eagles improved to 1-0 in front of an announced attendance of 2,337. Southern Mississippi scored 82 points from 75 possessions, an offensive rating of 109.4. Tougaloo, the visiting team, scored 35 points.

Southern Mississippi fell behind when Eric Steward made a layup 5 seconds into the game to give Tougaloo a 2-0 lead. The Golden Eagles answered with 22 consecutive points. Anthony Igiede started the run with a layup and later hit two 3-pointers. Isaac Taveras added a layup and a free throw, Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt and Brandon Weston each made a 3-pointer, and Weston converted three free throws during the surge. Weston’s 3-pointer with 15:29 left in the first half gave Southern Mississippi a 22-2 lead. Tougaloo did not score again until Ben Radford’s hook shot with 10:56 remaining.

The Golden Eagles continued to build their lead. After Radford’s hook shot and Derek Hollman’s jumper pulled Tougaloo to 22-6, Chandler Watts made a free throw, Taveras scored on a layup, Watts made another free throw and Taveras added another layup to push the lead to 29-6. Cameron Wallace’s dunk made it 31-6, Michael Montano Best hit a 3-pointer, and after Daveon Johnson’s layup for Tougaloo, Wallace made a turnaround jumper and a dunk. Jalean Tweedy’s jumper cut the margin to 38-10, but Camden Cerese hit a 3-pointer and a floating jumper before Montano Best made two free throws. Radford made two free throws for Tougaloo to close the first-half scoring, and Southern Mississippi led 45-12 at halftime.

Tougaloo opened the second half with Radford’s layup, but Southern Mississippi answered with a 3-pointer from Weston and a layup by Gaines-Wyatt. After Perry Fletcher’s tip-in and Steward’s 3-pointer for Tougaloo, Gaines-Wyatt made a layup, Taveras converted a three-point play, and Gaines-Wyatt hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 56-20. Wallace made a free throw and a tip-in, and after Paul Dalcour’s layup for Tougaloo, Wallace scored again to make it 61-22. Daveon Johnson hit a 3-pointer for Tougaloo, but Elliot Tulip scored a layup and two free throws for Southern Mississippi. Hollman made a turnaround jumper and a tip-in for Tougaloo before Watts’ layup and consecutive layups by Caleb Hill trimmed the margin to 67-33. Southern Mississippi then pulled away with a 3-pointer from Deandre Harvey, a free throw from Watts, a tip-in by Marcus Overstreet, a free throw by Dorion Bowen, a layup by Harvey, two free throws by Brooks Roberts and a tip-in by Watts. Harvey’s jumper with 45.7 seconds remaining made it 82-34, and Tougaloo scored the final point on Darrius Thames’ free throw with 11.1 seconds left.

Isaac Taveras of Southern Mississippi led the Golden Eagles with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists in 22 minutes. The 6-foot-5, 185-pound guard from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, previously attended North Florida Educational Institute. Cameron Wallace, a 6-foot-8, 228-pound forward who previously attended Parkview High School, added 11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block in 18 minutes. Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt, a 6-foot guard who previously attended St. Anthony’s, had 8 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists in 20 minutes. Anthony Igiede, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard from St. Michael High School, contributed 8 points, 3 rebounds and 4 blocks in 21 minutes. Chandler Watts, a 6-foot-6, 212-pound guard from Combine Academy, finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds in 11 minutes. Brandon Weston, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound guard from Hillcrest Prep in Arizona, scored 9 points with 4 rebounds and 1 assist in 16 minutes. Michael Montano Best, a 6-foot-8 forward from Thomas A. Edison High School, had 5 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist in 14 minutes. Brewer Carruth, a 6-foot-4 guard from Parklane Academy, grabbed 7 rebounds in 13 minutes. Camden Cerese, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard from Lake Park, added 5 points and 1 rebound in 11 minutes. Marcus Overstreet, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward from Feltrim Academy, had 2 points and 5 rebounds in 9 minutes.

Southern Mississippi finished with 17 offensive rebounds, 15 assists, 5 blocks, 16 turnovers and 17 fouls. The Golden Eagles held Tougaloo to 12 first-half points and 35 for the game. Southern Mississippi’s largest lead was 48 points after Harvey’s second-half jumper. Tougaloo was held to 35 points.

Southern Mississippi’s next scheduled game is against Jackson State, followed by a road matchup with Texas State. The Golden Eagles also have upcoming games against Grambling, Nicholls State, Valparaiso, Tulane, McNeese State, James Madison and Mississippi.