COLUMBUS, Miss. – In a game that may not win the men's basketball team from the Mississippi University for Women many style points, it made up for in excitement for the raucous mid-week crowd that cheered The W on to a 62-61 win versus Southern University at New Orleans. In its 2022-23 debut at Pohl Gym, the Owls (2-1) needed some late heroics to preserve the win over the Knights (2-5).
 
The W enjoyed its largest lead early in the first half, at the 15:42 mark, when a short jumper by Thomas Wright put the Owls ahead, 9-1. However, with 4:12 left in the opening half, SUNO had caught MUW at 20-20. By the time the teams went into the locker room, the Knights built a 29-24 lead.
 
SUNO held the upper hand – leading by as many as eight points – the bulk of the second half. With 2:54 left in the game, The W's Brye Hopkins made back-to-back layups that took his team from down three points to the lead it would not relinquish, 59-58.
 
Up 62-60 with 45 tics left on the clock, Thomas Wright missed the backend of a two-shot foul. But rather than concede the rebound to the larger Knight players, MUW guard Milos Zeradjanin came up with the carom. That allowed the Owls to whittle away more precious time off the clock.
 
But after a turnover – The W had 20 miscues in all – SUNO had 26 seconds with which to work. The Knights patiently worked for a last shot. But that's where the Owls found more late magic.
 
As SUNO's Bryce Brown attempted a driving layup, Thomas Wright made a clean block that went out of bounds with 1.7 seconds left. MUW was not out of the woods just yet.
 
SUNO inbounded the ball to the far corner with Isaiah Sanders drawing a two-shot foul as he tried the catch-and-shoot. Needing to make both free throws to tie the contest and just three-tenths of a second on the clock, Sanders missed the front end that sent the crowd into a frenzy. After making the second shot, the Owls just tossed the inbound pass up-court to preserve the win.
 
Thomas Wright led all scorers with 15 points, hitting 6-of-8 from the floor. He also grabbed eight rebounds, had a pair of blocks and two assists, as well.
 
Hopkins finished with 13 points on a perfect 5-for-5 night from the floor. Hopkins also had a block and two assists, while collecting a game-high nine rebounds.
 
Shon Wright was 3-of-6 from the field on his way to 10 points, also going 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
 
The W shot 53.7 percent as a team, while holding SUNO to 40.7 percent. MUW out-rebounded the Knights, 37-19. But SUNO was able to convert the 20 Owls' turnovers into 20 points.