Southern Miss men's and women's basketball teams claim Sun Belt Conference titles

David Eckert, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
·2 min read

The biggest turnaround in college basketball this season has been sealed with a ring.

Southern Miss men's basketball, coming off a 1-17 season in Conference USA, clinched the Sun Belt Conference championship in its first season as a member of the conference with a 79-69 victory at Texas State on Friday night.

Meanwhile, the Southern Miss women won a share of the Sun Belt title with a 69-64 victory at Louisiana in overtime on Friday night.

The Golden Eagles (25-6, 14-4 SBC) entered Friday tied with Marshall in the standings, but the Thundering Herd lost at Old Dominion. Southern Miss will be the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament in Pensacola, Florida, as it chases an NCAA Tournament bid. The Golden Eagles won't play until March 4 at 11:30 a.m. in the quarterfinals against the Appalachian State and South Alabama winner.

By winning the regular season conference title, the Golden Eagles have already secured a spot if needed in the NIT Tournament.

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Austin Crowley and Felipe Haase, the two primary figures of coach Jay Ladner's nine-transfer rebuild, led the Golden Eagles in scoring , with Haase potting 26 and Crowley adding 17 points.

The Lady Eagles (20-9, 13-5) won their final five regular-season games to share the top spot in the standings with Texas State and James Madison.

Third-seeded Southern Miss will begin Sun Belt Tournament play, also in Pensacola, on Friday at 5 p.m. Georgia Southern plays the winner between Arkansas State and ULM on Thursday with the survivor playing Southern Miss.

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Southern Miss men's, women's basketball teams win Sun Belt titles