CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — Tyree Griffin scored 18 points, Cortez Edwards added 17 and Southern Miss beat Western Carolina 68-63 on Wednesday for third place in the Mayan Division of the Cancun Challenge.
Western Carolina took its first lead, 59-57, since the early going with 5:49 remaining, but that was the Catamounts' final field goal of the game. Matt Halvorsen made two free throws with 1:40 left to pull WCU to 65-63, but after both teams missed shots, Griffin sealed it by making 3 of 4 free throws in the final 29 seconds.
Dominic Magee scored 15 points and LaDavius Draine had 13 for Southern Miss (4-1). Edwards had 12 points in the first half as Southern Miss led 42-37.
Onno Steger, Carlos Dotson and Kameron Gibson each scored 10 points for Western Carolina (1-5). The Catamounts shot a season-best 60.9 percent from the field in the opening half, but turned it over 19 times.
