Earnest Jones and Jazz Williams scored 12 points apiece and Jones grabbed 14 rebounds as Southern scored nine of the final 11 points to defeat Chicago State 67-60 on Wednesday night.
Jones' free throw with 3:15 remaining broke a 58-58 tie. A steal by Norm Nixon Jr. led to a Doug Scott layup to put the Jaguars (2-10) ahead 61-58, and Nixon made a 3-pointer with 2:24 left for a 64-58 lead.
It was the second win in four games for Southern, which lost its first eight.
Southern led 18-10 with 12:14 left in the first half, but the Cougars (5-9) took a brief lead, 23-22, with a 13-4 run. Jonathan Montgomery, who led Chicago State with 16 points, made four free throws during that stretch and Christian Wall, who scored 11, had 3- and 2-point jumpers.
Southern took a 32-29 lead into halftime and remained on top until the Cougars tied it 56-56 with 4:59 to play.
