The nets came down Saturday night at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
There was cause for celebration after the Southern men's basketball team wrapped up the Southwestern Athletic Conference outright regular-season championship with a 71-57 win over Alabama A&M.
The nets came down on both ends of the court, one for the men's team and the other for Southern's women, who won their regular-season title on Thursday night.
The win sets up Southern (20-11, 15-3) as the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament in Atlanta. It is Southern's first regular-season title since 2014, which is also the last time the Southern men and women won it in the same season.
After the win, Southern coach Kevin Johnson withstood a Gatorade bath and said he knew his team was special after a 5-7 start against one of the toughest schedules in college basketball.
"If you look at the nonconference records of the schools in our league, they don't survive it, but we did," he said. "We started conference play and we've led this league from start to finish. That doesn't happen often. That's how special this group is."
Against A&M (10-21, 6-12), Southern found an offensive rhythm that was lacking in a 70-69 loss to Alabama State on Thursday. The Jaguars found it in the first half and built a 43-23 halftime lead.
In the second half, A&M made 11 of its first 16 shots and got as close as 12 points four times. The Jaguars never let the Bulldogs get closer.
"Those one-point losses, sometimes you don't rebound from it, but this group has done it all year," Johnson said. "It's all about these guys. They've been tough and resilient all year. They love being together. That's what happens when you're a special team."
Southern got a boost from Jordan Johnson, who made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Michael Jacobs added 13 points, and Derrick Tezeno turned in a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Jaguars outrebounded A&M 32-26 and made 21 of 27 foul shots.
"We all know what kind of job we need to do to get what we want," said Brentay Noel, who had seven points, five rebounds and two blocks for the Jaguars. "The other night we didn't have the drive and we didn't deserve it. Tonight we came back and we made sure we got it. We made sure we deserved it."
The game was tied 3-3 before Joe Manning hit a 3-pointer as Southern made five consecutive shots from the field. A&M's Chad Moodie scored inside as the Bulldogs trailed 16-9, but Southern turned up the heat after that.
Over an eight-minute stretch, Southern outscored A&M 22-2 to take control of the game. By the time A&M's Angok Anyang made two free throws, the Bulldogs trailed 38-13 with less than five minutes to go in the half.
A&M put together a mini run, but baskets by Andre Nunley and Tezeno helped the Jaguars take a 20-point halftime lead.
Alabama A&M shot 51.9% in the second half as it gave Southern a run.
"I didn't like our energy to start the second half, but we just needed to hold serve and maintain some distance," Johnson said. "Then we changed up defenses a little bit, and we knew they wouldn't have enough time."
