Mississippi 68, South Carolina 63

Jan 11, 2006, 10:49 pm

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Bam Doyne had 23 points and hit two key

free throws with 9 seconds remaining to lift Mississippi to a 68-63

victory over South Carolina on Wednesday night.

Auburn transfer Dwayne Curtis added 15 points for the Rebels

(12-3, 2-0 Southeastern Conference), who won their sixth straight

game despite nearly blowing an 11-point lead in the final 3

minutes.

South Carolina (9-6, 0-2) twice closed to within two points, but

Dwayne Day missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds

left.

Doyne rebounded the miss and added two free throws to clinch it

for the Rebels.

Doyne finished with a team-high nine rebounds and added five

assists for Ole Miss, which is enjoying its best start since the

Rebels won the SEC West in 2000-01.

Tarence Kinsey led the Gamecocks with 18 points, and Renaldo

Balkman and Day each had 12.

South Carolina shot only 34.5 percent from the field, but

converted 23-of-29 from the free-throw line and forced 16 turnovers

to stay in the game.

The Rebels shot 50 percent from the field and were 20-of-26 from

the line.

Doyne and Londrick Nolen combined to hit 5-of-6 free throws in

the final 40 seconds in Ole Miss' eighth straight victory over

South Carolina in Oxford.

It was tied at 31 at halftime after South Carolina closed the

half with a 7-0 run in the final 2 minutes. There were seven lead

changes and five ties in the half.

Ole Miss opened the second half with an 8-2 run and never

trailed again.

The biggest lead came at 57-45 with 6:44 left on a Nolen free

throw.