HATTIESBURG (AP) — D’Angelo Richardson has become one of Southern Miss’ top players off the bench this season, and on Thursday night he was the team’s top star.

The former Vicksburg High standout hit a fade away 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime, and Southern Miss overcame a 14-point, second-half deficit to beat Florida International 69-66 on Thursday night.

Richardson missed a 3-pointer with eight seconds left. Teammate Cortez Edwards got the rebound and missed a putback, but the rebound of that shot was tipped toward the Southern Miss bench. Richardson chased it down and hit the game-winner with less than a second remaining.

Richardson finished with seven points in 21 minutes off the bench. He was only 1-for-4 from the field, but hit the shot that counted most.

“Cortez was driving and he kicked it, and I knew I had the shot,” Richardson said. “I thought the first one was going in, but once it missed I was focused on getting back and keeping them from scoring. Cortez gets the rebound and it hits the back of the rim. Quinton (Campbell) tapped it back and it came back off very slow, so I’m still getting back. But once I saw I could run to it, I went and got the shot, and I knew it was going in. I was then focused again on stopping them from scoring, and once our team stormed the court, I knew it was over.”

Quinton Campbell scored 28 points and made five 3-pointers to lead Southern Miss (8-18, 5-9 Conference USA). Edwards added 16 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Elmo Stephen scored 17 points and Eric Nottage had 15 for the Golden Panthers (6-20, 2-11), who led 38-24 with 12:32 to play. Southern Miss cut that deficit down to five, but Florida International still led by 11 points with 5:27 remaining.

Southern Miss then went on a 15-0 run, taking a 53-52 lead on a free throw by Richardson with 2:18 to go.
FIU finished the second half by scoring the last four points to force overtime. Nottage made a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 60, and Campbell missed a 3 with two seconds left.

FIU scored the first six points of overtime, but Richardson’s 3-pointer capped a 9-0 run to end the game.