Southeast Missouri State men's basketball senior guard Isiah Jones' days as a student-athlete are coming to an end.

With Jones being the only senior on the roster this season, an increase in responsibility and overall leadership was expected of him and was demonstrated through his performance as he led the team in assists with 86 and was third in scoring with 10.4 points per game.

"These last two years have been a great experience," Jones said. "[I have] been around two different coaches, which has been a great experience, and I have learned a lot from them. And just being around great players, in which great relationships have been formed with all of them."

Prior to joining Southeast, Jones had stints with two other basketball programs, the University of Alabama at Birmingham from 2011-13 and Odessa College from 2013-14.

Jones' high-school career and prep years included playing on the varsity team all four years at Meridian High School in Mounds, Illinois, where he earned All-State honors. He then attended prep school in Houston, where he averaged 21.4 points as a junior and was part of a National Post Graduate Athletic Association high-school division-championship team his senior year.

Jones, who's known to many of his teammates, friends and family as "Hoopy," earned the nickname from his grandmother at a young age because she believed he looked liked a "hooper," or basketball player.

While baseball was his sport of preference early in life, the love for the game of basketball increased but didn't prevent Jones from being offered collegiate scholarship offers in baseball from Texas Christian University and several other colleges and universities while in high school.

With this past year being a tough one for the Redhawks, Jones plans to put the memories of an eight-game losing streak, including a come-from-behind win by Austin Peay, behind him.

Southeast ended the season with a record of 5-24 overall, including a record of 2-14 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The team finished in last place of the OVC in coach Rick Ray's first season.

Jones intends to take this overall season as one of learning and sticking together through the good and the bad.

In an attempt to end his career and the season for Southeast on a positive note, Jones remained aggressive and got out of his shooting slump. He ended the game with 13 points on 3 for 5 shooting from 3-point range, 4-9 overall and perfect on his two attempts from the line.

With shooting being one of the many assets Jones has provided Southeast in the last two years, clutch performances and opportunities have been set aside for him to make some crucial tying or game-winning shots late in the season that included him hitting a late 3-pointer against SIU-Edwardsville.

While Saturday was Jones' final collegiate game and a tough concept to accept, his overall reflection of his career has been positive, with future hopes to play somewhere professionally. In the near future his determination to compete will not end, even though his career as a Redhawk will.