DeLAND, Fla. – Stetson scored the last 10 points of the game and rallied from a six-point deficit in the second half to defeat the University of South Alabama men's basketball team 87-78 Saturday night at the Edmunds Center.

The Hatters even their record at 6-6 while the Jaguars fall to 6-3.

"I'm extremely disappointed with our effort defensively," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "You come into the game doing a pretty good job throughout eight games, and tonight in both halves, Stetson was able to put up over 40 points, and that's a recipe for disaster when you play a team as talented offensively as they are."

Stetson's 87 points and 51.9 shooting percentage are the highest by a South Alabama opponent this season. The Hatters had four players in double-digits, including two with 20 or more.

"We just allowed them to rotate the ball without any pressure, we didn't do a good job of contesting the 3-point shot – they shot 40 percent from 3 – and when we did come out to contest, we weren't on balance, they drove around us, and that's why they shot 29 free throws," Graves said. "We didn't do a very good job of guarding our yard on the defensive end."

The two teams were separated by no more than three points for an almost six-minute stretch late in the contest prior to Stetson's game-winning run.

USA missed its last five shots, going 0 for 4 from 3-point land, and turned the ball over three times in the final 3:05 of the game.

"They were scoring and we weren't, and we panicked and took two 3s that were not necessary," Graves noted. "You go down and look at where we were scoring the ball, we were throwing it inside to Georgi (Boyanov), Don (MuepoKelly) and Josh (AjayI), and scoring around the rim. We've got to do a better job of continuing to get those guys the ball. They had the advantage and we didn't take advantage of that down the stretch.

"At the end of the day, it was our lack of defensive intensity that got us beat."

Angel Rivera (4 points), Divine Myles (3) and Derick Newton (3) combined for all 10 of Stetson's late scoring spurt. Myles hit a jumper with 2:40 to go to give the Hatters the lead for good (79-78) with 2:40 left, then Newton followed with a 3-pointer to extend the lead to four.

Rivera converted a turnover into a layup with 55.1 seconds on the clock, before combining with Myles to go 3 for 4 from the free-throw line in the final 25.6 seconds to close out the contest.

The Jaguars had a season-high-tying five in double-digit points, led by seniors Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) and Don MuepoKelly (Fontana, Calif.) who had 16 each. Senior Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) had 13, and senior Nick Stover (Los Angeles, Calif.) and freshman Josh Ajayi (El Monte, Calif.) came off the bench to score 12 and 10, respectively.

"That's where our advantage was, throwing it inside," Graves said. "You look back and we needed to throw it in there even more, but again, 78 points is enough to win this basketball game if we guard the way we have in our previous eight games."

Ajayi and MuepoKelly pulled down eight rebounds apiece, while Williams and junior Dederick Lee (Clarksville, Ark.) combined for eight assists and no turnovers.

Myles led all scorers with 23 points, and Newton recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Rivera dished out 10 assists.

South Alabama starts a three-game homestand Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. against Denver.

NOTES: Williams moved into a tie with Demetric Bennett for seventh place on USA's career scoring list with 1,405 points… Boyanov grabbed his 500th career rebound and currently has 503… Stetson shot 51.7 percent from the floor in the first half, 52.0 percent in the second, and 51.9 percent for the contest, season highs by a USA opponent for the game and first half… South Alabama had 17 assists and 11 turnovers tonight; the team was 5-0 this season when posting a positive assist/turnover ratio coming into the contest… The Jags won the turnover battle 15-11; they had a minus-22 margin in their two previous losses… After Stetson went 8 for 20 from behind the 3-point line, USA opponents are averaging 8.3 triples in three wins and just 4.7 in six losses… Fourteen of MuepoKelly's 16 points came after halftime, and he shot 7 for 10 from the floor while tying his season high with three assists… The Sun Belt Conference's leading shot blocker, MuepoKelly came up short in that category but had two steals, and has five in his last two outings… Boyanov has scored in double-digits in a season-best three straight games; he is averaging 16.7 points over that span… Lee posted a season-best plus-four assist/turnover ratio and his four helpers tied a season high… Ajayi's 10 points and eight rebounds are his best in those two categories since putting up 27 and 10 on Nov. 18 vs. Florida International... The Jags fell to 5-1 when scoring 70 points or more… South Alabama used a different starting lineup for the first time this season; Boyanov and freshman Herb McGee (Reserve, La.) earned their first starts of the year.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—