BELGRADE, Serbia – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team outscored KK Kolubura Lazarevac 24-10 in the fourth quarter in an 80-68 come-from-behind win Wednesday evening.

The victory completes a 3-0 swing through Europe for the Jaguars, who will return home on Friday.

"We started off a little slow, especially on the offensive end," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "We were taking too many quick shots. We ended up taking 16 3-point attempts on our 32 shots, which is way too many, and we only shot 6 for 14 from the free-throw line. We rebounded OK, but offensively it was a struggle.

"In the second half, we really turned up the defensive effort – a lot of loose balls, a lot of deflections, which led to transition opportunities. We also finished the game 23 for 35 from the free-throw line, so 17 out of 21 in the second half, which obviously made a huge difference."

Kolubura went 24-2 last season in Serbia's third-highest professional league and won the Center Division, earning a promotion into the second tier.

South Alabama trailed after each of the first three quarters – by three after the first, and two after periods two and three – but stormed back to overwhelm Kolubura to close out the game.

"The turning point in the game was our fourth-quarter defense," Graves said. "We were very aggressive and very physical on our ball-screen defense. We did a great job of rotating to the ball and we didn't give up any offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, which was a tremendous effort."

Senior Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) paced the Jags with 19 points, shooting 7 for 15 from the floor and 3 for 6 from 3-point land. Freshman Herb McGee (Kenner, La.) added 12 points, also hitting three triples, while senior Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) totaled 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

On the glass, senior Don MuepoKelly (Fontana, Calif.) and freshman Josh Ajayi (El Monte, Calif.) grabbed six rebounds apiece, and sophomore Nick Davis (Mt. Vernon, Ala.) and freshman Trhae Mitchell (Austell, Ga.) had five boards each.

"It was great to have three guys in double figures – those guys did a good job of scoring the ball for us," Graves said. "Dederick (Lee), even though stat-wise he didn't have a lot to show for it, he did a good job of settling us in and running the team in the second half, and Trhae did a great job in the second half defensively on their best player."

After leaving Barcelona, the team traveled by plane to Belgrade and did some more sightseeing.

"We did a city bus tour of Belgrade which included several historic buildings and statues, and we also walked through a fortress that overlooked the Danube River," Graves said. "The scenery was remarkable."

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).

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