MOBILE, Ala. ? A second half 11-1 run by the Jaguars helped lift South Alabama to a hard-fought come-from-behind 59-55 win over Samford on Saturday night at the Mitchell Center.  USA improves to 5-2, while Samford falls to 2-4.  Jaguar junior Demetric Bennett had his first double-double of the season with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds.  The Jaguars have now won 13-straight in the series.

The game opened with each team trading buckets for a majority of the first 13 minutes into the game.  Samford built a modest 18-12 lead with 9:44 to play in the half, but a 3-pointer by senior Leandro Buboltz cut the deficit to two at 7:56.  Samford then proceeded to open a 10-point advantage as it went on a 13-5 run over the next six minutes to build a 31-20 lead with 2:15 to play in the half.

USA scored the final five points of the half with a pair of free throws and a trey by Bennett to cut the deficit to 31-25.

“We had some turnovers in the first half and we took some quick shots,” Jaguar head coach John Pelphrey said.  “It was a hard-fought game.”

For the half, Bennett led all-scores with 14 points.  The Jags shot 39 percent on 9-of-23 from the floor and were 4-of-12 from beyond the arc.  USA held a 14-13 lead on the boards.  Samford countered with nine points from Jerry Smith and seven points from Randall Gulina.  The Bulldogs were 9-of-22 from the field and 4-of-12 from beyond the arc as well.  The difference in the first half was the free throw line as Samford went 10 times, making nine while USA went four and made three.

The second half opened as USA turned up the pressure, going on a 10-2 run over the first four and a half minutes.  A key bucket by junior Daon Merritt, who had gone out of the game in the first half with an ankle injury, hit a floater in the lane cutting the deficit to four points with 16:57 left.

The Jags were able to cut the deficit to two twice during the next 10 minutes, but Samford had the answer each time pushing the advantage back up to four.  A driving layup by Merritt cut the deficit to two with 6:18 left and the momentum began to shift as Smith hit a key jumper to tie the game with 5:37 left. 

Smith followed the jumper with an enormous 3-pointer as the shot clock was winding down on the very next possession to give the Jags a 48-45 lead with 5:07 left.

Samford cut the deficit to one on two possessions, but a clutch 3-pointer by senior Stephen Cowherd gave USA a 53-49 lead with just over two minutes left.  USA built an eight-point lead courtesy four of six free throws in the final 1:30.  Samford’s Travis Peterson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the final score 59-54.

For the game, USA shot 44 percent on 20-of-45 from the floor.  The Jags were 7-of-20 from beyond the arc and were 12-of-17 from the line.  Smith added 11 points for the Jags.  Four players were in double figures for Samford led by 15 from Smith and 13 from Peterson.  USA won the battle of the boards, 34-32.