MOBILE, Ala. ? For the second consecutive game the Jags came-from double-digit deficits to second half victories as USA battled back from a 15-point first half deficit to defeat UALR 68-54 on Saturday night at the Mitchell Center. The Jags improved to 11-7 overall and 5-2 in conference play, while extending their winning streak to a season-best four games. UALR dropped its third straight and fell to 8-11 overall and 3-5 in conference play.
The Jags began the game with a 3-pointer by senior Leandro Buboltz, but a pair of buckets by Terrance Akins put UALR up 7-3 with 17:45 left the in half. UALR held a 9-5 lead through the first six minutes as USA struggled from the field, shooting just 2 of 9.
The Trojans opened a 21-7 lead with a 12-2 run over the next three minutes courtesy of a pair of 3-pointers by Akins. The Jags went scoreless for five minutes before junior Ernest Little hit a jumper at the 9:15 mark to make the score 21-9.
Junior Demetric Bennett hit his first 3-pointer of the night to cut the deficit to 12 points with 7:20 to play in the half at 24-12. The Trojans added another 3-pointer by Akins to make the lead 29-16 with 3:11 to play in the half. Junior Kenny Hooks ended another five minute drought for the Jaguars with a turnaround jumper in the lane with just over 1:45 to play in the half to make the score 31-18.
Little swatted a Rashad Jones-Jennings shot and then was fouled by Jones-Jennings on the other end making 1 of 2 free throws to get the Jags within 10 with under a minute to play in the half as the crowd of ___ began to come alive. USA got layup at the buzzer by Little to make the score 33-23 going into halftime.
For the half USA shot just 28 percent on 7 of 25 from the field and were just 2 of 13 from beyond the arc. Bennett led the team with seven points, while Little had five rebounds. The Jags were 7 of 8 from the free throw line.
Akins led UALR with 13 points as the Trojans shot 43 percent on 12 of 28 from the field and 5 of 10 from beyond the arc. UALR had a 19-14 lead on the boards.
A dunk by Little and a 3-pointer by Bennett cut the deficit to eight with 17:08 to play at 38-30. After a pair of UALR turnovers, Buboltz hit his second trey of the night cutting the deficit to 38-33 with 15:20 to play in regulation. USA got an alley-oop dunk by Bennett with 13:30 to play to cut the deficit to three.
Sophomore Brandon Davis cut the deficit to one point at 38-37 as he was fouled off a turnover by the Trojans. Lekheythan Malone hit a 3-pointer for UALR to end a drought of over four minutes to make the score 41-37 with 11:54 to play.
A bucket by Little tied the game at 44 for the first time tonight with 9:29 to play in the game. UALR called a timeout as USA battled all the way back from a 15-point deficit in the first half.
A 3-pointer by Bennett gave USA its first lead since the 19:45 mark in the first half with 8:43 to play in the game. Bennett put the Jags back on top with a free throw lane jumper at 7:42 as the crowd began to come alive again.
A pair of Buboltz free throws put the Jags up 51-48 with 6:49 to play. Buboltz followed with his third 3-pointer and senior Stephen Cowherd hit his first 3-pointer of the night to give USA its largest lead of eight points at 57-49 with 5:28 to play.
A pair of Bennett free throws pushed the Jag lead to 10 points with just over two minutes to play and a steal and dunk by Davis pushed the lead to 12 at 63-51 with 2:15 left.
After a timeout by the Jags Merritt served up the pass to Little for a dunk pushing the Jaguar lead to 65-52, but UALR got a put back basket to cut the deficit to 111 with 56.3 seconds left.
The Jags iced the game with free throws by Little and Merritt for a 68-54 win.
South Alabama shot 71.4 percent on 15 of 21 from the field in the second half to get back into the game. For the game, the Jags shot 47.8 percent on 22 of 46 and outscored UALR 45-21. USA was 8 of 24 from beyond the arc and 16 of 21 from the line. Bennett had another outstanding performance as he scored a game-high 21 points on 6 of 12 from the field and 3 of 8 from beyond the arc. He was a perfect 6 of 6 from the charity stripe. Buboltz and Little each had 13 points to lead the Jaguars.
UALR, who was very hot in the first half cooled off in the second as it shot just 32 percent for the half on 8 of 25. For the game the Trojans shot 37.7 percent on 20 of 53 from the field and 8 of 21 from downtown.
One of the big discrepancies in the game was foul shooting as UALR went to the just 12 times, make six while USA was 16 of 21. Akins led the Trojans with 15 points and the nation’s leading rebounder, Jones-Jennings, had just seven rebounds and a season-low four points.
The Jaguars hit the road for two games at Louisiana-Lafayette (Jan. 16) and at Denver (Jan. 20) before returning home for conference newcomer Louisiana-Monroe on Thurs., Jan. 25 at 7:05 p.m.
