MOBILE, Ala. ? DeAndré Coleman recorded his first double-double of the season Saturday, pouring in a career-high 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds to lead the University of South Alabama to a 72-60 men’s basketball victory over UC Davis in the championship game of the USA Basketball Classic at the Mitchell Center.
Coleman, the event’s Most Valuable Player, posted 13 points and six boards after the break as the Jaguars (4-3) picked up their first tournament title since 1991. Domonic Tilford chipped in with 17 points and a game-high five assists, and Brandon Davis added 11 on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, with both players named to the all-tournament team.
The Jags used a 12-0 run early in the second half to pull away, keyed by two baskets from Coleman in less than a minute. Davis added a layup, Daniel Hayles sank two free throws and LaShun Watson drove for a layup at 13:08, putting USA up 51-38. Hayles’ layup 35 seconds later ended the run.
UCD (2-5) missed three shots from the field, a pair of free throws and turned the ball over twice during the stretch, which lasted two minutes and 39 seconds.
The double-double was Coleman’s first since Jan. 24 last season, when he had 15 points and 12 rebounds in a win at Louisiana-Lafayette. He finished 6-of-9 from the field and hit 7-of-8 free throws, and he was credited with two assists, a block and a steal in 25 minutes.
Tilford finished 7-of-14 from the floor as well, as USA connected on 51 percent overall in the contest. The Jaguars had a 37-21 rebounding advantage, and they also shot 90 percent at the foul line including making their last eight attempts.
Hayles collected nine points and three rebounds, and Bryan Sherrer chipped in with six points ? all in the first half ? and a pair of assists.
Ahead just 36-33 at the half, the Jags allowed USD to shoot 38.1 percent overall and make only two threes over the final 20 minutes.
“I thought we did a really good job in the second half,” Jaguar head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “I was pleased that we got on the boards, but more than anything I was really happy with the way we guarded their offense with just one day of preparation. We’re playing defense, rebounding and sharing the ball.
“We’re starting to do some things that a good team does.”
All-tournament team selection Joe Harden paced the Aggies with 13 points, adding four rebounds, while Kyle Brucculeri posted 11 points and Vince Oliver 10. Oliver had a team-best four assists, while Dominic Calegari recorded a squad-high five rebounds to go along with eight points.
Oliver was credited with four steals, accounting for half UCD’s total, and the Aggies were charged with only 12 turnovers for the game.
But, they shot only 40.8 percent from the floor and were outscored 30-14 in the paint.
In the opening half the Jaguars recorded the better overall field-goal percentage, outshooting the Aggies 56-43 percent, but UCD connected on 7-of-15 from beyond the arc to stay close. The Aggies’s starters did most of their damage, with Harden, Todd Lowenthal and Oliver scoring eight each, while the USA bench outscored UCD’s 19-3.
The Aggies led through the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the contest as the Jags turned the ball over four times while missing three of their first four shots. USA went ahead for the first time since the opening minute when Hayles and Sherrer hit jumpers 20 seconds apart for a 15-14 edge. After Lowenthal knotted the contest 17-17 with a trey at 9:23, the Jaguars scored six of the next nine points to build their biggest of the period. Tilford keyed the run that put USA up 26-20 with seven-and-a-half minutes to go with a three-pointer and a layup.
UCD responded with an 8-2 spurt, though, to tie the game for the fourth time of the half, and was down just three at the break.
USA last won a multi-day tournament when it defeated Middle Tennessee and Auburn on consecutive days to earn the Blue Angels Classic championship in Pensacola, Fla., on Dec. 20 and 21, 1991.
Tulane came back from a 15-point deficit in the day’s first contest to defeat Maine 66-56 in the consolation game. The Green Wave’s Asim McQueen and Mark Socoby of the Black Bears rounded out the all-tournament team.
USA returns to the road when it takes on Southern Mississippi at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Hattiesburg.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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