MOBILE, Ala. ? Coming off its first road victory of the 2008-09 season, the University of South Alabama will return home to face Houston Baptist Sunday in its final non-conference men’s basketball game at the Mitchell Center prior to the start of Sun Belt Conference action.
Action will tip off at 2:05 p.m. as the Jaguars (5-3) look to build their winning streak to four games in a row after earning a 76-73 overtime victory at Southern Mississippi Tuesday in Hattiesburg.
DeAndré Coleman turned in his second straight double-double with 12 points, a game- and season-best 12 rebounds and career-best five assists against the Golden Eagles, while Ronald Douglas contributed with his best outing of the season. The senior forward scored five of his season-high 13 points in the extra session, and he also blocked USM’s final field-goal attempt, finishing with five rebounds and three rejections.
Those two along with Brandon Davis combined to go 14-of-18 (77.8%) from the floor, helping the Jags connect on a season-high 58 percent from the field. That including making 5-of-7 (71.4%) from beyond the three-point arc, and USA was also 5-of-6 (83.3%) at the free-throw line in overtime.
Domonic Tilford, who leads the Jaguars in scoring with 17.2 points per outing, had a team-best 15 at USM. Coleman and Davis both rank among the top five in the Sun Belt Conference with better than seven rebounds per contest, and the duo also stand second and fourth in the league rankings in field-goal percentage.
As a team, USA enters Sunday’s game first in the SBC shooting 49.6 percent overall and with 5.38 blocks per outing on the other end of the floor.
HBU enters play Sunday 0-7, with six of those losses coming away from home including a pair to top-25 teams. In their last outing Thursday, the Huskies fell 93-57 at No. 16 Villanova.
Gordon Watt paces the team with 17.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per contest, and Baron Sauls is second on the squad with 17 and 4.1 per game, respectively. The latter had a team-best 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting last time out, which included making all six attempts from beyond the three-point arc.
The Huskies are shooting 38.3 percent from the floor and 66 percent at the foul line, and they have recorded twice as many turnovers (131) as assists (64) in their first seven contests. The opposition is connecting on 50.3 percent overall against HBU while recording a plus-7.9 rebounding advantage.
Children 12-and-under will be invited to shoot free throws on the Mitchell Center floor at halftime on Sunday.
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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