MOBILE, Ala. ? With a pair of post players picking up two early fouls each and down one forward due to illness, University of South Alabama head men’s basketball coach Ronnie Arrow needed a key performance from the bench in the Jaguars’ match-up Sunday with Houston Baptist. Charles Tabet proved he was up to the challenge.
The redshirt sophomore, who had played only 16 minutes coming into the contest, recorded a career-high 17 points and grabbed five rebounds to help lead USA to a 93-63 non-conference victory over the Huskies at the Mitchell Center.
Tabet’s three-point play kicked off an 18-4 run over a five-minute stretch that allowed the Jags ? who have won a season-high four games in a row to improve to 6-3 ? to take a 15-point lead at the half en route to the win. He would add a layup and a dunk during the spurt, finishing the half 5-of-5 from the floor while scoring 12 points.
For the game, Tabet connected on all six attempts from the field and 5-of-7 at the foul line in 21 minutes of action.
C.J. Garner, who hadn’t seen action in the previous two outings, added six points and two steals in the opening period as USA’s bench outscored the Huskies (0-8) reserves 23-2 in taking a 39-25 advantage into the locker room.
“I’m proud of our guys, especially the group we substituted early in the first half. I thought they really went after them and got after it defensively,” commented Arrow. “We started pushing the ball and getting some easy buckets in transition. We rebounded well, and to see 23 assists really shows that the team is sharing the ball, and that’s what we want to do game after game.”
Although Brandon Davis and Ronald Douglas combined to play just 13 minutes in the first half due to foul problems, and Philip Tabet was unavailable because of illness, the Jaguars grabbed 11 more rebounds in the period. They would finish the game with a 49-27 advantage on the boards.
USA was ahead 17-12 with eight-and-a-half minutes left when Tabet completed his three-point play. Tilford and Tabet both connected on layups in a 39-second span to push the advantage to 24-14. A Tabet dunk upped the lead to 30-16 with just under five minutes to go, while with 4:01 left he was intentionally fouled ? after making one free throw, Garner drove for a layup that made the score 33-16 with three-and-a-half minutes remaining.
DeAndrae Ross closed out the run with a pair of free throws.
The Jags reserves would end up outscoring HBU’s bench 50-23. Bryan Sherrer collected eight points, which included making two three-pointers in a 18-second stretch in the second half, while DeAndré Coleman added seven points to go along with a game-best 12 rebounds. Daniel Hayles chipped in with four points, a career-high seven boards and season-best five assists.
All 13 Jaguars who saw action would end up scoring in the contest, as B.J. Ford and Tracy Parks sank three-pointers around a Jamal Harris layup in the last three minutes.
Domonic Tilford would pace USA in scoring with 19 points, and he handed out five assists without a turnover. Davis chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds, and Garner added a career-best four rebounds as well.
USA was credited with 23 assists on 32 field goals, shot 50.8 percent from the field and turned the ball over only 12 times.
Baron Sauls led the Huskies with a game-best 20 points, while Andy Dillon scored 14 off the bench. HBU connected on just 37.1 percent from the field, including hitting only 34.2 percent after the intermission.
The Jaguars put the game away early in the second half, scoring the first 10 points to extend to a 49-24 edge with 17-and-a-half minutes remaining. Davis and Douglas combined to record all the points during the run.
USA has the week off before returning to action with a 7 p.m. tip at Mississippi State Saturday.
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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