Official Game Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Demetric Bennett scored 16 points to lead four players in double figures as South Alabama held off Western Kentucky, 69-64, Thursday night in a battle between the top two teams in the Sun Belt Conference. Brandon Davis earned his fourth double-double of the season by halftime, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Jaguars regain the lead in the East Division at 22-5 overall, 14-2 in league play and snap the Hilltopper's 11-game winning streak.
Domonic Tilford tallied 12 points in a return to his home state, while DeAndre Coleman added 10 points and nine boards. Courtney Lee led all scorers with 20 points for the Hilltoppers, who fell to one-half game back of the Jaguars at 21-6 overall, 13-2 in league play.
South Alabama led by 11 at halftime, but saw Western Kentucky slowly climb back into the game, taking its first lead, 58-57, at the 6:52 mark. Lee hit a jumper to cap a 6-0 run after the Jaguars had answered three previous rallies. Despite losing the lead, Tilford immediately hit a jumper to put the Jaguars back up by one, 59-58. After a WKU basket, Coleman gave USA the lead for good with a layup underneath at the 2:58 mark. Bennett followed with four straight free throws for a five-point lead, 65-60, just outside the one-minute mark. From there, the Jags hit six of eight free throws to hold off the Hilltoppers.
South Alabama opened an 41-30 lead at the break behind 10 points from Davis and nine points from Bennett. Trailing 14-13, Tilford hit a three-pointer to start a 7-0 run that put the Jaguars ahead 20-14 with 9:24 remaining. After a Hilltopper three-pointer closed the gap to three, South Alabama used a 6-3 run to lead by six again, 26-20, with 6:53 remaining.
The Jaguars extended their advantage to double digits before halftime by holding Western Kentucky to just one point in the final 4:09 of the half, while countering with eight of their own.
"Everyone saw one heck of a game here tonight," Head Coach Ronnie Arrow said. "This was two very good teams playing as hard as they could. In the end, our seniors held their composure. Our posts did a good job guarding the hole in the final minutes."
South Alabama plays its two final home games of the season next week, first stepping out of conference to face Presbyterian on Monday. When league play resumes later in the week, the Jaguars need only two wins to claim at least a share of the East Division crown and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Both USA and Western Kentucky are guaranteed first-round bye come March.
