MOBILE, Ala. --- Trailing by two with 8:29 to play in the first half, the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team went on a 20-0 run and cruised to an 82-53 victory over Spring Hill Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.

USA wins its 18th straight home opener, a streak that dates back to 1991, to improve to 3-1 on the season. The game was an exhibition for Spring Hill (2-0).

“Going into the game, we knew they were going to be a very patient team”, said Jaguar head coach Ronnie Arrow, who won his 599th overall game as a head coach, counting two- and four-year schools. “I challenged our guys to hold them to 56 points, and we held them to 53. I thought our guys really got after it defensively, and when you do that, a lot of times you’re rewarded on the offensive end and that’s what happened tonight.”

Freshman Martino Brock (Memphis, Tenn.) led the Jags with 16 points and six rebounds, all on the offensive end of the floor. Junior Tim Williams (Pontiac, Mich.) recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards and senior Bryan Sherrer (Monticello, Ark.) and junior Gary Redus II (Decatur, Ala.) added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

SHC’s Marcus Coleman, who scored 30 in last season’s matchup, posted a game-high 17 points, shooting 5-for-13 from 3-point land. Antonio Burch tallied 11 points.

Spring Hill, a member of NAIA Division I, hung in with its city rivals for the first 12 minutes and took a 19-17 lead on a lay-up by Burch.

Those would be the Badgers’ last points for a period of 6:24 as the Jaguars reeled off 20 straight to turn a two-point deficit into a commanding 18-point advantage.

Brock started the run with a free throw and gave USA the lead for the last time on a steal and a dunk. Williams followed with his own steal-and-dunk combo and capped it off with a jumper at the 2:23 mark. Coleman finally stopped the bleeding with a trifecta.

“We’ve been working on slowing teams down in half court and pressing, and we just took it all off and locked it up in half court,” said Arrow.

South Alabama started 1-for-7 and 5-for-15 from the floor and but rebounded to end the first half with a 51.9 shooting percentage. The Jags ended the half on a 9-for-12 shooting run.

South Alabama hits the road to take on Tulsa Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

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).

NOTES: South Alabama used a different starting lineup for the fourth straight game… Brock led the team in scoring for the third time this season… He has scored 15 or more points three times… Thursday’s game was the first 80-point output for the Jags so far… Williams’ double-double was the team’s second of the season (Brock vs. Rice)… Ten of Williams’s 11 rebounds were defensive… USA shot 14-for-27 (51.9%) from the floor in both halves… Junior Raymond Sims (Philadelphia, Pa.) tallied a game-high five assists with zero turnovers.

—USA—