MOBILE, Ala. ? South Alabama senior Dominic Tilford (Louisville, Ky.) scored a game-high 22 points and junior LaShun Watson (Greenville, Ga.) scored the game’s final four points to help the Jaguars defeat North Texas 68-65 Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.

USA evens its Sun Belt Conference record at 6-6 and improves to 13-10 overall. NT drops to 5-6 and 12-10 overall.

"I thought the fans got to see one heck of a physical game," said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. "I thought it was a war out there. And give credit to our guys, this was a team effort by us tonight."

Watson saved his best for last, hitting key jumpers from just inside the foul line to give the Jags the lead before providing the final margin. He finished with 14, one shy of his career high, and had six rebounds, three steals and two assists.

After a George Odufuwa tip-in gave the Mean Green their first lead since the 17:58 mark of the game, Watson’s first jumper on the next possession with 1:20 remaining gave USA the lead for good. After a NT turnover, his next shot provided some much-needed insurance.

“One of (the plays) was designed for him to get the shot, and the other one sort of broke down and he just took it right in there, jumped over people and scored," said Arrow. "That’s what we’ve been waiting for him to do; that’s his game. We got him the ball inside on a couple of plays, and he was able to score over his man. He just played a really good game.”

North Texas’s final two 3-point attempts were just off the mark to give South Alabama its second straight three-point win.

“We wanted to limit them to 68 points tonight," added Arrow. “They’re averaging about 76, and we held them under that. We held them to 35 percent shooting, and that was the difference in the game.”

Tilford did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 15 of his 22 before the break. He matched his total from the last two games combined (15) in the first 10:22 of the contest. His 22 markers are his highest since pouring in 22 at Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 8.

“(Dominic) did what he had to do to help us win the game,” said Arrow. “He played defense when he had to and scored some buckets in there. If he continues to take good shots like that, then they’ll start falling for him again.”

The Jaguars go back out on the road for a key matchup at Western Kentucky University. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.

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: Tilford scored 15 points in the first 10:22 then didn’t score for a stretch of 18:48... He hit all six of his foul shots in the contest and dished out three assists... Senior Ronald Douglas (Baton Rouge, La.) tied his career high with six blocks... Senior DeAndré Coleman (Stone Mountain, Ga.) fouled out with 15:26 to play in the game and did not score a point... It was his lowest total since being held to one in his second career game last season... North Texas, the Sun Belt’s leading offensive rebounding team, grabbed 18 offensive boards, the second-highest total allowed by USA all season (19, Ole Miss)... The Jags had allowed eight total offensive rebounds in the last two games combined.

?USA?