MOBILE, Ala. --- Arkansas State outscored the University of South Alabama 37-24 in the second half and rallied from a seven-point deficit at halftime for a 69-63 men’s basketball victory Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center.

The Red Wolves improve to 4-1 in the Sun Belt Conference and 9-7 overall while the Jaguars lose their second straight to fall to 11-6 and 3-2 in the league.

“Needless to say, I’m disappointed in the result of the game,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “We had a lead and let it evaporate. We had opportunities to get back in at the end, and didn’t take advantage of it.”

ASU’s Brandon Reed led all players with 26 points and five assists. Martavius Adams and Rashad Allison tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively.

South Alabama junior Tim Williams (Pontiac, Mich.) scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the second half and freshman Martino Brock (Memphis, Tenn.) posted totals of 16 points and eight rebounds.

The Jags went into halftime up seven after getting a 3-pointer from sophomore Rob Phillips (Goldsboro, N.C.) with three seconds left to cap off a 10-2 spurt. The momentum continued after the break as sophomore Allyn Cooks (Bryan, Texas) drove for a lay-up to give USA a nine-point bulge, its largest lead of the game.

After a trey by Allison and another lay-in by Cooks, the Red Wolves proceeded to go on a 13-5 run for a three-point advantage (53-50) with 11:02 remaining.

“We’re doing some things now that we weren’t doing early in the season as far as defense,” said Arrow. “We’re not helping each other out or keeping people from getting to the hole. We have the type of team this year where there is a very fine line for error. Now we’re going off into some little directions, and it’s costing us some games.”

Arkansas State took control from there and did not allow another South Alabama lead the rest of the way. The Jaguars cut a six-point deficit down to one on a 3-pointer by Williams with 1:47 play and again with 41 seconds left on another Williams bucket, but Allison answered with an inside score and ASU hit three of its four foul shots to ice the contest.

South Alabama loses consecutive games for the first time this season. The back-to-back losses mark the first the Jags have lost two in a row since dropping three straight from Jan. 22-29, 2009.

“I feel like we’ll go and get this thing fixed,” said Arrow. “I think our guys understand that we’re just not playing. We have to go back to the drawing board and get this thing right. We have too good of a team, and have done too much this year to not get it right.”

South Alabama hits the road for a Thursday night contest at Louisiana-Monroe. Start time is 7 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: Arrow was again denied his shot at the school’s all-time wins mark of 172 – he is 171-119 in 11 seasons in Mobile… USA junior Gary Redus II (Decatur, Ala.) missed the game with a right knee injury he sustained Thursday vs. Western Kentucky… Brock recorded double-figures in points in back-to-back games for the first time since games one and two on Nov. 13 and 14… Freshman DeAndré Hersey (Carrollton, Ala.) earned his first career start… The team had used the same starting five for eight straight games, dating back to Dec. 9 vs. Mobile… All nine of senior LaShun Watson’s (Greenville, Ga.) points came in the first half… Arkansas State won the rebounding battle 39-32, and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds… Williams has led the team in scoring for five straight games.

—USA—