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MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama sophomore Martino Brock (Memphis, Tenn.) poured in 20 points and redshirt freshman Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) added 16 more to pace the men’s basketball team to a 92-65 win over Mississippi College in an exhibition contest Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Jags shot 49.3 percent for the contest, led by Brock and Rubit, who both shot 7-for-9 from the floor. Brock hit two of his three 3-point attempts while Rubit grabbed six rebounds.

“I thought it was a really good first game for our guys, who are tired of looking at one another,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “Playing someone else was really good. At times, I thought our defense was really good. We have to get consistent. We have to get stops consistently, not get two or three and then go two or three minutes without getting one. I thought that was the difference. We didn’t guard the three-point line, but we did hold them to 40 percent. One of our main goals every game is to hold the other team to 41 percent.”

The Choctaws, a member of NCAA Division III, hung with the Jaguars in the early going, matching every score and eventually leading 17-14 midway through the first half.

That lead was aided by a rough-shooting patch by USA, who went 6:13 without a point to give MC a 6-0 spurt.

“I thought we were taking some good shots they just weren’t going in,” said Arrow. “Some of our shooters tonight had a tough shooting night. P.J Reyes and Rico (Sanders) are both new guys. This was probably the most people they’ve played in front of in a while and they’re both good shooters.”

The game was blown open late in the first half. With South Alabama up 23-22 with 5:29 to play, senior Tim Williams (Pontiac, Mich.) hit four consecutive free throws, and after a point from Mississippi College’s Kendré Smith, junior Allyn Cooks (Bryan, Texas) converted a Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) steal into two more points.

Smith answered with a trifecta, but Brock responded on the Jags’ next possession with a bucket and later, a Choctaw miscue led to a triple by Brock. A Cooks put-back off his own miss finished off the 13-4 rally and USA led by 10, 36-26.

The start of the second half was more of the same for Brock and the Jaguars. The team’s second-leading scorer last year, Brock contributed nine points during USA’s 13-3 run to open the final period. By the time the Jags were done, they led 57-36.

In the second half alone South Alabama nabbed eight steals and forced 16 turnovers, which led to 19 points. For the contest Mississippi College committed 26 miscues for 35 South Alabama points.

“That’s what we work on,” said Arrow. “That’s what we want our guys to understand. You score points off of your defense. I know Allyn got at least four points off of steals. We like to think 24 points comes out of our defense every game. I thought the post men scored well inside. In the beginning we weren’t driving, we were just catching and shooting. We weren’t trying to get somebody else a wide open shot, we were trying to get us a shot. That’s why we started out shooting a poor percentage. The defense got us going and that was really good.”

The steals and lay-ups contributed heavily to the team’s 55.6 shooting percentage after halftime. Cooks went 6-for-10 from the floor and post players Carter and redshirt freshman Andre Gowins (Gautier, Miss.) combined for a 6-for-9 performance.

“They’re young,” said Arrow of his inside players. “They’re growing up. Augustine has the ability to really score inside. When we go high-low it’s post-to-post. Those guys have to learn to start throwing it to each other. Once we got it in, I thought we got some good finishes. We shot a really good percent inside. Aug was seven-for-nine and Gary (Redus) was three-for-five and Javier was five-for-eight, so we shot an excellent percentage inside.”

All told, four USA players hit double-digit scoring, including Brock and Rubit. Cooks went for 13 and Carter totaled 12.

Redus led the Jags with seven rebounds and four steals, while three others grabbed six boards each.

Smith was the lone member of the double-figure scoring club for the Choctaws with 10.

South Alabama returns to the court Tuesday with its second and final exhibition against Tuskegee. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES: Williams returned after missing a week and a half with a concussion injury… He started and played 16 minutes… Only one USA player saw more than 23 minutes of work: Redus with 26… The Jags won the battle of the boards 40-32, but was outrebounded 19-14 in the second half… South Alabama made 19 of its 24 free throw attempts for 79.2%... MC’s 26 turnovers would have been a season high for an opponent last year (22 vs. Alcorn State)… All 13 members of USA’s active roster got in the game.

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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