NEW ORLEANS --- University of South Alabama juniors Gary Redus II (Decatur, Ala.) and Tim Williams (Pontiac, Mich.) scored 16 points each to give the men’s basketball team a 59-51 victory over New Orleans Thursday night at Lakefront Arena.

The win ends a four-game losing streak for the Jaguars. They now stand at 13-11 overall and 5-7 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Privateers drop to 7-16 and 2-10.

“I’m just real happy for the guys,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “We’ve been working and we’ve had some situations that haven’t worked out for us. The things that we haven’t been doing late in games we did tonight. We didn’t turn the ball over late and made our free throws late. Those are the things we were doing earlier in the year when we were beating teams.”

Williams recorded his second straight double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds. Redus had a career-high eight boards and four assists.

“That’s what we want out of them,” said Arrow. “They did us a good job.”

The pair helped USA outrebound UNO 40-23 for the game. The Jags grabbed 16 offensive rebounds to the Privateers’ 15 defensive. Williams had three on one possession alone.

South Alabama took a 33-23 lead at the break thanks to a 17-4 run to end the first half. New Orleans had just one field goal in the final 9:01 and went scoreless for over five minutes.

The halftime break proved to be beneficial for the Privateers as they opened the second half on a 14-2 spurt – with four 3-pointers – to regain the lead 37-35.

After a bucket by Redus and a trifecta from UNO’s Jaroslav Tyrna, USA unleashed a 13-0 run, including four straight made baskets. New Orleans went 5:47 without a point, missing five consecutive shots with two turnovers.

A lay-up and 3-pointer by the Privateers’ Charles Carmouche cut the margin to five with 7:17 to play. The Jags’ next possession lasted 1:50 thanks to five offensive rebounds. Williams finally ended it with a lay-up.

New Orleans would close to six on two occasions but would get no closer.

Devin McDonald led the UNO offense with 14 points while Carl Blair added 10 and a game-best six assists.

The Jaguars host Middle Tennessee Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game will be televised live by CSS.

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: Redus scored all 10 of his first-half points consecutively and tallied 10 of the team’s first 14 markers… USA won the battle of the boards 24-11 in the second half, with Williams contributing eight… UNO’s 51 points ties a season-low by a USA opponent (Mobile)… South Alabama is 5-0 when holding the opposition to less than 60 points… New Orleans had just two field goals in the final 7:17 of the game.

—USA—