When the 2009-10 season began, eight newcomers dotted the roster. With only five players returning, a majority were expected to contribute immediately. One in particular—Martino Brock—had big things expected of him from the beginning.

“We knew that he was going to be a very good player for us,” said head coach Ronnie Arrow. “He was able to show us, our fans and himself what he has and what he can bring to the table every game.”

Brock lived up to those expectations in just his first career game. The Jaguars opened up against Houston Baptist Nov. 13 at the Rice Basketball Challenge and cruised to a 76-64 win thanks in large part to Brock.

Brock nearly tallied a double-double in the first half alone with nine points and seven boards and added two blocks. After the break he was on fire, making all five of his shots from the floor for 12 points in 14 minutes of work. He scored five of the team’s first seven points of the second half and pulled down two more rebounds.

“I was nervous when I first got in there, but once I made my first shot I got warmed up and remembered why I was here,” said Brock. “I just kept competing throughout the entire game.”

He finished with a team-high 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting and nine rebounds.

“When a young player does that, you’re really happy for him and then you can hardly wait for them to become a polished player and become even better,” said Arrow.

Brock was also part of a defensive effort that held Houston Baptist to 34.9 percent from the floor, including a 1-for-15 performance from 3-point land, to give South Alabama a season-opening win for the fifth straight year.

“After the game I was thinking about how to build on it,” said Brock. “I wanted to think about how to be consistent throughout the whole season.”

Brock found it hard to surpass his fast start as the 21-point effort remained his season high for the remainder of the campaign—he tied it with 21 points in a win at Arkansas—but he finished ranked second on the team in both scoring (11.7) and rebounding (6.3), was third with 62 assists and was seventh in the Sun Belt Conference in steals per game (1.4). The Sun Belt named him the league’s player of the week on Feb. 15 after two straight double-doubles, which included a career-best 13 rebounds.

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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