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MIAMI – The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team had two players score at least 20 points but Florida International shot 53.1 percent for the game and used a big first half to defeat the Jaguars 73-62 Saturday night at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

The loss drops USA to 7-8 overall and 1-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. FIU ends a six-game losing streak to South Alabama and stays undefeated in league play at 3-0 and is 8-7 on the year.

Sophomore Martino Brock (Memphis, Tenn.) tallied a game-high 22 points after sitting out Thursday’s game with a thigh injury. Redshirt freshman Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) recorded his seventh double-double of the year with 20 points—tying his career high—and 12 rebounds.

“When Aug and Tim (Williams) went out we didn’t have any scoring power and we didn’t get stops—that’s a bad combination,” USA head coach Ronnie Arrow said after the game. “We’re not getting any scoring, especially from guys we’re giving opportunities to off the bench to give us some stuff and it just didn’t happen. We just don’t have an outside threat right now. We’ve got to put the ball in the hole from outside.”

Brock converted 8 of 17 from the field but missed nine times from the foul line, going 4-for-13 at the stripe.

“Martino got in there and played hard and got some steals,” said Arrow. “I wished he could’ve made a few more of those free throws and kept us closer.”

South Alabama hit just 12 of 24 from the free throw line as a team.

The Panthers trailed for just 30 seconds in the contest and used a 10-1 run midway through the first half to open up a 10-point bulge. Alex Legion answered a Todd Martin (Mobile, Ala.) 3-pointer with a jumper to start the rally and capped it off with a trifecta of his own to give FIU a 22-12 lead. The Jaguars went over 3 ½ minutes without a field goal during the spurt and had three turnovers.

Another Legion triple finished a run of six consecutive Florida International points for a 13-point advantage with 5:43 to go before the half and the Panthers went into the break ahead 41-24.

FIU shot 56.5 percent from the field before halftime, including 4-for-5 on 3-pointers.

The Jaguars attempted to get back in the game with a 13-4 run to cut the deficit to 67-58 with 3:06 left in the contest, but the Panthers scored the next four points while the Jags missed three straight shots.

Brock, Rubit and junior Allyn Cooks (Bryan, Texas) combined for 56 of the team’s 62 points. Cooks tallied a season-high 14 thanks to a 3-for-4 performance from behind the arc.

“Our guards have got to be able to put the ball in the hole from the outside for us,” said Arrow. “I know they’re working at it but when we get into games, they’ve got to make the shots. Allyn is pretty much our only consistent 3-point scorer for us. He did a good job but the other guys have got to give us something from the outside.”

FIU had three in double-figure scoring. Marvin Roberts totaled 18 points and six rebounds, Legion came off the bench for 15 points and Jeremy Allen had 13. Eric Frederick shared game-high honors with Rubit in rebounds with 12.

South Alabama starts a three-game homestand Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. against Louisiana at Monroe.

NOTES: South Alabama falls to 1-7 on the road and is 1-3 in the Sun Belt for the first time since 2004-05… Senior Tim Williams (Pontiac, Mich.) was held scoreless for the first time since Jan. 19, 2008 during his freshman season at Oakland University… There were 27 fouls called in the first half and USA went 8-for-19 at the line while FIU hit just 11 of its 20 attempts… South Alabama, the leading offensive rebounding team in the Sun Belt (15.4 pg), had just two offensive boards in the first half and 11 for the game… After outrebounding their last two opponents by a combined 26, the Jags lost the rebounding margin 38-31… Brock played a season-high 38 minutes… Brock is averaging 18.3 points in three career games vs. FIU.

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).

—USA—