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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team outscored Mobile 19-4 in the final 11 minutes to put away a tough Rams team 74-63 Wednesday evening at the Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars win their home opener for the 20th consecutive season and even their record at 1-1. The game was an exhibition for Mobile (2-1), a member of NAIA Division I.

“I definitely tip my hat to (Mobile head coach) Joe (Niland) and his bunch,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “They showed up ready to play tonight. I thought they played very hard. I thought that they executed very well. When they had to bury shots they did. We were standing around. We just didn’t maneuver and get each other shots.”

The Jag defense held Mobile to just one field goal from the 10:59 mark on. The Rams went over 10 minutes with just one bucket, allowing South Alabama to turn a 59-55 deficit into an 11-point victory.

“On the positive side for us, we held them to one shot in the last 11 minutes,” Arrow said. “I think that’s a tribute to the guys we had out there. We were searching all night for a combination to put out there.”

USA went on a 15-1 run over a 10-minute span, getting points from four different players. UM on the other hand, missed 13 straight shots at one point and committed five turnovers during that time.

The Rams ended the contest missing 15 of 16 shots from the floor and went 1-for-5 at the free throw line.

Down three with 7:15 left in the game, USA junior Freddie Goldstein (Milwaukee, Wis.) hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 60-60. South Alabama forced two missed shots on the other end and after getting fouled on a rebound, sophomore Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) hit two free throws to give the Jags just their fourth lead of the ballgame.

USA got their next four points at the charity stripe, two from Rubit and two from junior Xavier Roberson (Houston, Texas) to extend the lead to six (66-60). Rubit and Roberson each hit a layup over the next two minutes for South Alabama’s biggest lead of the contest (10) and the Jags cruised the rest of the way.

Mobile came out firing to start the game, building an 11-point advantage in the first eight minutes. That lead stretched to as many as 14 after a 3-pointer from Ji Kimbrough, thanks to a press that forced eight turnovers by the 11:49 mark.

“We press all the time ourselves and sometimes it’s good to press a team that presses,” Mobile head coach Joe Niland said. “We want to try and burn pressure with attack and that’s what we tried to do. Our philosophy is that if you’re going to press us then we’re going to try and break it and exploit.”

USA countered with an 8-0 spurt to cut the margin to three, and later, added eight more unanswered points, capped off with two free throws from freshman Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.).

Mobile would not be denied and took a 43-41 lead into halftime on Christian Salinas’ fifth trifecta (in five attempts) of the first half.  Salinas finished with a game-high 20 points, but had only three after intermission. He made his first six shots of the evening, including five triples.

“We thought he’d start missing sooner or later,” said Arrow. “We didn’t want to guard him. We were just hoping he would start missing. He ended up 7-10. Probably those two or three missed ones were at the end of the game. He came out on fire.”

“Salinas is such a good shooter, but hasn’t really shot a lot,” said Niland. “We’ve been on him about being more aggressive offensively and start making shots. That spreads people out so we can get the ball inside. Once he started hitting shots that gave us some energy.”

Mobile scored the first eight points of the second half, getting five from Kimbrough, but a 14-2 spurt by South Alabama gave the Jags a two-point lead.

Rubit ended the night with 18 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. Ten of those points came at the free throw line.

“I thought tonight, he had an off night, but he wound up with 18 points and 14 rebounds,” Arrow commented. “I hope he has that every night. I just got through telling him that I thought he played tired. He had a lot of guys around him, but I’m glad that we had him on our team.”

Roberson totaled a career-high 17 points, Ammons had 12 and junior Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) tallied 10.

In addition to Salinas’ 20 points, Kimbrough added 12 and Antonio Hester came off the bench to post 10 with a team-best six rebounds.

South Alabama heads to Florida State Sunday for the first of two straight road games before Thanksgiving. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST.

NOTES: South Alabama is now 3-0 against Mobile in the series, with all coming in the last three years… Rubit’s combined 31 points and rebounds tie his most since totaling 39 at Middle Tennessee, a span of eight games… Rubit’s double-double is the 15th of his career and first this season… USA won the rebounding battle 46-24, including 18-17 on its offensive end… The Jags turned those 18 rebounds into 19 second-chance points… The Rams had just two second-chance points… UM used the fast break to its advantage, piling up 17 points in transition to USA’s two… Mobile committed five turnovers in the first half but had 10 in the second.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—