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MOBILE, Ala. – Sophomore Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) scored 17 of his game-high 18 points in the first half and the University of South Alabama men's basketball team used a 24-2 run before halftime to defeat Spring Hill 88-64 Wednesday evening in an exhibition game at the Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars play their final exhibition contest Tuesday, Nov. 8 against Dillard.

“This bunch plays very well together,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “If they mess up, they pull from one another. We really got out and scored in transition. That’s the best that we’ve done. We need to do that as a team.”

Rubit, the Sun Belt Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year, made seven of his 11 shots from the floor and grabbed five rebounds. In the first half alone, he was 7-for-9, including a 3-pointer.

“Aug is the type of guy that he can make threes,” Arrow said. “He’s just got to get the confidence. He had a lot of awards last year and is the preseason MVP, but he needs to take his game to another level. He needs to start getting some other parts of his game that he didn’t have, like being aggressive with the ball when he gets it outside, taking guys off the dribble and hitting those jumpers when he’s open. He needs to take his game to another level and that’s not just getting the ball to him down on the block. He’s showed that he’s capable of doing that.”

Junior Xavier Roberson (Houston, Texas) tallied 15 points in his first appearance in a South Alabama uniform. Junior Trey Anderson (Carrollton, Texas), another newcomer, dished out eight assists to go along with six points.

Freshman Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.) recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

“Mychal Ammons really got in there,” Arrow said. “When he goes after a ball it’s pretty much his. Aug wound up with 18 points and five rebounds, which five rebounds is not like him, but Mychal probably got a lot of those. I was glad to see Mychal do well; he was playing a position that he hasn’t played in high school. He’s playing outside and he’s doing a really good job. He’s getting better every day.”

South Alabama shot 58.3 percent (21-36) from the floor in the first half, and scored 21 points off nine Spring Hill turnovers in building a 50-23 halftime advantage. Tied 4-4 in the opening moments, the Jags reeled off 14 straight points, including eight from Roberson, who hit a trey and converted an old-fashioned three-point play as well.

The Badgers’ Charles Gordon stopped the run with a jumper, but Rubit answered with a triple to start a 10-0 USA spurt.

“We were limiting them to one shot, getting it out and running with it, the wings were running really well, and we were finding the open man,” said Arrow.

The Jaguars slumped to start the second stanza and the Badgers took advantage, outscoring their opponents 23-11 in the first 9:54 to close within 61-46. But that’s as close as Spring Hill would get as South Alabama tallied the next 11 points, capped off with a trifecta from Roberson.

I’ve got to look at the tape, but shot selection the second half needed to be a little bit better,” noted Arrow. “I think we went for six or seven minutes and only scored four points. We weren’t executing. We were just coming down and looking around.”

The lead stretched to as much as 32 points late in the game and all 12 USA players in uniform saw action.

“I thought our guys played hard,” Spring Hill head coach Robert Thompson said. “I think South Alabama is a lot better this year than last year. They came out at the beginning of the game and got in us. This is only our first game and South Alabama caught us off guard, but I thought our guys did a great job executing in the second half.”

“Robert does a really good job at Spring Hill,” said Arrow. “They’re a much improved team from last year.”

Spring Hill received 12 points from Jake Thelen and 10 points from Ricky Sears.

NOTES: The Jaguars used three newcomers in their starting lineup: Anderson, Roberson and junior Wendell Wright (Long Beach, Calif.)… Former South Alabama player Todd Martin (2009-11) started for Spring Hill… The Jags shot just 32.3 percent (10-31) in the second half after converting 58.3 percent before the break… Spring Hill hit 39.0 percent (23-59) of its shots for the contest… Rubit had five rebounds, tied for the third-lowest output of his career… The Jags blocked eight shots, three from junior Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) and two each from Rubit and Ammons… USA had a 45-32 rebounding advantage.

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).

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