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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – University of South Alabama senior Gary Redus (Decatur, Ala.) had 26 points—19 in the second half—and junior Allyn Cooks (Bryan, Texas) hit a key bucket with 34.9 seconds remaining to give the Jaguars an 80-76 win at Western Kentucky Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The win gives USA head coach Ronnie Arrow his 100th career Sun Belt Conference victory, becoming the third coach in league history to do so. He has a 100-72 record in 12 seasons and is three behind Dickey Nutt for second place.

Thursday snaps a six-game losing streak to the Hilltoppers dating back to the 08-09 season. WKU had also won four in a row coming into Thursday.

The Jaguars closed the game by scoring on 10 of their final 13 possessions and had a run of five straight made field goals, and seven of eight.

“I thought we worked the ball and we got it to the open man,” said Arrow. “We didn’t force it or go one-on-one. We worked it, got open shots and we made them.

“I’m really proud of the guys,” Arrow continued. “We gave up one offensive rebound late that could have hurt us but we got other stops.”

Redus went 5-for-6 from 3-point territory and is shooting 77.8 percent (14-18) from long-range in his last three games. He had nine trifectas for the season before his latest surge.

“He’s stepped up,” said Arrow. “He’s working hard in practice, but the bottom line is, the shots now are going in; they weren’t earlier.”

Cooks added 13 off the bench in 34 minutes of work and sophomore Martino Brock (Memphis, Tenn.) tallied 16 and a career-high seven assists with no turnovers. Redshirt freshman Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas poured in 10 points and had a team-high eight boards.

A 13-4 Western Kentucky run in the early moments of the second half put the Hilltoppers on top 44-40, their largest lead of the game. The Jaguars answered with a 16-6 spurt over a six-minute span, including two triples from Redus and a three-point play from Cooks.

After a Redus trey with 8:04 left in the contest, the Jags answered a Hilltopper score on seven straight possessions over a five-minute span and hit 7 of 8 from the floor to maintain their six-point lead. But Sergio Kerusch hit a 3-pointer and Juan Pattillo hit a lay-up and was fouled with 1:58 to play to pull within one, 75-74.

Pattillo missed his opportunity at the line to tie the game and missed twice more at the stripe at the 1:09 mark with a chance to tie or lead.

Cooks made WKU pay on USA’s next possession with a tear-drop runner in the lane to beat the shot clock with 34.9 seconds left. The Jaguars forced a miss on the ‘Toppers’ next possession and Redus went 3-for-4 at the line to close it out, including both shots with 7.3 seconds on the clock.

Kerusch and Steffphon Pettigrew shared team-high honors with 18 points each. Kerusch recorded all 18 in the second half and had a double-double with a game-best 11 rebounds. Pattillo tallied 16 points and nine boards, and Caden Dickerson scored 15, all before halftime.

South Alabama is now 10-11 on the season and 4-6 in the Sun Belt Conference. Western Kentucky falls to 9-12, 4-5.

The Jags conclude their road trip Saturday afternoon at Middle Tennessee at 3 p.m.

NOTES: South Alabama has won two straight on the road after starting out with a 1-7 record… The Jags shot 53.4 percent for the game, including 54.8 percent in the second half… USA shot over 50 percent in each half for the first time since Dec. 27 vs. Mobile… The team is 10-1 when outshooting its opponent… Seven straight USA scores from the 11:38 mark of the second half to the 6:37 mark resulted in three points, including five 3-pointers and two three-point plays… The Jags tied their season high with 10 trifectas in 18 attempts… Redus has the top two 3-point shooting nights of the last two seasons in the last three games alone… He hit seven Jan. 27 at Troy and had five tonight… Brock’s seven assists tie the most by a South Alabama player in the last two years (Cooks, 7 vs. MTSU, Jan. 2, 2011)… No USA player has had seven or more assists with no turnovers since Daniel Hayles had eight on Feb. 16, 2008 vs. Florida Atlantic… Redus’s 75 points are the most by a Jaguar in a three-game span since Demetric Bennett totaled 76 (30/14/32) in March 2008… South Alabama won for the second time this season when being outrebounded (2-10 record)… Rubit’s streak of four straight games with double-digit rebounds was snapped… Redshirt freshman Todd Martin (Mobile, Ala.) made his first career start… Cooks went 0-for-1 from 3-point land, ending his run of nine consecutive games with a trifecta.

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—