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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Solomon Bozeman scored a game-high 28 points and keyed a late UALR run to put away the University of South Alabama 82-68 Saturday night in the first round of the SBC Men's Basketball Championships.

The Trojans (16-16), the No. 5 seed out of the West Division, move on to play West No. 1 Arkansas State tomorrow night in the quarterfinals. The Jaguars, the fourth seed out of the East, end their season with a 12-16 record.

“There was no energy level,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow after the game. “We didn’t play with any energy and when we don’t do that, we’re just not very good. The stats were almost completely opposite of when we played them at our place. To be quite truthful about it, they played harder than us and won the game.

“I feel bad because we didn’t achieve what we wanted to achieve.”

Bozeman was the only UALR player in double-digit scoring, though all 11 players scored at least two points. He scored 17 of his points before halftime and converted 10 of 11 from the free throw line.

“We got no stops—we had no answer for Bozeman,” said Arrow. “He did whatever he wanted to, whenever he wanted to. We had no answer for him. It was almost like he wasn’t on the scouting report.”

The Trojans led by as many as 15 in the second half but the Jags were able to cut the margin to nine with 9:14 to play on a dunk from senior Tim Williams (Pontiac, Mich.). The teams traded two points on six straight possessions, the final time on a tip-in from sophomore Martino Brock (Memphis, Tenn.) with 6:48 to play.

A 3-pointer from UALR’s Gus Leeper—just his third of the year—started a 12-0 run to put the contest away. Bozeman, who did not have a second-half point until the 8:06 mark, scored nine straight points and finished off the back-breaking run with a lay-up with 4:08 left in the game to put the Trojans up 21.

Williams, playing his final game in a South Alabama uniform, led the team with 16 points off the bench. Brock had 14 and went a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point land. Sophomore Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) added 12 points and tied his career high with eight rebounds. Redshirt freshman Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) contributed 10 points and seven rebounds to the USA cause.

Senior Matt Cline (Binghamton, N.Y.), added to the roster midseason after serving four seasons as a manager, scored six points on two 3-pointers, the only two field goal attempts of his one-game career.

NOTES: Arkansas at Little Rock earned its first-ever postseason win against South Alabama in seven games… USA ends its streak of five straight Sun Belt quarterfinal appearances… The Jaguars are 31-30 all time in the SBC Tournament and Arrow is 12-8 lifetime with two titles in Sun Belt postseason play… The team will return 10 letterwinners next season… South Alabama shot 47.8 percent from the foul line while UALR converted on 83.3 percent of its free throw attempts… Williams’ 16 points are his most since tallying 21 on Jan. 6 at Florida Atlantic… UALR won the rebounding battle 39-28, USA’s worst margin since Jan. 15 against Louisiana at Monroe… Rubit finished the season with 308 rebounds, third-most in school history… He currently leads all Division I freshmen in rebounding (11.0 rpg).

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—