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LAFAYETTE, La. – University of South Alabama junior Trey Anderson (Carrollton, Texas) recorded career highs in points and rebounds and the Jaguars outscored Louisiana at Lafayette 40-27 in the second half to win 70-65 Thursday night at the Cajundome.

The Jaguars snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 9-6 overall and 1-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Ragin’ Cajuns fall to 8-10 and 2-2.

Anderson notched the first double-double of his career with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

“By far that’s the best he’s played,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow, who tied Dickey Nutt for second place in SBC history with 103 conference wins. “That’s how we saw him play in junior college. He just found the open spots. He was penetrating, getting to the rim and finishing. Before tonight, he hadn’t been getting to the rim or charging. That’s what we saw him do in junior college and hopefully that’s the first step in continuing to play that way.”

Louisiana at Lafayette shot just 29.2 percent from the floor after halftime and made three field goals in the final 10 minutes of the game, including a dunk with 1.1 seconds left with the game already decided. The Cajuns finished 3-for-10 on field goals with six turnovers.

On the other end of the floor, the Jaguars had six turnovers in the second half after committing 10 in the opening 20 minutes. They also got three key offensive rebounds in the last 2:11 that led to five points.

“We took care of the ball, we ran more picks for our guys that got them open more and our inside guys finished, which they weren’t doing in the first half,” Arrow commented. “In the first half, we were getting it in there, but we were too busy faking and those guys are too good of shot blockers. In the second half, we got it in there, made quick moves and finished.”

Trailing by eight at halftime, the Jags came out of the break firing, outscoring the Cajuns 7-1 in the first 1:43 and eventually regained the lead at 54-52 with 9:04 left in the contest in a layup by senior Antione Lundy (Saginaw, Mich.).

South Alabama would never give it back and used a 6-0 run midway through the second half to take its biggest lead of the game, 62-55 with 5:43 to play on a bucket by Anderson and two free throws each from Lundy and Anderson.

ULL would threaten and get to within three on two occasions but a steal-and-dunk from Lundy quelled one rally and a jumper from junior Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) at the 1:42 mark squashed the final comeback attempt.

After going 0-for-1 at the line in the first half, USA went 12-for-17 in the second, led by Carter’s 6-for-8 effort.

“We didn’t shoot free throws like we needed to but we made them when they counted,” said Arrow.

Carter scored a season-high 14 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. He also added six blocks, one shy of his personal best and tied for eighth in school history.

Sophomore Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) was the only other Jag in double-digits with 10 points.

Josh Brown paced the ULL offense with 13 points. Kadeem Coleby and J.J. Thomas had 12 each and Raymone Andrews added 10. Thomas (eight) and Brown (seven) combined for 15 of the team’s 35 rebounds.

“Reality is tough and we’ve been telling them what it’s all about, that we haven’t been doing the little things,” said Arrow. “Hopefully this will be a spark for us to keep winning and take off from here.”

South Alabama completes its two-game road trip Saturday night (8 p.m.) at Troy. The game will be televised on the Sun Belt Network and ESPN3.com.

NOTES: South Alabama now leads the all-time series with Louisiana-Lafayette 21-20… The last seven games have been decided by six points or less… The loss ends a seven-game home Sun Belt winning streak for ULL… Anderson is averaging 14.0 points in his last three games after scoring no more than seven in any of the previous 12 contests… Carter has now blocked a shot in 12 straight games and leads the SBC in blocks per outing (3.2)… The Jags are 8-2 this season when a player has a double-double… USA won the rebounding battle for the 12th consecutive game 43-35… Junior DeAndré Hersey (Carrollton, Ala.) saw a season-high 15 minutes of action and grabbed five rebounds… The Cajuns missed all eight 3-point attempts in the second half… A loss would have given USA an 0-4 record in league play for the first time since 1998-99.

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—