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TROY, Ala. – Junior Freddie Goldstein (Milwaukee, Wis.) set a new University of South Alabama record with nine 3-pointers and poured in a career-high 30 points to lead the Jaguars men’s basketball team to a 75-60 win over Troy Saturday night.

USA has won two straight—both on the road—to improve to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. Troy drops to 6-10, 1-4.

Goldstein’s nine trifectas are one more than the previous mark, last accomplished by Domonic Tilford on Feb. 10, 2008, also against Troy, and one more than the entire team had in any game this season. Goldstein had 19 points on 6-for-10 three-point shooting in the second half alone.

“Freddie has the heart of a lion,” said Jaguar head coach Ronnie Arrow, who earned his 104th Sun Belt win to move into second place in league history. “He thinks every shot is a good shot and he’s going to give everything he has. Sometimes he might overdo some things, but it’s not because he’s not trying.”

“Coach trusted me,” Goldstein said. “He told me to keep on shooting, and that’s what I did.”

The Jags also got a career rebounding night from freshman Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.) who grabbed 12 boards. The team pulled down a season-high 54 for the evening, compared to 38 for the Trojans.

With South Alabama up 48-43 with 10:21 left in the contest, Goldstein scored 16 of the team’s next 17 points, including 13 in a row.

He accounted for all nine of the team’s triples and was the only USA player to attempt a trey after halftime.

Almost lost in Goldstein’s offensive explosion was the Jaguars’ work on the defensive end of the floor. Troy, who ranked third in the nation in 3-pointers per game coming into the game (9.7), shot just 6-for-37 from behind the arc for 16.2 percent.

The Trojans had just one field goal in a 12-minute span in the first half and went nearly six minutes without a point as the Jags reeled off 11 unanswered.

“You never know when the zone is going to take shooters out of it—it’s a different look,” Arrow said. “Rather than beating one guy, you don’t know where it’s coming from. Our guys did a really good job in that.”

South Alabama saw a 15-point first-half lead dwindle down to seven at halftime and five midway through the second half before Goldstein took over. He singlehandedly took the Jags on a 9-2 run to go ahead 64-52 with 5:56 remaining.

A 3-pointer from Troy’s Steven Cunningham with 3:18 left in the contest trimmed the lead down to 65-57, but USA outscored Troy 10-3 the rest of the way.

“We played tonight like we did earlier in the year when we were winning,” Arrow said. “We got done at the end what we needed to do to win the game.”

The Jags also got 17 points from sophomore Augustine Rubit and six assists from junior Trey Anderson (Carrollton, Texas).

“Everybody saw what Freddie did shooting the ball, but Trey and Mychal Ammons did a good job of getting him the ball,” said Arrow. “I was happy with that.”

Junior Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) blocked four shots and is now in third place in school history in career rejections with 112.

Only one Trojan reached double-digit scoring: R.J. Scott with 10.

South Alabama returns home for two games in Mobile next week, starting with Florida International Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.

NOTES: Three of South Alabama’s top six individual 3-point performances have come against Troy—Gary Redus had eight in USA’s last trip to Troy… The win is Arrow’s 199th in his career at South Alabama, most in school history… Troy tried 37 three-pointers in 72 field goal attempts… All four of Carter’s blocks came in the first half… He has a block in 13 straight games… USA has outrebounded its last 13 opponents by an average of 11.4 per game... Junior DeAndré Hersey (Carrollton, Ala.) set new season highs with six rebounds and two assists… Goldstein is the second Jaguar to reach the 30-point plateau this season (Rubit 31 points vs. Alcorn State).

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—