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MOBILE, Ala. – Denver’s men’s basketball team forced 22 turnovers, converted them in to 26 points and used a late run to get past the University of South Alabama 67-50 Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars drop their third straight game to fall to 8-6 overall and 0-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Pioneers win for the seventh time in eight games and improve to 13-3 and 3-1.

“Twenty-two turnovers against a team that doesn’t even press and doesn’t put pressure is ridiculous,” USA head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “It’s crazy to even think about 22 turnovers. You have no chance against this team, as much as they take care of the ball, to beat them (like that) and it should hurt. Our post men turned the ball over. Our guards turned the ball over. We’ve just got to go back to work.”

USA sophomore Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) scored a game-high 17 points with six rebounds. He played 37 minutes after leaving early in Thursday’s game with a back injury.

“Aug had four turnovers, but I thought he did a good job for us,” said Arrow.

The Pioneers placed five players in double-figure scoring, led by Chris Udofia who had 15 on 7-for-11 shooting. He also added two blocks.

Denver led throughout the second half and a 14-3 run midway through the final period put DU on top by 16, 53-37. Brian Stafford started the run with a 3-pointer, Royce O’Neale scored six consecutive points and Chase Hallam capped it off with another triple. The Pioneers hit five of their six field goal attempts, including 3 of 4 from behind the arc.

The Jags, who rallied from 22- and 15-point deficits to win the last two meetings, answered with seven straight points, thanks to back-to-back layups from Rubit and a trey from junior Freddie Goldstein (Milwaukee, Wis.).

USA forced a miss on DU’s next trip down the floor, but the comeback would end there as the team committed turnovers on four straight possessions thereafter and had just one field goal in the final 7:18 of the contest.

“We gave them too many second chances,” said Arrow. “We stopped them three times and came down and turned the ball over three straight times. You can’t do that. You work your tail off to get the ball and get good stops, and you come down and give it right back to them offensively. Most of those were just one-pass throwaways.”

Denver scored 11 of the game’s next 14 points to ice the contest.

“I’m really impressed with the way these guys played, especially how physical they were,” Denver head coach Joe Scott said. “South Alabama tried to beat us inside over and over again, but every one of our guys fought and defended the post well. A couple of guys did terrific, but from a team standpoint, we’re building something.”

In the first half, the Pioneers used a 12-4 run to take a 28-15 lead late in the first half and had 11 points off turnovers compared to zero for the Jaguars. But Denver went cold and went just 4-for-17 from the floor to end the period. South Alabama closed the half on a 9-2 run and trailed 30-24 at the break.

Stafford had 12 points—all off 3-pointers—while Brett Olson and Hallam added 11 points each. Olson and Hallam combined to go 6-for-10 from long distance.

Junior Trey Anderson (Carrollton, Texas) and Goldstein had 10 points apiece for South Alabama.

South Alabama goes on the road Thursday for the first time in 2012 when it travels to Louisiana at Lafayette for a 7:05 p.m. tip.

NOTES: South Alabama is averaging 23 turnovers in its last two games… USA outrebounded its opponent for the 11th straight game (29-19)… Senior Antione Lundy (Saginaw, Mich.), the SBC’s second-leading rebounder, had a game-high seven, while Rubit, who leads the league, pulled down six… Junior Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) had four blocks and recorded his 100th career rejection in the contest… He also extended his streak of games with at least one block to 11 and currently leads the conference in blocks per game (3.0)… USA’s current three-game losing streak is a season high… The Jags’ six assists tie a season low… South Alabama’s 48.5 shooting percentage is the best in a loss since converting 57.1 percent in an 82-79 defeat at North Texas on Feb. 17, 2011.

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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