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ATLANTA – University of South Alabama junior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) scored 31 points to tie his career high, but Georgia State had two players with at least 25 points and made the defensive stop on the last possession of the game to hang on 75-73 Wednesday afternoon at the Georgia State Sports Arena.

The Jaguars lose their third straight game to fall to 2-3 while the Panthers win for the third consecutive time to improve to 3-2.

GSU shot 50 percent from the floor for the contest and racked up 43 points in the first half alone. The Panthers converted 11 times from beyond the arc in 18 attempts (61.1 percent).

“We’ve got to go back to basics; we’re just not guarding,” USA head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “Our teams have always been known for good man-to-man, pressure defenses and we’re not doing it. I thought they were going to score 100 points today. We’re not going to beat too many people holding them to 50 percent (from the floor). We have to get where we take more pride in our defense and stopping the ball.”

Rubit tallied 20 of his game-high 31 points in the first half and recorded his second straight double-double with 11 rebounds—nine on the offensive end. He shot 13-for-18 from the floor and 5-for-6 at the charity stripe, tied his career high with three assists and had two blocks and one steal.

“I thought he played very well, but I thought our guys did a good job of getting him the ball and he was finishing,” Arrow said.

Manny Atkins had 26 points—19 in the first half—to lead GSU. R.J. Hunter added 25, with 16 coming after halftime. Atkins also went 5-for-6 from 3-point territory.

“When someone is having a great game like Hunter, we can’t just be off of him,” Arrow said. “We got closer to him, but in situations like that, he doesn’t even get the ball. We kept just letting him catch it. He’s a good freshman, but we should have been smart enough not to let him get the ball.

“It’s like we’re hard-headed. They’re going to have to make a bunch before we get on them. When a team is making 3s, you don’t come off of them. You don’t come off guys that are hot.”

South Alabama trailed by eight at halftime but quickly made up the deficit in the first 5:26 of the second half and tied the score at 47-47 on a 3-pointer by sophomore Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.).

Despite tying the game one other time, the Jags were unable to take the lead. USA battled back from six points down midway through the second half and closed to within one twice, the second time with 4:48 left on a Rubit layup.

The Panthers responded with an 8-1 run, capped off with a 3-pointer from Atkins at the 2:22 mark to go up eight. The Jaguars answered with a run of their own, getting 3-pointers from senior Freddie Goldstein (Milwaukee, Wis.) and junior Xavier Roberson (Houston, Texas) on three straight trips down the court. Roberson’s fourth—and final—one of the night made it a one-point ballgame with 34.6 seconds left.

Hunter went to the line and hit his first attempt but missed the second, setting up South Alabama for one final shot with 11.3 on the clock. Ammons drove the lane but was unable to get his shot to the net.

“We were trying to run a flare for Freddie,” Arrow said of the final play.

All 12 of Roberson’s points came from behind the arc on nine attempts. He was the only other Jaguar besides Rubit in double-digit points.

The Jaguars open Sun Belt Conference play next Thursday (Nov. 29) against Florida Atlantic at 6 p.m. CST.

NOTES: Tonight is the final time the two teams will meet as non-conference opponents – GSU will join the Sun Belt Conference in the 2013-14 academic year… Rubit played all 40 minutes… Rubit made 22 straight free throws over four games before he missed his final attempt of the night… He is shooting 88.2 percent from the foul line this season… The Jags went 11-for-12 at the stripe tonight for a season-high 91.7 percent… Rubit extended his run of scoring 20 or more points to a career-long four games… Senior Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) did not record a block for the first time in 10 outings… Atkins’ 19 first-half points and five 3-pointers are both season highs by a USA opponent… Junior Antoine Allen (Baltimore, Md.) recorded four steals for the second time in three games and leads the team with 12 on the season.

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—