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BOCA RATON, Fla. – Behind a season-high 44 points in the first half and a career-best 23 from junior Xavier Roberson (Houston, Texas), the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team won its Sun Belt Conference opener 77-66 over Florida Atlantic Thursday night at FAU Arena.

The Jaguars even their record at 3-3 overall; the Owls drop to 2-4.

“We worked on their stuff for three full days and I think tonight we guarded them,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “We still didn’t guard the 3-point line, but overall I was very happy, especially with our guard play. We only had nine turnovers and we held them to 41 percent shooting (from the floor).”

With the victory, Arrow earns his 111th career Sun Belt win, tying him with Gene Bartow for the most in conference history. The program also picked up its 300th all-time league win.

“I’m more into being 1-0 in the conference,” Arrow said. “That’s the most important thing. We’re working on the conference now and we play Florida International Saturday. Being 2-0, that’s the record I’m interested in.”

Roberson tallied 15 of his 23 points in the first half on five 3-pointers. He went 5-for-8 from behind the arc before halftime. Six of his eight points after the break came via the free throw line.

“When our 3-point shooters are on, we’re going to beat a lot of teams by a lot of points,” Arrow said.

The Jags took control early in the first half on the back of Roberson’s outside shooting. Down 10-6, Roberson hit back-to-back 3s to take the lead, and after a layup from senior Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas), he hit another one for a seven-point advantage. Carter added another layup to complete the 13-0 spurt.

USA put together another scoring outburst just before halftime when four different players contributed points in a 9-0 run. By the time junior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) slammed home two points to end the surge, the Jaguars led by 18.

“We were scoring off of our defense,” Arrow said. “We were able to defend and that ignited our fast break.”

Florida Atlantic responded with seven straight points before the half, including a trey at the buzzer by Greg Gantt, to trail 44-33 at the break.

As hot as the two teams were in the first half, they cooled considerably in the second. The Jaguars shot 50.0 percent in the first 20 minutes but only 30.8 percent in the second period. The Owls shot 10 percent worse after halftime.

FAU was able to close to seven in the final 2:19 but could get no closer. USA went 8-for-10 at the free throw line in the last 1:05.

Roberson led a group of four Jags in double-figure scoring. Senior Freddie Goldstein (Milwaukee, Wis.) totaled 15 points, and Rubit and Carter added 11 each. Rubit recorded his third straight double-double with 10 rebounds.

Gantt led all scorers with 29 points and Stefan Moody came off the bench to pour in 16.

The Jaguars face Florida International Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EST.

NOTES: The Jaguars went 7-for-15 from 3-point range in the first half but went 0-for-4 in the second… Roberson has made four or more triples in each of his last three games and his five treys tonight are a career high… Goldstein tied his personal best with three steals… Rubit moved into 18th place at South Alabama in career scoring… Junior Dre Conner (Lauderhill, Fla.) dished out a season-best four assists… South Alabama had a 9-to-4 assist-to-turnover ratio in the first half but had a 1-to-5 ratio in the second… The team’s nine turnovers are a season low and the fewest by the program since Feb. 20, 2011 at Denver (7)… Carter made all four of his shots from the floor… Gantt’s 29 points are the most by a USA opponent since Tony Mitchell had 34 for North Texas on Jan. 5… The Jaguars had more assists than turnovers for the second time this season (William Carey)… Sophomore Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.) has pulled down seven rebounds in each of his last four games.

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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