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LAFAYETTE, La. – University of South Alabama sophomore Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.) threw down a dunk with 19.3 seconds left and a last-second 3-pointer by Louisiana at Lafayette rattled out at the buzzer to give the Jaguars a 91-89 win in double overtime Thursday night at the Cajundome.

USA improves to 8-7 overall and 5-2 in the Sun Belt Conference. ULL drops to 6-12 and 2-5.

The Jags, who were up as much as 13 in the second half, rallied from a late deficit to force overtime to stay undefeated (4-0) on the road in conference play.

“It was a hard-fought win on the road,” interim USA head coach Jeff Price said. “I thought our guys did a great job of being very resilient in what became a tough atmosphere as the game went on. We had our lapses but we drew things up well late in the game and got a great look from Mike in regulation that didn’t go down. With about three minutes to go in regulation things didn’t look real good for us and I thought our guys did a really nice job of fighting back.”

Ammons drove the left baseline and powered home a two-handed dunk. His final two points gave him his third double-double of the year with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“Mychal had some huge plays—some steals and plays at the basket and that dunk at the end of the game,” Price said. “He just took it strong to the basket and buried it with two hands.”

A 3-pointer from ULL’s Shawn Long went halfway down before bouncing out as time expired.

Junior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) had 26 points—21 after halftime—and nine rebounds to pace the Jags in scoring. Junior Dre Conner (Lauderhill, Fla.) had 15 of his career high 19 points in the first half and junior Antoine Allen (Baltimore, Md.) matched Conner with 19.

“I thought Aug did a really nice job late of understanding he had two or three guys on him and kicking the ball out; we just have to knock those shots down, regardless of who’s shooting them,” Price noted. “Aug just affects the game so much when you go in to him and he continues to get better at understanding he can make other guys better.”

Elfrid Payton matched Rubit’s 26 points, recording 22 of those after intermission, and dished out seven assists with three steals. Bryant Mbamalu poured in 19 points, Long totaled 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Steven Wronkoski tallied 12 points.

South Alabama never trailed in the final period and used seven combined points from Rubit and Allen to take an 89-84 lead early. However the Ragin’ Cajuns responded with four unanswered points, getting back-to-back layups from Payton. Just less two minutes passed with neither team getting on the scoreboard before Long hit the second of two free throws tying the contest at 89 with 37.5 seconds left.

The Jaguars trailed by six with 2:51 left in regulation after Mbamalu—who had 17 points in the second half—converted a 3-pointer. On USA’s ensuing possession, senior Freddie Goldstein (Milwaukee, Wis.) hit a triple of his own to cut the lead in half, and after a ULL free throw, Goldstein hit another trey at the 1:42 mark to pull the Jags within one.

“If there’s a guy you want shooting them, it’s him,” Price said. “He’s an experienced senior and he jumped up and made a couple.”

The two teams traded free throws and Ammons gave South Alabama a 74-73 lead with 34.3 seconds left after a steal and a layup. Payton hit a free throw at the other end to tie the game and Ammons missed a shot from the right baseline in the waning moments.

Neither team led by more than two in the first overtime and Allen tied the contest at 82-82 with 44.4 seconds on the clock with a layup.

South Alabama plays at North Texas Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

NOTES: South Alabama last played a double-overtime game on Nov. 29, 2007, losing 91-89 at Vanderbilt… The game was delayed for several minutes with 4:48 left in the first half due to condensation on the court… The last eight games in the series have been decided by six points or less, including two in overtime… Rubit took over second place at South Alabama for career rebounds with 742… His streak of leading the team in rebounding ended at 11 games and his double-double streak was snapped after six straight contests… Long tied Rubit for the top spot in the conference with his ninth double-double… Allen’s 19 points are his most since tallying a career-best 21 at Florida State in the season opener… The Jaguars forced a season-high 24 turnovers on 11 steals… USA shot 51.9 percent in the first half but just 34.0 percent after halftime… Long had five blocks, the most by a USA opponent this season… Senior Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) hit his first career 3-pointer in the first half on a fadeaway to beat the shot clock.

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—