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JONESBORO, Ark. – The University of South Alabama battled back from a 16-point deficit in the first half to get as close as two, but an 8-0 Arkansas State run with under five minutes to play gave the Red Wolves a 74-62 victory Thursday night at the Convocation Center.

The Jaguars see their season-long three-game win streak end and drop to 11-9 overall and 8-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Red Wolves improve to 13-8 and 7-5.

“It was an extremely physical game,” interim USA head coach Jeff Price said. “It was hard-fought and intense on both ends. We put them on the line a lot; we got to the free throw line too but it’s hard to battle 43 free throws. We just couldn’t get a flow to the game because the flow stopped so much with the fouls. We were bending but we weren’t breaking. We kept fighting back but every time we had a chance to get over the hump we just couldn’t do it.”

ASU’s Rakeem Dickerson scored 14 of his 18 points at the free throw line and tallied all 18 in the second half. Trey Finn added 18 points and three steals.

Junior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) led the Jaguars with 18 points, converting a career-best 12 times—in 12 attempts—at the free throw line. He fell one rebound short of a double-double and had two blocks.

Senior Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) came off the bench to post 11 points—tying his season high—with three blocks and two steals. He recorded 10 of his points in the first half.

Trailing the entire second half, the Jaguars battled back, putting up six and seven unanswered points to get within two on each occasion, but the Red Wolves responded each time with runs of 7-0 and 8-0. The final run put the contest away.

“We just couldn’t make baskets when we needed to,” Price said. “We were getting stops and then all of the sudden we’d foul and they’d make free throws. We missed a couple of easy shots we should have made. It’s hard to play on the road in this type of environment against a good basketball team. We just have to keep plugging away.”

After two Rubit free throws drew the Jaguars to 55-53, Dickerson hit 3 of 4 at the line with 4:15 remaining and Finn answered a USA miss with a 3-pointer. Finn followed another Jaguar miss with a tip-in on his own missed shot and in a span of 1:25, ASU put up eight consecutive points for a commanding 63-53 lead with 2:50 left in the contest.

Arkansas State converted 30 times in 43 attempts at the free throw line. In addition to Dickerson’s 14-for-16 performance at the charity stripe, Finn went 8-for-10.

The Red Wolves used runs of 11-0 and 16-5 in the first half to open up a 16-point advantage midway through the opening period.

USA answered with a 16-5 run of its own and trailed 35-29 at halftime.

South Alabama closes out the weekend road swing Saturday against Arkansas at Little Rock.

NOTES: In two games against Arkansas State this season, South Alabama shot 32.1 percent from the floor and 16.2 percent from 3-point land... ASU’s 30 free throws and 43 attempts are the most by a USA opponent this season… The Jaguars made just four field goals in the final 16 minutes and went almost nine minutes between makes… South Alabama is 0-9 when trailing at halftime this season… Rubit has grabbed nine rebounds in a game six times in 2012-13… He is one rebound shy of tying for 16th place in Sun Belt history for career boards (792)… Carter blocked a shot for the 14th consecutive game… Rubit’s previous career high for free throws in a game was 10, accomplished three different times… USA’s seven offensive rebounds tie their season low… The Jaguars lost for the first time this season when outshooting their opponent (8-1, 6-1 SBC).

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—