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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team held Mobile to 29.1 percent shooting for the game and got 18 points and 12 rebounds from senior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) to defeat the Rams 65-55 in an exhibition game Tuesday night at the Mitchell Center.

The USA defense also forced 20 turnovers and held the Rams to 18.2 percent from behind the arc. The 55 points would have been the second-lowest total for an opponent last season.

Offensively the numbers weren't much better for the Jags, who scored just 23 points in the first half and committed 24 turnovers with only six assists.

"I told the guys in the locker room after the game that I was really proud of their effort and if they continue to throw the ball all over the place like that I'm going to lose the rest of my hair," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "It's a learning experience for all of us and the thing I told them I was most proud about it the way they defended. Normally, when a team throws the ball all over the place, they don't shoot a high percentage and they're playing from 10, 12 points down. Right out of the gate I thought we did an excellent job of guarding them and making them take contested shots, so I was really pleased with our defensive effort tonight."

Rubit scored 16 of his 18 points after halftime, thanks to an 0-for-4 effort from the floor in the first half. He blocked four shots on the night and went 6-for-7 at the foul line.

Freshman Ken Williams (Manvel, Texas) tallied 13 points and hit two 3-pointers while grabbing six rebounds. Junior Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.) matched Williams' rebounding total and added 12 points.

It was the first game as a head coach for Graves, who took over the reins of the program in March after serving as an assistant coach at Butler for 10 seasons.

"Walking up and down the side line it felt really good," he said. "It was a dream of mine to do that and making that dream become a reality. We have a great team and a great staff and it was a lot of fun tonight."

Graves chalked up some of the struggles offensively to youth and executing a system unlike many on the team have played before.

"It's a new system, new time and I think we had four freshmen on the court at one time," he noted. "It's a learning experience and I think what people can take from this is how good were going to be three games from now, five games from now, ten games from now. It's going to be a growth process for this team."

After a slow start that saw the Jags hit just 24 percent of their shots with 12 turnovers before halftime, a quick 12-4 run to open the second half gave USA its biggest lead of the contest.

South Alabama almost doubled their scoring output after halftime (42 points) and hit 13 of their 23 shots for 56.5 percent.

"I thought we did a better job with our shot selection in the second half, but I think it was overall, we played at a better pace," Graves said. "We weren't sped up as much in the second half. We got to our spots a little bit better. We screened a little bit better."

The Jaguars threatened to pull away after that quick start but the Rams answered with an 11-3 spurt that cut the deficit to 42-39 with 9:20 left in the contest. However, two free throws from Ammons were the first two points in a 6-0 run that became a 13-2 rally to put the game away.

Kwame Beard paced Mobile with 16 points of 6 of 9 shooting in just 20 minutes of action. Brandon Morris came off the bench to pour in 15 points, and Cody Scott recorded 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

NOTES: Six South Alabama players saw their first game action in a college uniform… Junior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.) played for the first time since 2011-12 when he was at Morehead State… Senior guard Antoine Allen (Baltimore, Md.) was held out of the game due to a violation of team rules… The Jaguars blocked 10 shots as a team, including four from Rubit and two from Williams… A combined 54 fouls were called and the teams shot a total of 61 free throws – 37 by South Alabama and 24 by Mobile… Ammons' 15 free throw attempts would be a new career high… The Jags went over 10 minutes without a field goal, a stretch that spanned the halftime break, and the team went the final 8:04 of the first half going 0-for-8 from the floor with seven turnovers.

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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