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Mychal Ammons
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Men's Basketball

MEN’S BASKETBALL RUNS AWAY FROM SPRING HILL

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MOBILE, Ala.
– A 22-2 University of South Alabama run midway through the first half was more than enough for the Jaguar men's basketball team to record a 91-41 victory over Spring Hill Monday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars improve to 5-3 and win their 12th straight game over Spring Hill. The game was an exhibition for the Badgers (0-6).

Junior Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.) scored 15 of his season-high 17 points in the first half and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. He had been averaging 5.2 points in his previous five games after going for 13 and 16 points in the first two games.

"Tonight I thought we really did a good job of coming out of the gate like we have in previous games and you never want to take that for granted," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "I was really proud of how Mychal bounced back and was really in attack mode. It all starts with how you practice and he had his best practice of the year on Sunday after coming back from Middle Tennessee. Watching film of his effort, it just wasn't where it needed to be. Like I said, I was really proud of Mychal tonight on how he came out and really played hard."

Senior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) led all scorers with 18 points and matched Ammons' nine boards. He moved into second place in Sun Belt Conference history in career rebounds with 971.

The Jaguars grabbed a quick 12-2 lead in the opening moments of the contest, and after the Badgers closed to 14-9, South Alabama reeled off 15 unanswered points—getting contributions from six different players—to take control.

Spring Hill broke the drought with a layup, but freshman Ken Williams (Manvel, Texas) answered with a 3-pointer on the Jags' next possession and Rubit followed with a jumper. Rubit capped off the run with a dunk for a 36-11 advantage.

"I think that really goes to show the type of team we have here at South Alabama," Graves said of the variety of players chipping in during the scoring outburst. "To win a championship you have to have four, five, six, seven, eight, everybody invested. I feel like on any given night we have guys that can step up, whether it's score, defend or rebound and that's going to help us as we move forward this year."

Williams rebounded from a scoreless outing Saturday at Middle Tennessee to tie his career high of 13 points on 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. He also added two assists—with no turnovers—and two steals.

Twelve of the 13 USA players that saw action got on the scoresheet, including junior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.), who tied a season-high with nine points, and freshman Austin Karazsia (Linton, Ind.) with six.

South Alabama dominated the boards as Rubit, Ammons and freshman Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) combined (26) to outrebound Spring Hill as a team (24). The Jaguars pulled down a season-best 55 rebounds, grabbing 21 on the offensive end and 34 defensively.

"It's one of those games where even though you have a size advantage you still have to make the effort to go do it," Graves noted. "For Mychal and Augustine to get nine rebounds and play less than half the game, they were very active. They need to understand that if they play with that sense of urgency and that type of motor, they're capable of getting 14 or 15 rebounds on any given night if they go after every loose ball and every rebound on the rim."

The Badgers did not have a player crack double-digits in scoring, but Frederick Gatson came off the bench to record a team-best eight points and seven rebounds.

South Alabama heads back out on the road Saturday to take on Rice at 5 p.m.

NOTES: South Alabama last scored 90 or more in regulation on Dec. 11, 2011 against Alcorn State (102)… The win is tied for the fourth-largest in USA history… Rubit also made his way up the South Alabama career charts, grabbing the seventh spot in field goals made (533); he needs two more to move into sixth… Rubit was honored before the game for setting a new school record for career rebounds… The Jaguars shot a season-best 57.1 percent (16-28) in the second half; the team had been converting 32.3 percent from the floor in the second half coming into the night… USA led at halftime for the eighth consecutive game and the 21-point advantage at the break is a season high… South Alabama's 12 straight wins over Spring Hill is tied for the second-longest active streak against an opponent… The Jags had a positive assist-turnover ratio (13 assists, nine turnovers) for the second time in three 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).

—USA—

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