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NEW ORLEANS – A 9-0 run by Tulane in the last five minutes of the contest gave the Green Wave an 84-73 win over the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament Wednesday night at Devlin Fieldhouse.

The Jaguars, appearing in their first postseason since 2008, end their year at 17-13. The Green Wave improve to 20-14.

Both teams made 26 field goals, but Tulane won the game at the free throw line, converting 27 times in 37 attempts.

“I thought our guys fought extremely hard in some tough situations,” interim USA head coach Jeff Price said. “It was hard to get a flow of the game. Because of the free throws, you couldn’t get a rhythm or a flow going. We got in to foul trouble, particularly with Aug in the first half. I thought our guys were resilient like they always have been, it just caught up with us in the end.”

USA junior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) led all scorers with 31 points, recording 25 after halftime, including 15 in a row late in the contest. He shot 12 of 18 from the floor and 7 of 8 at the foul line.

“It was another unbelievable effort by him,” Price said. “Again, those numbers came with him being double- and triple-teamed. He did a nice job kicking it out and just played extremely well.”

Sophomore Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.) added 11 points, and senior Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) just missed a double-double with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds in his final game.

Tulane’s Josh Davis tallied his 19th double-double of the season with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Kendall Timmons and Ricky Tarrant added 13 apiece.

Tulane never trailed and led for the final 38:55 of the contest, but could not put the Jaguars away. A jumper from freshman Barrington Stevens III (Allen, Texas) pulled the Jaguars to within two at the 12:37 mark but they could only get as close as four after that.

After a layup by Rubit at the 5:25 mark, Tulane began its game-altering run on the next possession on a layup from Timmons. Louis Dabney added the next four points at the free throw line as the Jags missed a 3-pointer and committed a turnover. USA missed another triple and Kajon Mack converted at the other end with a triple of his own to give the Green Wave their biggest lead of the contest at 76-60 with 3:37 left to go.

“They made a lot of free throws,” Price said. “The clock was stopping a lot because of the free throws and they had a ‘3’ late that broke our back.”

South Alabama finished with 17 wins for the second consecutive season, but posted 14 conference wins for its best league campaign since 2007-08.

“I’m proud of our guys,” said Price. “They’ve been tremendous all year. They like each other, they play hard and they play together. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for.”

NOTES: Rubit scored 30 or more for the fourth time this season, equaling the most by a USA player since Demetric Bennett had four in 2007-08… Rubit scored the most points by a USA player in a half this season with 25… He ends the 2012-13 season in seventh place on the Jaguars’ career scoring list with 1,390 and his single-season total of 582 is seventh… Rubit was held to five rebounds tonight, but he grabbed 315 on the season, third-best in school history and most since 1984-85… He set a new school record this year with 198 free throws made, 41 better than the previous mark of 157… Carter blocked three shots to tie for 10th in Sun Belt history with 204 in his career; he tied his career high of 72 in a season set last year, which ranks in a tie for third at USA… His total of 204 is just nine shy of the school record… Carter grabbed 10 or more rebounds in four of his last five games of the season… USA set a new season high with 19 assists; senior Wendell Wright (Long Beach, Calif.) dished out a career-best five and Ammons tied his personal mark of four… The Jags lost for just the second time this season when outshooting their opponent (11-2).

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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