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JONESBORO, Ark. – Arkansas State never trailed and held the University of South Alabama men's basketball team to 34.5 percent shooting in a 72-60 Sun Belt Conference victory Saturday night at the Convocation Center.

ASU wins for the fifth time in six games to move to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in the league. USA drops its sixth straight game to fall to 6-11, 0-4.

"Tonight I was anxious to see how we would come back on a quick turnaround after a tough loss to Arkansas-Little Rock," Jaguar head coach Matthew Graves said. "I was really disappointed in our shot selection early in the game. We talked about being strong with the basketball and getting the ball inside, either through passing the ball or on the drive and try to make plays at the rim. We settled way too many times and we felt like we were playing from 8-to-10 points down all night."

The Red Wolves' Kirk Van Slyke led all players with 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Ed Townsel also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.

Freshman Aakim Saintil (Roselle, N.J.) was the only Jaguar in double-digit points with 10. Senior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) posted nine points and seven rebounds.

Van Slyke sparked a 10-1 Arkansas State run midway through the first half to take a commanding 23-10 lead. He hit layups on consecutive trips down the floor, and after a Jaguar free throw, three different Red Wolves hit baskets to increase their advantage to 13.

The run was helped by a 4-for-19 shooting start by the Jaguars, who converted 29.6 percent from the floor before halftime.

Arkansas State nailed a 3-pointer on its first possession of the second half to go up 11 but Saintil and freshman Isaiah Maston (Birmingham, Ala.) combined for the next four points to cut the margin to seven, and just over two minutes later, Maston hit a layup with 16:46 left in the game for another seven-point deficit.

"I thought Isaiah came in and, for the second game in a row, gave us some good minutes off the bench," Graves commented. "Dionte (Ferguson) came in and gave us five points and three rebounds off the bench so those two guys did a nice job for us."

The Jaguars forced a stop on the Red Wolves next possession but couldn't get closer. Arkansas State scored the next four points and later used a 6-0 run to go up 55-41 with 7:54 left in the contest.

"We need to go back and define roles on this team," Graves said. "We need guys to understand what their strengths are and how they can help this team. Defensively, we're not that far off. When you hold opponents to that 40 or 42 field goal percentage, you should feel really good about that effort on the defensive end of the floor. The same problem keeps occurring—when you only shoot 35 percent offensively, it really makes it tough. It's hard to pitch a shutout defensively so we need to talk about what we're trying to accomplish offensively and more clearly define roles."

The Jaguars return home to host Louisiana-Lafayette Thursday at 7:05 p.m.

NOTES: South Alabama hasn't lost six in a row since the 2004-05 season nor opened league play at 0-4 since 1998-99… The Jags have scored no more than 64 points in their losing streak… Maston has scored eight points in each of his last two games; his previous career high before Thursday was three… Rubit's nine points are his fewest against Arkansas State in five career games; he entered the night averaging 17.0 points and 11.3 rebounds vs. the Red Wolves… ASU's 25.0 percent effort from 3-point territory is the lowest by a USA opponent since Gonzaga shot 14.3 percent from distance on Dec. 14… Arkansas State won the rebounding battle 41-33.

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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