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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team built up a 19-point lead at Western Kentucky that got down to six in the late stages, but the Jaguars survived to earn their first road win of the season 69-62 Saturday night at Diddle Arena.

The Jags snap a six-game losing streak and improve to 8-17 overall and 2-10 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Hilltoppers fall to 17-9 and 9-4.

South Alabama never trailed and got double-doubles from senior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) and junior Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.) to win the final SBC game between the two schools before Western Kentucky joins Conference USA in 2014-15.

"We came in with a plan to win," Jaguar head coach Matthew Graves said. "The bottom line is our guys really communicated with one another. They understood this was a big game. This is a tough place to come in and play. Their fans are really good. We needed to come in here and play with energy and effort and communicate with each other, and from the opening tip we did that throughout the entire game."

Ammons led all players with a season-high 20 points—his most in a game since Dec. 1, 2012—and grabbed 11 boards for his third double-double of the year.

"I'm really proud," Graves said. "It's no secret Mychal has really struggled lately. Hopefully this will jumpstart him for the rest of the reason and we can continue to build off this. His mindset was just different tonight. He came in and attacked the rim. He didn't settle too much. I'm really proud of how he bounced back."

Rubit pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds and added 12 points and five blocks—tying his career best—to earn his first double-double in six games.

"He left some points on the board around the rim, but again it's the same with him as it is with Mike," Graves noted. "If they're aggressive at the rim and attacking, those two guys can play as well as any front court in the league. I think they showed tonight when they're on the same page and very aggressive, we are capable of winning some games."

WKU used two 10-2 runs in the second half to cut a 19-point deficit down to seven with 5:32 left in the game but Rubit and Ammons answered Hilltopper scores twice to hold them at bay. Rubit got his own offensive rebound and converted a three-point play to kick the lead back up to 10, and following two free throws from Trency Jackson, Ammons also got an offensive rebound for two more points.

The teams combined to miss the next four shots from the floor and three from the charity stripe with two turnovers over the next 2 ½ minutes until Western Kentucky's T.J. Price hit a 3-pointer with 1:49 left to trim the lead back down to seven.

South Alabama forced misses on three straight possessions and a layup from freshman Aakim Saintil (Roselle, N.J.) and three free throws from senior Antoine Allen (Baltimore, Md.) and Rubit were enough to get the win.

"Well the one thing I told our players is WKU is a great program," Graves said. "They have a culture and toughness about them; they're going to make a run. We've just got to stay the course, continue to make hard cuts, and make good plays at the rim. Tonight, what we did different than in the past is when teams would make a run, we would settle for contested 3s or late-shot clock 3s and we did that a little tonight, but we also got a couple layups. Mike and Aug attacked the basket; we got to the free throw line. Guys stepped up for us and made some free throws for us down the stretch."

Neither team shot well in the first half, but it was Western Kentucky that converted just four field goals in 28 attempts (14.3 percent). The 'Toppers went almost 11 minutes without a field goal, missing 16 consecutive shots.

USA took advantage, outscoring WKU 14-3 over that span to take a 24-12 lead.

"We were communicating with one another; that was the biggest thing," said Graves. "We were passing guys off, we were challenging shots. They missed some shots that they normally make, but what happens is you miss four or five shots and that sixth you start to press and the seventh shot, you start to press, and then you start to doubt yourself. I think the other key was we didn't give up too many second chance points. WKU is the best offensive rebounding team in the league and they just kill you on the glass and in the first half, we didn't allow them to do that."

Saintil and Allen joined Rubit and Ammons in the double-digit scoring club with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

WKU's George Fant scored 14 of his team-high 17 points in the second half and Price added 13 of his 15 after intermission. Brandon Harris hit three 3-pointers in the second period and four overall for 12 points.

South Alabama goes to Texas State Thursday at 7 p.m. for the first meeting between the two schools.

NOTES: South Alabama leads the all-time series against Western Kentucky 34-32, the only Sun Belt team to do so, and snapped a three-game skid in the series… Rubit passed Ed Rains for third place in school history and 13th place in league history with 1,810 points; he is two away from 12th… Rubit also pulled within one of Terry Catledge for first in school history with his 51st career double-double… The Jags won tonight when scoring less than 70 points for the first time this season (1-14, 1-9 SBC)… The Jaguars last had two double-doubles in the same game Dec. 7 at Rice, also from Rubit and Ammons… Rubit's five-game streak without a double-double was a career-long and his 13 boards are his most since Jan. 9 at Arkansas-Little Rock… Rubit had shot over 60 percent from the floor in four straight games but went just 5-for-16 tonight, his lowest percentage since the first WKU game on Jan. 2… The Hilltoppers' 62 points ties the lowest by a Jaguar opponent since WKU scored 58 earlier this year… The Jags last held an opponent under 20 percent shooting a half on Dec. 3, 2011 against Alabama State.

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—