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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team jumped out to a 26-point lead in the first half and got a double-double from senior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) to hold off Troy 86-78 Saturday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars win for the second time in three games and move to 9-18 overall and 3-11 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Trojans drop to 9-17, 4-10.

Troy twice cut the lead down to six in the final eight minutes but the Jags answered each time to pull away.

"What I told our guys was, this is a must win game," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "If you want to compete in New Orleans for a conference championship you have to win tonight. I thought our energy and effort from the opening tip was outstanding. We got off to a great start. The first half was as well-played a first half that we've had all year, on both ends of the floor. Then, in the second half, we really played to protect the lead instead of just playing the game and keep attacking. We got really conservative and I thought Troy got on a great run there. They have some tremendous shooters. Certainly if you give up 54 points in a half, you don't expect to win very often, but our guys made enough plays down the stretch."

Rubit recorded team-high totals of 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. The five helpers are a new career high and he shot 8-for-15 from the floor with two blocks.

"I think we're going to have to go back and make sure he did get five assists," Graves said. "It's probably some kind of record for him. He's doing a better job of when teams come to double and being strong with the ball. Earlier in the season, he probably had three or four turnovers in that post-double stuff. He did a great job of being strong with the ball, picking his spots on the kickouts and our guards were ready to shoot the basketball."

South Alabama placed a season-high five players in double-digit scoring, with freshman Ken Williams (Manvel, Texas) pouring in 18—one shy of his career high—with four assists, senior Antoine Allen (Baltimore, Md.) adding 15 off the bench, and sophomore Barrington Stevens III (Allen, Texas) and junior Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.) tallying 11 apiece.

Williams tallied 14 in the first half alone on 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point land. He didn't score again until the 6:39 mark of the second half but the buckets came at key junctures to keep the Jags on top.

"I thought he played with a lot of confidence and he was really relaxed," Graves said. "I thought our guys got him the ball in positions where he could score and he mixed in: he attacked off the bounce, he was spotted up, he was ready to shoot the basketball. He had a really breakout performance with 18 points and four assists. I was really excited to see him do that."

Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the early moments to spark a 26-7 South Alabama run to open the game. The Jags made 11 of their first 17 attempts and finished off the spurt with nine unanswered points in a three-minute stretch.

"I thought we were flat," Troy head coach Phil Cunningham said. "As I told the coaches before we left the huddle in the first half that we were flat. It's obvious how big of a game this was, but I just sensed that we were flat. But I also sensed at halftime that we could get back in the game because in the last couple minutes of the first half, we made that little run on them. Give them credit – they made shots. They were lighting that thing up from everywhere in the first half."

An 8-2 outburst pushed the advantage to 26 late in the first half and South Alabama led by 23 early in the second after a pair of buckets from freshmen Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) before Troy made its move. The Trojans scored the next 12 points and took advantage of five missed shots and two Jaguar turnovers.

Later, Troy went on a 12-3 run as USA went almost six minutes without a field goal to trail by six after a 3-pointer from Hunter Williams with 7:29 to play.

"We were pressing and gambling, and it was working and creating some steals," Cunningham said. "But they beat us on a run-out and got in behind our press. We're not a pressing team, so we don't work on it every day. But we were doing a good job and making some plays happen, and what happens sometimes when a team gets a big lead they get conservative like they did."

The Jaguars answered with the next five points, and after Tevin Calhoun singlehandedly got the Trojans back within six, Rubit hit two free throws and got a tip-in for a 10-point advantage and Troy got only as close as eight the rest of the way.

"I do think fatigue played a little bit of a factor," Graves said of Troy's comeback attempt. "We were on the road Thursday and with the quick turnaround and Aakim's (Saintil) limited minutes due to foul trouble. I think those guys got tired, but at the same time, Troy has a couple guys that can really shoot the basketball. When they get feeling good and get in a rhythm, they're certainly capable of making shots. We missed a couple switches and a couple things on our rotation. In large part, it was due to our fatigue and you have to credit Troy because they could have easily rolled over, but they kept fighting until the end."

The Trojans got a game-high 24 points from Williams, who made five 3-pointers. Calhoun and Antoine Myers added 14 points each.

South Alabama goes on the road next week for their final two road games of the season, starting Thursday at Louisiana-Monroe at 7 p.m.

NOTES: South Alabama has won seven of the last nine meetings with Troy… Rubit tied Terry Catledge's record for career double-doubles with 52; he has 10 this season which ranks second in the Sun Belt… Rubit has scored 20 or more points in four of his last five games and is averaging 20.8 points with two double-doubles over that span… The Jags' 21-point halftime lead ties the team's highest at the break this season (Spring Hill)… Ken Williams' 14 first-half points are one shy of the team's most in the opening period in 2013-14… Hunter Williams scored a game-high 26 points against USA on Feb. 6 in Troy… The Jags had just one turnover in the first half and seven in the second… South Alabama shot 51.6 percent from the floor, improving its record to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference when eclipsing the 50 percent mark… The Jaguars recorded their highest point total in regulation since tallying 91 vs. Spring Hill on Dec. 2… USA has allowed four of its last five opponents to score 48 points or more in the second half; Troy's 54 tonight are the most by a school this season… Boyanov earned his first career start and scored six points with six rebounds, making all three of his shots from the floor.

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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