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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – University of South Alabama senior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.) and sophomore Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) each set new career highs in scoring to lead the men's basketball team to a 72-69 win over Arkansas-Little Rock Monday night at the Jack Stephens Center.

The Jaguars snap a seven-game losing streak and get their first Sun Belt Conference victory of the season to up their record to 3-10 overall and 1-2 in the league. The Trojans are the only winless team in the conference at 5-8 and 0-3.

"I'm just really proud of the team and how they decided to come together," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "They met yesterday for almost an hour and when you have those peer meetings and look each other in the eye, talk about criticizing each other constructively, talking about your weaknesses and looking in the mirror, that's hard to do.

"I thought we really stayed together and showed a lot of maturity playing on the road tonight. I'm very proud of their effort."

South Alabama took the lead for good at the 9:09 mark of the second half on a jumper from Ferguson and never relinquished it. UALR closed to within one twice—at 6:41 and with 3.8 seconds left—but would not get any closer. The Trojans converted just one of their five field-goal attempts in the final 6:40 of the contest while the Jags went 7-for-8 at the free-throw line.

"In the past, we would have had a costly turnover, or maybe missed a couple of those free throws," Graves noted. "Dionte stepped up and showed tremendous leadership as a senior. He doesn't always speak, but he shows it with his energy and effort. I think by him stepping up yesterday and speaking to the group, it really empowered his teammates and they did a tremendous job."

Ferguson's career high is also the most by a USA player this season and it came on 8 of 13 shooting from the floor and 9 of 10 at the free-throw line. He added three blocks as well.

"He was an absolute workhorse for us," Graves said. "The more we can get him the ball and the more we can get our bigs the ball in general, it just helps everybody else out. We have to understand, that if we're in an attacking mindset, either throwing the ball in the post or driving the ball to the paint, in turn will make us better 3-point shooters. I think those stats certainly bear that out."

Boyanov recorded his second career double-double with 16 points and a personal-best 13 rebounds. He hit seven of his eight field-goal attempts and had four assists with no turnovers.

"When Georgi is focused and he's in tune, he's capable of doing some wonderful things," Graves stated. "He was in tune, he was focused, and his teammates were encouraging him. Sometimes he does a crazy thing or two, but he stayed with it, he played hard and he did what we needed off the bench."

Roger Woods paced the Trojans with a double-double of his own with team-highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds. Ben Dillard had tallied 13 points and Josh Hagins added 10 and four assists.

South Alabama was unable to stretch its lead any further than five points after a 7-0 run made it a 57-52 score with 8:19 left in the contest. The Jaguar defense did not allow the Trojans to score more than two consecutive points in the last 6:40 until Hagins was fouled shooting a 3-pointer in the final seconds. Hagins hit all three, but Ferguson converted twice at the charity stripe with 2.5 seconds on the clock and a final desperation attempt was off the mark.

USA led for the final 12:03 of the first half thanks to 50 percent shooting from the floor and a 60 percent conversion rate from 3-point land.

The Jaguars return to action Thursday when they host Appalachian State at 7:05 p.m.

NOTES: Ferguson scored 20 of his 25 points after halftime, the most points by a USA player all season; he's averaging 16.3 points in his last three games… UALR had won four of the six meetings in the series before tonight… The Jaguars won the rebounding battle 35-28 after getting outrebounded by 15 their last time out at Texas-Arlington… A USA player has recorded a double-double in two of the team's last three games (Ferguson vs. Arkansas State)… Freshman Taishaun Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) just missed out on double-digits with nine points; he was averaging 16.8 points in his previous four games… The Jags outshot their second opponent on the year, 47.8 percent to 40.7 percent… Junior Barrington Stevens III (Allen, Texas) dished out a game-high six assists and is averaging 6.5 assists in his last two outings… USA did not record a steal on eight UALR turnovers; the Trojans scored 19 points off 12 Jaguar miscues while the Jags failed to convert a UALR turnover into points… Ferguson's three blocks came one game after having his seven-game block streak ended at UTA… Boyanov's 16 points came on just eight shots in 26 minutes… The Jaguars are averaging 17.0 assists in their last two games, and the 34 helpers are the team's most over a two-game stretch all year.

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—