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JONESBORO, Ark. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team saw its 24-point second-half lead slip away in the final minutes, but sophomore Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) led a late charge in the Jaguars' 81-76 victory over Arkansas State Thursday night at the Convocation Center.

The Jaguars earn a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and improve to 10-20 overall and 8-11 in the league. The Red Wolves drop to 11-17, 6-13.

"I can't begin to say enough about how proud I am of this team and what they've accomplished," USA head coach Matthew Graves said.  "They hung tough and made some tough plays in those last couple of minutes to secure the victory.

"This team is starting to grow up. Certainly it's been frustrating at times, but if you look at us a month or two months ago, we would not have won this game. There's no question about that. We would have ended up getting beat by six or eight points down the stretch. This team has grown up and they are doing more things consistently. Obviously, we can continue to get better, but I'm really proud of our effort and to have one more home game for our two seniors. We need to be focused and ready to go on Saturday."

Arkansas State outscored South Alabama 29-7 over a span of 8:17, including 15-2 to tie the game at 73-73 with 2:49 left. Anthony Livingston had six of the Red Wolves' final 10 points in the run, and Cameron Golden converted two free throws to knot the score at 73-73.

"We were a little bit on our heels and we did not continue to attack," Graves said of ASU's big run. "We kind of pumped the brakes at about the 10-minute mark and we got really passive. When you get passive, the other team gets a couple of steals, and hits some layups and some 3s.

"Livingston is a really, really good player. When he gets going, he's a tough matchup. They got going and got some energy in the building. Fortunately we came back and were able to get it done in the end."

Williams answered on the Jags' nest possession, nailing a corner 3-pointer to break the tie, and after a turnover from Livingston, Williams hit a layup to stretch the advantage to 78-73 with 2:11 on the clock.

"I think when I took (Williams) out with six or seven minutes to go after he made that turnover, he was really down on himself," Graves reflected. "I needed to get him out and let him get calmed down watching a couple of minutes of game action. When he came back in, he just had that confidence back in him. He has the confidence of his teammates and his coaches and he has earned that right to take that shot and make that shot. He stepped up big for us in a big moment. We were really on the verge of collapsing and for him to make that '3' out of the corner just gave us a big shot in the arm."

Golden connected from long range to pull ASU within 78-76 with 1:13 to play, but USA freshman Taishaun Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) made a free throw at the 38-second mark, and after an Arkansas State 3-point attempt was off the mark, Williams grabbed the rebound and sank two foul shots to ice the contest.

Williams scored 12 of his 18 points after halftime and went 6 of 8 at the free-throw line. Johnson just missed on a triple-double with 17 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven assists.

Senior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.) led the Jaguars with 20 points, and freshman Abdul Lewis (Newark, N.J.) added 15.

"I'm really proud of the way Dionte played," Graves said. "He battled and did some great things. Abdul played the whole second half and gave us some great minutes. Our two starting bigs combined for 35 points and 11 rebounds. That's a really good recipe for us."

Livingston paced all scorers with 22 points and nine rebounds, and Sean Gardner put up 13 of his 21 points after intermission.

South Alabama shot 60.7 percent from the floor in the first half and used a 21-5 run to take a 47-33 lead into the intermission. The Jaguars scored the first eight points in the first 2 ½ minutes of the second half to go up 55-33.

The Jaguars close out the regular season Saturday afternoon against Troy at 4:05 p.m.

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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