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STATESBORO, Ga. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team held Georgia Southern to 26.9 percent shooting and just one field goal in the final 4:31 in a 64-58 win Thursday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.

The Jaguars pick up their first Sun Belt Conference win of the season and go to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the league. The Eagles fall to 4-9 and 0-3.

"I'm extremely proud of our team tonight," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "I thought we carried over the gameplan from practice, in the fact that offensively, we wanted to take the ball to the basket, get in the paint, finish strong through contact and we were able to shoot 17 for 31 on 2s, which is a really good number for us. We were able to get to the free-throw line a lot; obviously we weren't able to convert – we need to continue to work on that, but we were able to put ourselves in a position to get to the free-throw line, which is a good thing.

"Defensively, we made some great adjustments in our zone, were able to contest shooters, and we were very active, and when they missed, we were able to rebound."

Georgia Southern's shooting percentage overall and 3-point percentage (11.5%) are the lowest by a USA opponent this season. The Eagles' only field goal in the final 4:31 came with 2.5 seconds left and they missed eight of their final nine attempts.

"I think the message that can be learned from that – and we preach it all the time – is defense can keep you in a game," Graves said. "There's no reason for your defense to slack in any game. You have to compete and play hard for a full 40 minutes. There will be nights when you can't score the ball offensively, and you shoot yourself in the foot, but defensively, we kept grinding. Teams are going to make some runs here and there, but overall we did an outstanding job of making it hard on one tough shot and then getting the rebound."

USA led by as many as 16 points early in the second half but a 24-8 run in almost 8 ½ minutes tied the game at 49-49 with 8:12 left in the contest.

Junior Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) answered with back-to-back three-point plays, and junior Nick Stover (Los Angeles, Calif.) tacked on a jumper for an 8-0 run, and the Jags never trailed again.

"I think this team is starting to have an identity; in the past, when a team makes a run like that, we wouldn't be able to respond or handle adversity very well," Graves said. "Tonight, even though we were up 16, they made a run to tie it, but we hung tough, stayed together and made some really nice, winning plays down the stretch."

The Eagles hit back with five straight points to trim the lead down to three, but Tookie Brown's jumper with 4:32 left would be Georgia Southern's last until the final moments of the contest. The Jaguars scored the next five points from the foul line to kick the advantage back up to 62-54 with 26.7 seconds left.

Williams finished with a game-high 22 points, and led the team with three assists and two steals. Fourteen of those points came in the second half.

"When Juice gets out in transition, and he's able to get to the rim, he does a good job of scoring the ball," Graves noted. "In games where he gets to the line more than five times, he's very successful. Tonight, in getting there eight times, he did very well."

Junior Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) recorded his fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds, junior Tafari Whittingham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) grabbed a career-best 10 rebounds, and Stover totaled 10 points.

Georgia Southern's Ike Smith poured in 20 points and Brown had 15 of his 17 after halftime.

South Alabama heads to Atlanta Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. CST contest at Georgia State.

NOTES: Williams has followed consecutive three-point outings vs. Rice and Little Rock with 23 and 22 points against Arkansas State and Georgia Southern, respectively… The Jags are 6-0 when outshooting their opponent (0-8 when not)… USA averaged 21 points in the paint in its previous two games before recording 34 tonight… The teams' 36 defensive rebounds are a new season high… Williams currently has 990 career points, tied with Kent Carson for 15th all-time at South Alabama; he would be the 15th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points… USA held GS to a season-low 3-point percentage but wasn't very successful behind the arc either, converting 23.5 percent (4-17)… Boyanov has four double-doubles in his last five games; he is the program's active leader with seven, and has four of the team's five double-doubles this season… USA shot just 43.9 percent (18-41) from the free-throw line; Williams was the only player to shoot better than 50 percent at the stripe… The last time the Jags shot lower than 50 percent at the line was Nov. 18, 2013 against William Carey… Tonight was the first time this season South Alabama won when scoring fewer than 70 points (1-7).

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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