MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama junior Shaq Calhoun (Rome, Ga.) set new career highs in points and 3-pointers to lead the Jaguars to a 72-67 overtime victory Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center.

The Jags improve to 9-8 overall and 2-2 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Bobcats fall to 9-7 and 2-2.

"I'm very pleased with how we bounced back after two tough games on the Georgia swing," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "You're in crunch time again, and you have an opportunity to win a game at home. I thought we executed well down the stretch. We were 12 for 12 on our last 12 free throws and 6-for-6 in the overtime. One of the things is you want to talk about free throws, it's having confidence, having a routine and being confident in that routine. I thought Josh (Ajayi) going 4 for 4 and Herb (McGee) going 2 for 2 in the overtime was really good.

"Defensively, we were able to make them shoot a contested shot and come up with the rebound. All night long I think we made it tough on (Kavin Gilder-Tilbury) for him to score. He's a big piece of their team and it was really a team effort to get him stopped."

Calhoun scored 23 of his 26 points after halftime, including 20 in the second half alone. He went 6 for 10 from behind the 3-point line, 4 for 4 at the charity stripe and added three steals.

"He was absolutely huge," Graves stated. "He was engaged. He took some tough shots, but once he gets into the flow of the offense and has made a few he gets in attack mode. That's what I like to see from Shaq. It really started with the three steals he got defensively. He was really engaged defensively and that played into his offensive effort."

Senior Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) recorded 16 points and a season-high seven rebounds off the bench. Freshman Josh Ajayi (El Monte, Calif.) tallied 10 points.

South Alabama scored the final five points of regulation to send the game into an extra period, thanks to a 3-pointer from freshman Herb McGee (Reserve, La.) and a pair of free throws from Calhoun.

The Bobcats scored first in overtime, but Calhoun answered with a triple to give the Jaguars the lead (63-62) for the first time since the 12:33 mark of the second half. Texas State's Kavin Gilder-Tilbury pulled one back with a free throw, but McGee went 2 for 2 at the stripe to retake the lead for the final time.

After Gilder-Tilbury went 1 for 2 at the line, Williams nailed a 3-pointer with 1:31 left for a 68-64 advantage. Ojai Black hit a free throw with 1:17 left and Nijal Pearson made a layup with 18.0 on the clock to get back within one, but Ajayi converted four times at the free-throw line in the final 15.5 seconds to ice the contest.

After missing their last five attempts at the line in an overtime loss at Georgia Southern on Monday, South Alabama went 12 for 12 to close out the game, and tied its season high by shooting 80 percent.

"This game was huge for a lot of reasons," Graves noted. "One, to get our confidence back again from those two close losses. Two, to protect our home court. You've got to get wins at home and protect your home court, and you hope to steal a few along the way on the road. This league is going to be so balanced all the way through, the one or two games you give away, it could cost you from a three seed to a 10 seed, as balanced as I think this league is going to be this year."

Pearson paced the Bobcats with 14 points and four steals. Bobby Conley had 13 points and Gilder-Tilbury, the third leading scorer in the Sun Belt entering the contest (16.4 ppg), was held to 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting.

"It was a team defensive effort," Graves said. "I think Coach (Brock) Morris did a great job with the game plan and the scouting. Our guys did a great job being physical with him and not allowing him to get a lot of free looks with the ball. Even some of the shots he did take were contested and contested very well. We kept him off the free-throw line; this is a kid who gets to the line 10 times a game. We limited him to 3 for 6 in an overtime game, so that was really good."

South Alabama hosts Texas-Arlington Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

"Tonight our fans and students were loud and into the game, I thought our guys really responded and played hard for them," Graves said. "We're going to need that Monday and need it twice of a crowd to showcase our university on national TV."

NOTES: South Alabama snapped a four-game losing streak to Texas State… USA won for just the second time all year when posting a negative assist/turnover ratio (nine assists, 13 turnovers), improving to 2-7… Today marked the third time all season the Jags had more turnovers than their opponent (1-2 record); the Bobcats entered the game fourth in the SBC in turnover margin, third in turnovers per game and first in assist/turnover ratio… Texas State shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half – it's the eighth time in the last 10 games a South Alabama opponent has converted 50 percent or better after halftime… USA improved to 1-6 this season when trailing at halftime… Ajayi has reached double-digit points in seven of his last eight games, including four in a row, where he is averaging 15.0 points over that span… Williams has scored 16 points or more in three of his last four outings… The Jags set new season lows for points (18) and field-goal percentage (.240) in the first half… South Alabama last played in back-to-back overtime games in the 2009-10 season... Calhoun has recorded three steals in four of his last six games… Calhoun's 26 points are the second most by a Jaguar this season (Ajayi 27 vs. FIU).

The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy.  New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your school's ticket office.  For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the #FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.

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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