MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team used a big run in the second half and forced Georgia Southern into 13 straight misses to end the game in a 78-66 victory Saturday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars (10-11, 3-5 SBC) end a three-game losing streak and hand the Eagles (14-7, 7-1 SBC) their first Sun Belt Conference loss of the season, while snapping their eight-game win streak overall.

"I'm very proud of this team," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "We had the No. 1 team in the league coming in and our backs were against the wall a little bit. Early on, you have to give credit to Georgia Southern for making a lot of shots from the perimeter; at one point they were 6-for-12 from the 3. About the last five minutes of the first half and the entire second half I thought we really buckled down and defended like we needed to be a championship level team.

"At halftime if they had told me that they were 7-for-15 from the 3 and we were only down four points, I would take that every day of the week. To see them finish 3-for-19 from 3 was absolutely outstanding. Just to see all of the different guys who came into the game and contributed, I was just so proud and happy for these guys."

Trailing by 12 with 15:05 left in the second half, South Alabama scored 20 of the next 23 points over a 6:54 stretch to take a five-point lead.

Seniors Nick Stover (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Ken Williams (Houston, Texas), and junior Nick Davis (Mt. Vernon, Ala.) combined for 16 of those 20 points, including the final 12 in a 12-0 burst to close out the run.

The Jags shot 7 for 11 from the floor in those seven minutes, and forced the Eagles into nine misses in 10 attempts, including all seven tries from behind the 3-point arc.

"To really fight back from a 12-point deficit, to keep clawing away and the different contributions, you can go on down the line," Graves said. "The bench was into it, our guys were flying around defensively and we shared the ball well offensively. (Williams) had eight assists and as a team we had 17 assists on 28 field goals, that's outstanding, and tonight we made our free throws which is always a good thing. I'm really pleased overall with our effort."

Georgia Southern responded with a 7-2 rally – the final five unanswered on a 3-pointer from Mike Hughes and a layup from Tookie Brown – and tied the game at 62-62, but South Alabama came back with nine straight points to take its biggest lead of the night. Stover started the run with a bucket, and freshman Josh Ajayi (El Monte, Calif.) hit back-to-back layups, before Stover finished it off with a triple.

"The thing that really helped us tonight is that we put in some wrinkles for a couple different sets and then at time outs, we were able to have a couple draw-ups," Graves noted. "This was by far the best those guys have executed our draw-up, from time out to on the floor. It really shows how in tune they were and that their attention levels were high.

"This game meant a lot to them. This is how we have to play every single game if you want to be a championship level team; you have to show consistency and the attention to detail to switch a ball screen or run a certain cut when you need to that we may have never practiced before. I thought that our guys did a tremendous job for us tonight."

Brown's layup with six minutes left was GS's final basket of the night as the Eagles went 0 for 13 to close the contest, missing all seven long-range attempts.

Stover paced the Jags with 16 points off the bench on 3-for-4 shooting from distance. Davis set a new career high with 13 points and added eight rebounds, and two blocks and steals apiece.

"I thought Nick Stover did a tremendous job tonight," Graves stated. "He played within himself and took really good shots. He got back to defending; he hasn't been guarding like this. He got back to being solid defensively and his performance showed. He worried about what he needed to do defensively and let the offense come to him.

"Nick Davis was outstanding. He had been champing at the bit to get an opportunity. We felt this was a great game for him to play on the defensive end because he can switch and play above the rim and do some things that our other forwards can't do. His addition to his offense, 13 points – that was a really good thing. He took good shots and he didn't worry about the offense. He played defense and let the offense come to him."

Williams recorded 15 points and a career-high-tying eight assists. Ajayi tallied 13 points and eight boards.

For the Eagles, Brown led all scorers with 23 points. Hughes added 11, and Montae Glenn recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Sun Belt's leading scorer, Ike Smith, was held to eight points on 3-for-8 shooting.

USA hosts Georgia State Monday night at 8 p.m.

NOTES: The Jaguars' 12-point comeback is the team's largest of the season… Georgia Southern's field-goal percentage of 35.6 percent is the lowest by a Division I opponent this year… One game after giving up a season-high 46 points in the paint, and losing the battle 46-26, South Alabama was plus-18 (38-20) in the paint… The Jags are plus-16 in turnover margin in their last three outings, committing 12 to the Eagles' 16… USA dished out 17 assists, and improved to 8-2 when posting a positive assist/turnover ratio… The Jaguars tied their season high with seven blocks, getting a career-best three from freshman Trhae Mitchell (Austell, Ga.); Mitchell has six blocks in his last three games… South Alabama was outrebounded 42-34, and is minus-67 in rebounding margin in the last nine contests; Georgia Southern's 16 offensive rebounds tie the most by a USA opponent this year… Williams recorded his 301st career assist tonight, moving him into eighth all-time at South Alabama, and became the ninth player in school history to tally 500 career field goals… Williams also hit double-digit points for the sixth straight game – the longest active streak on the team – and is averaging 14.7 points over that stretch… Ajayi has scored 10 or more seven times in his last eight outings with a 14.4 per-game average… Davis' 85.7 field-goal percentage (6-7) is the best by a Jaguar this season… Freshman Herb McGee (Reserve, La.) had his six-game 3-point streak snapped after going 0 for 1… USA's 52.5 field-goal percentage in the first half is a new season best, and is just the second time all season the team eclipsed the 50-percent mark before halftime… South Alabama's bench outscored Georgia Southern's 33-5; USA is 10-4 when winning the bench points.

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).

—USA—