ESTERO, Fla. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team came back from an 18-point deficit to lead by 11 in the second half, only to see La Salle put on a rally of their own and outlast the Jaguars 81-76 in overtime Wednesday in the championship of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Hertz Arena.

Senior Andre Fox scored 26 of his career-high 28 points after halftime to lead the comeback. He shot 10 for 22 from the field and 4 for 9 from 3-point land, and hit the game-tying shot with 0.8 seconds left in regulation. Senior Trhae Mitchell had 12 points, five blocks and three steals while playing all 45 minutes.

USA opened the second half on a 21-4 run to take a 46-40 lead with 13:52 left in the game, with Fox providing 11 of those points on his own. The lead grew to 11 at the 8:47 mark after a jumper from graduate Chad Lott.

The Explorers answered immediately with a 17-4 rally of their own, and took a 62-60 lead with 3:46 on the clock. After Fox tied it late, he gave the Jags an early three-point advantage in OT, but La Salle scored the next eight points to put the game away.

GAME FACTS
- La Salle was deadly from distance early on, making seven of their first nine 3-point attempts en route to a 20-6 lead
- After South Alabama trimmed the deficit to six on a layup from senior Josh Ajayi, the Explorers scored 12 unanswered points for their biggest lead of the contest, 34-16 with six minutes left before intermission
- The Jaguars' comeback started there, as they finished the half on a 9-2 run to trail 36-25 at the break, then used an 18-0 burst in almost four minutes to go up 46-40; the team made all five field-goal attempts and went 6 for 7 from the stripe while forcing four turnovers and three misses
- Fox accounted for 11 of those points, going 4 for 4 from the floor and 2 for 2 from distance
- A 10-2 USA run extended its advantage to 56-45, but the Explorers snapped a drought of nine consecutive 3-point misses with a triple from Scott Spencer to start eight unanswered points and a 17-4 rally that ended with a layup from Ed Croswell with 3:46 to play
- The teams traded buckets down the stretch and Croswell went to the line to complete a 3-point play with 17.5 seconds left that would've given La Salle a three-point lead, but he missed, allowing Fox to tie the score at 70-70 with less than a second to go
- Fox scored all of the Jaguars' points in the extra frame and a driving layup with 2 ½ minutes left made it a 74-71 score; however, the Explorers went 6 for 6 at the stripe and got a layup from Jared Kimbrough to take an insurmountable 79-74 lead with just 15 seconds to play
- Lott was the third Jag in double-digit points with 15 before fouling out in overtime
- Isiah Deas paced the Explorers with 21 points, and Croswell recorded a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds

NOTES
- La Salle is 2-0 in the series, with both meetings taking place in the last three seasons
- South Alabama outscored La Salle 40-11 over a 17:08 period spanning both halves
- The 18-0 run is USA's best since a 21-0 run against Texas State last March
- South Alabama is 1-2 in overtime games under head coach Richie Riley
- The Jags are 0-3 this season when Fox scores 20 points or more
- USA scored 25 points in the first half (34.8% shooting) and 45 in the second (54.2%); the team is averaging 12.5 more points in the second half than the first in 2019-20
- South Alabama has scored 45 points or more in the second half six times this season and five times in a row
- Mitchell has 21 blocks this year which ranks tied for fourth-most in the first eight games of a season in school history
- Fox's 10 field goals and 22 attempts are both new career highs
- Fox is the fifth player in school history to score at least 28 points without recording a rebound in school history, and first since Chris Young on Dec. 22, 2002

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "The guys that played, I'm proud of them. We just didn't have enough in us to finish. We dug a hole like we do sometimes, and it took so much energy to fight back that we didn't have enough to finish. Those last eight minutes, we were on fumes. In our program, you have to practice as hard as you can every day and you have to compete at a fierce level to play. The guys that played this weekend have done that and earned their minutes. They gave us every single thing they had. I hope moving forward that our depth continues to improve with the guys that have been injured, and the guys that have struggled to practice, I hope that improves."

On the comeback: "We did a great job in our zone in the second half and it bothered them. We used so much energy to come back when we got that 11-point lead and after that, we struggled to guard them. It was more 1-on-1 stuff in the post and they fouled all of our dudes out. We got some clean looks and we were short on everything. Our kids fought; we played six guys pretty much three days in a row. I appreciate their effort; I wish we could have finished it off."

On Fox's performance: "His heart in the second half was unbelievable. We got after him at halftime and he came out more aggressive and locked in. We've got to have him for 40 minutes, especially when we're shorthanded. We've got to get him playing better in the first half. In the second half he was unbelievable and made the clutch shot to send it to overtime."
 
UP NEXT
The Jaguars will take a break before traveling to Richmond on Dec. 8 for a 1 p.m. CST start.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give

—USA—