MOBILE, Ala. – Michael Flowers scored a team-high 20 points, highlighted by a three-point shot in the final seconds, to lift the University of South Alabama to a 68-66 men's basketball victory over Florida Atlantic Wednesday on the opening day of the Goldie and Herman Ungar Memorial Tournament at the Mitchell Center.
The senior guard was 6-of-9 from the field — including connecting on 3-of-4 attempts from beyond the arc — while adding three rebounds and a pair of assists. Sam Iorio added 16 points while Tyreke Locure posted 12 and nine rebounds for the Jaguars in their season debut.
FAU was led by Bryan Greenlee's 25 points, with the guard making 7-of-10 three-point attempts, while Kenan Blackshear contributed 15 points and seven rebounds.
GAME FACTS
-South hit four of its first six attempts from three-point range and led 19-13 midway through the opening half.
-A 9-0 run extended the Jaguar lead to 31-16 before USA took a 38-27 edge to the locker room at the break.
-The Owls scored 11 unanswered points early in the second half to pull within one point, 44-43, but Iorio responded with two baskets — including a three — in just over a minute to push the Jag lead back to four, 50-46.
-FAU put together a 13-2 spurt over a five-and-a-half minute span, taking its first lead since early in the contest at 59-57 on a three from Greenlee with just under three minute remaining in regulation.
-The Owls were still up three with 22 seconds left, but John Pettway converted a driving layup before Flowers rebounded a miss on the front end of a one-and-one and went the length of the court to put up the winning shot.
-South shot 56.1 percent from the floor in the contest, making 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) of its tries from long distance.
NOTES
-It's the second straight season that South has begun the campaign with a victory.
-This was the first meeting between the two programs since February 2013, the Owls last season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
-The Jaguars have now won each of the last five meetings in the series and hold a 12-4 advantage all-time.
-Both Flowers and Iorio scored in double figures in their Jaguar debuts.
-In addition to posting a double-digit point total for the second time in the last three outings dating back to last year, Locure was credited with a career-high rebounding total.
-John Pettway and Kayo Goncalves chipped in with eight points apiece as well, with the latter also grabbing eight rebounds while also recording a steal on FAU's final inbound attempt after Flowers' three.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "I always give an honest assessment and I am going to give one tonight — we did not play our best basketball. However, I did not expect us to play our best basketball. We have not played in 286 days and we have not played an organized game against anyone but ourselves. We have practiced three-on-three settings, we have polished offense without anybody guarding us and we have done a lot of skill work. Unfortunately, that does not get you ready for full contact against good teams and FAU had 17 wins and counting last year. I am proud of our team, they found a way to win. They showed a lot of resiliency and played together as team. Again, we did not play our best today. We had a lot of technical errors in the second half. There were some things we did not do so well, but we will correct those things. At the end of the day, I tell my team that you either win or you lose and tonight, we won. We are going to learn from our mistakes and will be ready to play again on Friday."
On Michael Flowers: "I've watched every career shot he has made, he's a great player. A lot of people do not know that his dad had passed yesterday, he missed about a week to go be there for his dad. I remember telling him that he has to put on a show for his dad. I know his dad was smiling down and he was proud of him tonight. It shows what type of person he is for him to be able to play how he did tonight."
On the team's shooting performance in the game: "This team is the best shooting team that I have coached. We have to have good preparations and make those shots because when we do that, we increase our shooting percentage."
Up next: USA will face Mobile in its next game in the Goldie and Herman Ungar Memorial Tournament, with the contest getting underway at 6 p.m. (CST) Friday.
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).
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—USA—
