BOONE, N.C. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team shot nearly 70 percent from the field Thursday, and combined with a five-minute stretch in the second half in which the Jaguars did not give up a point that performance resulted in a 78-70 Sun Belt Conference win over Appalachian State at the Holmes Center.

Josh Ajayi led the Jaguars (17-11, 10-7 Sun Belt) with 19 points in his first game back from injury while Trhae Mitchell added 15 points and six rebounds to help lead South to its fifth consecutive victory.  Andre Fox supplied 13 points and Chad Lott recorded 11 as well as eight rebounds as the Jags shot 69.8 percent from the floor after making 30-of-43 shots.

O'Showen Williams paced all scorers for the Mountaineers (15-13, 9-8 SBC) after posting 32 points on 10-of-20 shooting from beyond the arc, with Adrian Delph the only other individual to reach double figures for App State after contributing 12 points off the bench.

GAME FACTS
-Williams made three threes in the first four-plus minutes, but an 8-0 run by the Jags had South up 11-9 at the first media timeout of the night.
-USA scored 12 of the next 16 points and were ahead 23-13 after Tyreke Locure completed a four-point play with eight-and-a-half minutes left before the break.
-The Mountaineers were 9-of-20 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes, but the Jaguars answered by shooting nearly 60 percent from the field (13-of-22) and led at the half 37-33.
-South hit seven straight shots from the floor in the second half, extending the advantage to 56-47 just before the midway point of the period.
-The Jags made it an 11-0 run while keeping App State off the scoreboard for over five minutes to stretch the lead to 64-47 with seven-and-a-half minutes left, with the Mountaineers unable to get any closer than eight points the rest of the way.

NOTES
-This marks the first time since the 2012-13 season — when USA went 14-6 — that the Jags have posted a double-figure win total in Sun Belt action.
-The Jaguars avenged an 81-71 loss to App State at the Mitchell Center on Dec. 19 in the conference opener for both teams.
-The Jags have won each of the last four meetings between the two programs in Boone and now hold a 9-2 lead in the all-time series.
-South's field-goal percentage was the second-highest in a game in the school's record books; the Jags connected on 71.7 percent from the floor in a 106-57 victory over Roosevelt on Jan. 2, 1984.
-It was the third time this year that the Jaguars have shot 50 percent or better from three-point range, with all those performances coming since the start of conference play.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "With what was at stake, our focus was tremendous.  To shoot 70 percent on the road is just incredible.  We only missed 13 shots and they were good shots.  It started with the preparation all week, whether it was film, walk through or practice.  I thought we had a really good mentality and that showed with how we played tonight."
On Josh Ajayi's return to the court from injury: "He was unbelievable tonight.  At shoot around, it did not look like he would play.  Matt Brown did an unbelievable job getting him ready to have a chance to play, they were like roommates on the road."
On what needs improvement: "We need to lower our turnovers, 14 is too many.  We got a little bit lax when we got a lead; when a team is desperate like they were when we were up by 15, they are going to try to get steals and gamble [on defense].  You cannot let them score and allow them to set up a press.  We'll watch the film in the morning, make adjustments and finish the game a little bit cleaner."

Up next: The Jaguars will visit Coastal Carolina at 1 p.m. (CST) in their final road game of the regular season.

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—