MOBILE, Ala. | The South Alabama men's basketball team earned their first conference win of the season with a home victory over Arkansas State, 63-45, Thursday evening at the Mitchell Center.
 
The Jaguars improved to 7-8, and 1-2 in Sun Belt play, while the Red Wolves fell to 9-7 (1-2).
 
Isaiah Moore led South with 20 points, and Kevin Samuel recorded his fourth double-double of the season (12 points, 11 rebounds) to go along with six blocks. Owen White added 15 points, tying his season-high, on 5-of-10 shooting.
 
GAME FACTS (HOW IT HAPPENED)

• The Jags got out to an 8-2 lead before the first media timeout.
• The Red Wolves followed that up with a 13-4 run to take a 15-12 lead at the 9:00 mark.
• South's defense picked up the intensity, and they held Arkansas State to only one point over the following four minutes.
• The defense continued to stay strong, and the Jags went into halftime with a 29-18 lead.
• Moore scored the first four points in the second half, and the Jags built a 15-point lead.
• The Jags held their advantage, leading 38-25 with 14:30 to go in the second half.
• South Alabama earned their first 20-point lead at the 10:20 mark on a Moore layup, 49-29.
• The Red Wolves never got close, as the Jags led 63-42 with two minutes to play.

 
NOTES

• Samuel's six blocks is one off his career-high.
• The Jaguars held their opponent under 30% shooting for the first time since Spring Hill on Nov. 9, 2021.
• It was also the first time this season they held their opponent under 50 points for the game.
• South is now 4-1 when a player records a double-double.
• The Jags scored 36 points in the paint, their fourth-straight game of 30+.
• Moore had his fifth 20-point game of the season.
• The team's six turnovers tie their lowest turnover total of the season (vs. Jacksonville State).
• Samuel and Tyrell Jones led the Jags with a +/- of +25.

 
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Richie Riley
"I can't tell you how impressed I was with our resiliency to bounce back and play the way we did tonight. Defensively, it was as good as we've played…What that tells me about our group is that they were not only listening when we talked to them, but they made it their mission to come out and play with that fight, energy, and attention to detail. I'm really proud of our guys. They competed at a fierce level. I told them after the game the one thing that this does is it raises expectations. We need them to guard like that every single night. But, I'm really happy with how we bounced back after we got back home."

UP NEXT
The Jaguars welcome the Texas State Bobcats to the Mitchell Center on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
 
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