MOBILE, Ala. – The South Alabama men's basketball team closed out non-conference play Thursday night with a dominant 83-67 win over Alabama A&M. South wraps up non-conference schedule with a 7-5 record, while the Bulldogs dropped to 1-11 on the season. 

Five Jaguars recorded double figures in scoring for the third game in a row. Tyrell Jones commanded all scorers with 18 points on 4-10 shooting from three-point range. Samuel Tabe was a menace in the paint the entire night, recording a 13-point and 10-rebound double-double.

 Isiah Gaiter and Marcus Millender both had strong outings. Gaiter scored 13 points with two assists, while Millender hit nine free throws to earn 13 points. 

Elijah Ormiston provided a spark off the bench, scoring 10 points on 4-7 shooting from the field, while pulling down seven rebounds. Thomas Howell controlled the glass the entire night and grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds. 

After A&M hung close at the half, the Jags jumped out onto a 18-7 second-half run to take a commanding lead and they never looked back.  

Game Facts (How it Happened) 

• The Jaguars started this one off slow as the Bulldogs rifled out to an 11-7 lead at the 16:33 mark in the first half. 
• South tied the game back up at 11-11 after a flurry of free throws from Millender and Jones. 
• Alabama A&M jumped back on top at the 13:46 mark, taking a 16-11 lead. 
• South Alabama found an answer and climbed back, blazing out on an 11-0 run off two three-pointers from Jones and Ethan Kizer and several trips to the free throw line for Samuel Tabe to build a 22-16 advantage at the 10:26 mark. 
• Both teams traded punches back and forth as the Jags held a 32-25 advantage with 5:43 left in the half. 
• Following a media timeout, Thomas Howell took control of things for the Jaguars, hitting two straight layups and going coast-to-coast on a steal and score to extend the advantage to 40-27 with under three minutes left in the half. 
• The Bulldogs would not give in and gained momentum heading into the half, going on an 11-2 run to cut into the deficit and bring the score back to 42-38 at halftime. 
• South Alabama came out of the half with its foot on the gas as Kizer drained a three-ball and Gaiter hit three straight buckets in the paint to the Jags burst out to a 14-5 run and take a 56-43 lead with 13:10 remaining in regulation. 
• The Jags stayed red hot down the stretch and launched out onto another run as Jones knocked down two deep triples and a jumper, and Millender sunk a fastbreak layup, forcing an A&M timeout and giving the Jags its' largest lead of the night 69-49 at the 9:40 mark. 
• South Alabama continued to be consistent down the stretch and pushed the game out of reach, led by 14 combined points from Tabe, Gaiter, and Milender to secure the decisive 83-67 victory. 

Notes

• The Jags had five players finish with double figures for the third time in the last three games. 
• Gaiter recorded his 10th double-figure scoring game of the season. The Jaguars are now 7-3 when Gaiter scores ten or more points. 
• Howell logged his second double-digit rebounding game of the year. South is 3-2 in games when he grabs seven rebounds or more. 
• South Alabama dominated the boards, scoring 21 points off second-chance opportunities. They won the rebounding battle for the fifth time this year, grabbing a season-high 47 rebounds compared to Alabama A&M's 40. 
• South played with a blistering tempo the entire night, scoring a season-high 20 points on fastbreaks. 
• Tabe has been a force for the Jags in the last four games, averaging 14.25 points and six rebounds. 
• The Jaguars held the Bulldogs to 8.3 percent from behind the arc. This is the first time South has limited its opponent to under 10 percent from three range since a dominating win over Spring Hill in December 2021. 
• South Alabama and Alabama A&M shot identical from the field, recording a 39.7 field goal percentage. 
• Jones tied his season high in points and set a new high in three-point field goals with four on the night. 

Head Coach Richie Riley 

On his team fighting through adversity in tonight's performance

" It wasn't a masterpiece tonight. In my first two years, I would've been a lot more upset with the small things we didn't do in our performance, but I'm learning to enjoy our wins a lot more. Now, we are going to have to learn from this because I do feel like we left a lot of things out there on the floor. We missed some easy ones and didn't finish things the right way. Defensively we have some things that we are going to need to clean up, but our activity was a lot better. It's hard to win, but being able to win going into Christmas means a lot to me because our guys care so much about this game. You are judged on the 31 games you play and how you do in the tournament, but you are with these guys it helps you realize how special they are as people. You are happy for them when they win because they want to win so badly for the program and each other. It's not about me it's about seeing them succeed and grow as individuals. We got contributions from everyone tonight, and it was impressive because we only had eight players available tonight due to injury. I give so much credit to all of our guys for stepping into a difficult situation and finding a way to win." 

Guard Tyrell Jones 

On the feeling of tonight's win 

" It feels really good. We are all excited that things are coming together. Coach is giving us the freedom to play how we want, and it's been really good for us. 

Up Next 

The Jags will now enjoy the holiday break before beginning Sun Belt Conference play on the road against Old Dominion on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 6 p.m. CST.