MOBILE, Ala – Tyrell Jones tied his season-high in scoring with 23 points as the South Alabama men's basketball team rolled past Northern Illinois 75-66 Saturday afternoon in the second round of the MAC-SBC Challenge. With the win, the Jags improved to 12-13 overall and swept the Mid-American Conference in the season series, while Northern Illinois fell to 8-15.  

Jones was red-hot offensively from start to finish, scoring 23 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc with three steals and two assists. Julian Margrave finished with 12 points on 4-of-9, shooting from three-point range, with a team-high six rebounds and two steals. 

Elijah Ormiston turned in another solid performance, scoring 10 points, two steals, two blocks, and two rebounds. Marcus Millender commanded the Jags offense throughout the night, logging eight assists.

South Alabama played extremely efficient offensively, dishing out 17 total assists and only committing seven turnovers on the night. The Jags made a season-high 13 three-pointers and shot 48.1 percent from behind the arc compared to 45.2 percent from the floor. 

Game Facts (How it Happened) 

• South Alabama opened the game on two straight triples from Jones, giving the Jags a 6-2 lead with 18:23 in the first half. 
• The Jags stayed red hot and took a 16-7 advantage off of triples from Margrave and Ormiston and a mid-range jumper from Jones at the 14:05 mark. 
• NIU found an answer and jumped out on a 19-10 spurt to tie the game at 26-26 with five minutes left in the half. 
• South closed the half with two three-pointers from Judah Brown and Millender to help give the Jags a 36-31 lead at halftime. 
• The Jaguars came out of the half on fire, bolting out on an 11-4 run highlighted by a Margrave triple and two tough finishes at the rim from Millender to take a 47-35 advantage with 16:50 left in the game. 
• The Huskies responded with a 14-8 run to trim the deficit to 52-49 with 10:10 remaining in the game. 
• South Alabama launched back out on a 9-0 after Margrave and Jones made triples, and Ormiston went through contact from a bucket to stretch the lead back out to 60-49 with seven minutes remaining in the contest. 
• The Jaguars extended their lead to 14 points after Kearing rattled off six points, and Margrave splashed another three-pointer to give the Jags a 70-56 advantage with 2:35 remaining. 
• South pushed forward and clinched a 75-66 victory. 

Notes 

• The Jags made a season-high 13 three-pointers, shooting more efficiently from downtown (48.1) compared to from the floor (45.2). 
• Margrave has made nine three-pointers in the last two games. 
• South Alabama is 7-3 when Millender dishes out four assists or more. 
• The Jags held their opponent below 30 percent from behind the arc for the second straight game. 
• This marks the first time the Jags have won back-to-back games since early January. 
• After shooting above 60 percent from the free throw line the entire year, the Jags shot a season-low 54.5 percent from the free throw line. 
• South recorded more than ten assists in a game for the first time since January. 
• The Jaguars had four different players record multiple steals. Jones led with three, and Margrave, Ormiston, and Millender secured two steals. 

Up Next

South Alabama will continue its four-game home stand as they welcome Texas State on Thursday, Feb.15 at 7 p.m. before hosting Arkansas State on Saturday, Feb.17 at 3 p.m. in the Mitchell Center.