MOBILE, Ala. – Barry Dunning Jr. sank two free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining to lift the South Alabama men's basketball team over arch-rival Troy 64-63 in front of a raucous crowd of 5,148 Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center. The Jags remain in first place in the Sun Belt and improve to 14-5 overall and 6-1 in the conference, while the Trojans dropped to 11-7 overall and 4-3 in the Sun Belt.
After holding a 20-point advantage at the half, the Jaguars faltered, committing 14 second-half turnovers and finding themselves trailing 63-62 with 11 seconds remaining in the game. Dunning Jr. would go straight to the rack, drawing a foul to drain both free throws before getting a hand on Troy's inbound pass to disrupt the Trojans' final heave at the buzzer and earn the win.
Dunning punished the Trojans down the stretch, finishing with 14 points, including 10 scored in the second half, eight rebounds, and three assists. Judah Brown stayed hot from behind the arc, scoring 12 points with three three-pointers.
Randy Brady has made a difference since his return to the lineup from an injury Wednesday, finishing with 11 points, six rebounds, three steals, and two assists. JJ Wheat also had an impressive night, adding 10 points, two rebounds, two steals, and two assists.
" What a wild game that was," head coach Richie Riley said. " We played great in the first half. We did a good job defensively and valued the ball, had eight assists and one turnover at the half. It was a tale of two halves though, we turned it over like crazy in the second half and were making undisciplined mistakes that we don't usually make, but we will learn from it. We've got a great group of dudes, and I love all of them."
South Alabama got off to a fast start and held the Trojans without a field goal in the first eight minutes of the first half, owning a 21-13 advantage at the 13:11 mark after Brown knocked down two triples, including a four-point play.
The Jags would use large runs of 12-0 and 13-0 with 12 first-half points from Brown and three triples from Broom to open up a commanding 44-22 lead at halftime.
South would falter coming out of the half and allowed an immediate 7-0 spurt from Troy in the first minute and a half.
Things would get worse for the Jaguars as the Trojans pushed forward and increased its pressure in the front court, trimming the lead to 10 points, 52-42, with 8:21 left in the game.
After Ormiston and Brady drilled three-pointers to extend the Jags' lead back out to 13 points, things started to break once again for South Alabama as Troy pulled the lead back to within two points, 60-58, with 3:07 remaining in the contest.
Following a circus shot Dunning layup on the next possession, the Trojans knocked down a three-pointer and were fouled after a Jag possession with two straight offensive rebounds. The Trojans would go to the line and sink both free throws to take the advantage 63-62 with 11 seconds remaining.
After a 30-second Troy timeout, the Jags came screeching back down the court as Myles Corey blazed to the rack and had a floating layup rattle out of the rim. Both squads scrambled for the rebound near the end line, and the Jags reclaimed possession after an official review.
In the proceeding inbound, Dunning curled around a screen and launched in the air, snagging the ball and drawing contact on his shot attempt, sending him to the line for two free throws.
He nailed the first before having his second attempt seemingly touch every part of the rim before it finally fell and gave the Jags the 64-63 lead with 1.9 seconds remaining.
On the Trojan inbound pass, Dunning leaped and deflected the ball before the pass found a Trojan player who hurled up a last second heave that went wide, securing the win for the Jaguars.
Notes
- South Alabama is now 7-0 against the Trojans in Mobile under head coach Richie Riley.
- Despite 14 second-half turnovers, the Jaguar defense still held strong, limiting the Trojans to 35.1 percent shooting from the field and 29.2 percent from beyond the arc.
- The Jags logged a negative assist-to-turnover ratio for the first time this season, committing 15 total turnovers to only 12 assists.
- South got much-needed help from its bench, logging 27 bench points compared to Troy's 16.
Up Next
The Jags will open up a two-game road trip, heading to ULM to take on the Warhawks on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 6:30 before taking on the Trojans for the second time in seven days on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. CT.
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