STATESBORO, Ga. – Behind a balanced offensive attack and a dominant defensive outing,  the South Alabama men's basketball team thumped Georgia Southern 76-47 Saturday afternoon at Hill Convocation Center. With the win, the Jags improved to 11-4 overall and moved to 3-0 in Sun Belt play which is their best start to Sun Belt play in 15 years. Georgia Southern fell to 8-7 on the season and 1-2 in conference play.

South held Georgia Southern scoreless in the first eight minutes of the game, leaping out to leads of 12-0 and 26-3,  while shooting 52 percent from the field to head into halftime with a 20-point advantage. The Jags extended their lead to 34 points in the second half and coasted to victory.

Three players led the Jags in scoring as Judah Brown, John Broom, and Myles Corey all finished the night with 11 points a piece. Barry Dunning Jr. continued his hot streak and finished with 10 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Broom was a menace throughout the game, shooting 3-of-4 from three-point range with seven rebounds, and four steals.   

Cantia Rahming was a force inside throughout the contest, finishing with eight points and 11 rebounds. 

South Alabama played stifling defense the entire night, forcing 22 turnovers to go along with 17 assists. Additionally, the Jags held the Eagles to 33.3 percent shooting from the field, 26.7 percent from behind the arc, and 46.7 percent from the free throw line. 

The Jags got things rolling with a dominant 12-0 run right out of the gate as Dunning scored five quick points and JJ Wheat drained a three-pointer from the top of the key at the 12:13 mark.

After the Eagles knocked down their first bucket of the game at 11:59, South would rifle off another 14-0 run highlighted by three straight possessions with a triple as Brown, Broom, and Cooper knocked down one each to earn a 26-3 lead at the 8:41 mark in the half. The Jags kept things rolling and headed into halftime with a 38-18 advantage. 

South Alabama never wavered in the second half and blasted out on an immediate 14-5 spurt to take a 32-point lead with 13:44 left in the game. The Jags extended their lead to its highest of the game 71-37 at the 4:46 mark and glided into a third straight victory of 25 or more points. 

Notes

• The Jags swept their road trip in Georgia for the first time in program history. 
• South Alabama has won its first three SunBelt games by an average margin of victory of 27.6 points. (JMU 77-49), (77-51 GST), (76-47 GASO). 
• South has started 3-0 in the Conference for the first time since the 2009-10 season. 
• USA scored 29 points off 22 forced turnovers. 
• South won the rebounding battle 37-34, including 10 offensive rebounds. 
• Dunning has scored double figures in nine straight gamesm shooting 55 percent from the field in his last five games. 
• Elijah Ormiston started for the first time this season and finished with seven points and five rebounds. 

Up Next

South Alabama will head home to prepare for a big-time conference matchup against Arkansas State on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. CT. 

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