LAFAYETTE, La. – After trailing by 13 at halftime, the South Alabama men's basketball team stormed back to claim a 62-58 victory over Louisiana in an overtime thriller Saturday night in the Cajundome. The Jags snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 15-8 overall and 7-4 in conference play, while the Ragin Cajuns dropped to 7-16 on the season and 5-6 in Sun Belt play.
For the third game in a row, the Jags had a slow start, scoring a season-low 18 points in the first half, but USA rallied and outscored the Cajuns 38-25 in the second half to force overtime. In overtime, Myles Corey shut the door with a clutch layup with 41 seconds remaining and split a pair of free throws after a defensive stop to secure the victory for South Alabama.
Barry Dunning Jr. led the way for the Jaguars, posting a monstrous stat line of 18 points with a career-high 15 rebounds, including five on the offensive end. Corey scored all 17 of his points in the second half or overtime while also racking up a team-high four assists. Elijah Ormiston provided a much-needed spark off the bench, finishing with 13 points on 6-of-9 from the field and four rebounds.
The Jaguars dominated on the boards in tonight's contest, grabbing 42 rebounds compared to Louisiana's 35. South won despite shooting 16.7 percent (4-24) from three-point range and 56 percent (14-25) from the charity stripe.
Louisiana held the Jaguars offense at bay in the first 13 minutes of this one, leaping out to a 19-9 at the 7:20 mark in the first half.
After the Jags cut the deficit to six points, the Ragin Cajuns picked up more steam and carried a 31-18 advantage into halftime after a 10-3 spurt.
UL stayed on top coming out of the half and owned a 40-29 advantage with 14:55 remaining in the game.
Corey began to heat up in the next few possessions and willed the Jags back in the game with eight straight points off two triples and a driving layup, making the score 40-37 with 12:35 remaining.
The Jags would tie the game at 52-52 with 5:23 left after Ormiston drilled a corner pocket triple.
South Alabama took its first lead of the game, 56-53 off a driving layup from Corey and a tip-layup from Dunning at the 2:20 mark.
The Cajuns would go on to force overtime, and Corey would shut the door with a tough layup near the rim with 41 seconds remaining before splitting a pair of free throws to clinch the win for South Alabama.
Notes
- The Jags snap a three-game losing streak overall and a five-game losing streak to the Ragin Cajuns.
- Dunning's career-high 15 rebounds is the most by a Jaguar this season.
- South Alabama is now 2-1 in overtime contests this year.
- Broom finished with a career-high five steals.
- Cantia Rahming, Judah Brown, and JJ Wheat all earned their first starts of the season.
Up Next
South Alabama will stay on the road, heading to Coastal Carolina on Wednesday, Feb.5 at 6 p.m. CT.
FOLLOW THE JAGS
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