MOBILE, Ala. – Barry Dunning Jr. posted a monstrous double-double with 34 points and 11 rebounds as the South Alabama men's basketball team outlasted Texas State 70-65 in its second overtime game in three days. The Jags improve to 18-9 on the season with the win and 10-4 in conference play. Texas State dropped to 13-14 overall and 6-8 in Sun Belt action.
Trailing by six with nine minutes remaining in regulation, the Jags rallied to take a 60-57 advantage with 1:22 left in the game. Texas State would drill a three-pointer before missing a game-winning shot at the buzzer to force overtime. South Alabama locked down defensively, limiting the Bobcats to five points in the extra frame, and put the game away with an And-one Dunning layup with 43 seconds remaining.
Dunning's 34 points is a career-high and is the most scored by any player in the Sun Belt this season. He went 11-of-23 from the field, 5-for-9 from behind the arc, and 7-for-8 from the free throw line with 11 rebounds and three assists.
Elijah Ormiston continued his impressive surge, finishing with 15 points, hitting 9-of-10 free throws, four rebounds, three blocks, and two assists.
South Alabama struggled from downtown shooting 22.7 percent (5-22) with Dunning making all of the Jags triples in the contest. On the flip side, the Jags put the clamps on defensively, holding the Bobcats to 33 percent from the floor while forcing 17 turnovers and tallying a season-high nine blocks.
The Jags were playing catch-up for the majority of the first half until Dunning scored eight points in the final four minutes of the first half to help USA take a 32-29 advantage heading into halftime.
Dunning picked up where he left off in the second half, scoring six quick points off an and-one fastbreak layup and a corner pocket triple to extend their lead to 38-33 with 17:42 remaining.
Both teams traded jabs back and forth until Texas State went on an 8-2 run and grabbed the advantage 49-43 with 8:52 remaining in regulation.
South would rally from being down two more times and snatched a 60-57 lead with 1:33 left after Dunning drilled a triple and Ormiston knocked down four straight free throws.
TXST would hit a crucial triple under the minute mark to help knot the game at 60-60 to head into overtime.
In overtime, South Alabama locked down defensively and limited the Bobcats to five points in the extra frame before putting the game away with a and-one Dunning layup with 43 seconds remaining to secure the 70-65 win.
Notes
- The Jags are 4-1 this season in overtime and they've won three of those games in the last five contests.
- Texas State controlled the boards grabbing 50 rebounds to the Jags 35.
- Myles Corey swiped a season-high six steals and dished out five assists in tonight's contest.
- The Jags have gone 48-for-61 (78 percent) from the free throw line in the past two games.
Up Next
The Jags will hit the road for the final road trip of the season as they take on Arkansas State on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. CT before traveling to Texas State for the second time in seven days on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. CT.
