PENSACOLA, Fla. – Jalen Langsy scored a season-high 27 points, and
Aaron Goldstein added 23 as South Alabama Men's Basketball took down LMU 79-72 Thursday night at the Coastal Classic inside the Pensacola Bay Center. The Jags never trailed, improving to 2–2 on the season while the Lions fell to 1–3.
Langsy finished with seven assists and three steals while shooting 9-of-15 from the field. Goldstein knocked down five three-pointers and scored 16 of his 23 points after halftime. Stephen Williams added 18 points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
South Alabama opened with nine straight points and built an 18-point first-half advantage before LMU rallied to tie the game early in the second half. The Jags responded to regain control, then held off another late push behind a barrage of buckets from Langsy, who scored 10 of South Alabama's final 16 points.
KEY MOMENTS
- Williams scored six points during South Alabama's opening 9–0 run and had 12 points with 13 minutes remaining in the first half.
- Following a Langsy steal, Lenni Kunzewitsch buried a three-pointer to give the Jaguars their largest lead, 28–10, with 9:14 left before halftime.
- Goldstein converted a four-point play to push the advantage to 35–19. LMU later answered with a 13–0 run before Langsy's jumper sent South Alabama into the break ahead 39–34.
- The Lions tied the game at 39 with 18:29 remaining. South Alabama responded with six straight points, capped by a Kunzewitsch dunk, and extended the lead to 50–41 with 15:21 to play.
- After LMU pulled within 60–59, Goldstein hit his fifth three-pointer with 7:41 remaining. Langsy followed with a jumper to stretch the lead to six.
- LMU trimmed the margin to 69–67 with 2:02 left, but Langsy answered with two free throws, a steal and a three-pointer to make it 74–67 with 56 seconds remaining. The Jaguars went 5-of-6 at the line over the final 24 seconds to secure the win.
KEY STATS
- Langsy, Goldstein, and Stephen Williams combined for 68 of the Jags 79 points, shooting 25-of-40 from the field.
- The Jaguars shot 53.8 percent overall (28-of-52), including 40.9 percent from three-point range (9-of-22), and made 14-of-19 free throws.
- Goldstein finished 8-of-12 from the floor and 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.
- South Alabama recorded 14 assists and committed six turnovers, while forcing 10 LMU turnovers and holding a 20–11 advantage in points off turnovers.
- The Jaguars limited LMU to 22.6 percent shooting from three-point range (7-of-31), including 2-of-16 in the second half.
- Kunzewitsch contributed seven points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.
- LMU held a 33–21 rebounding advantage and outscored South Alabama 20–4 in second-chance points.
Quotable
Head Coach Richie Riley
On the finish
"For sure. Every win is nice, especially against a good team. That team is going to have a great year. They're still trying to figure each other out, just like we are, but they're big, and they punished us on the glass. It's a really good win, and it's good to play in this building. We talked about how it's similar to the feel of a Sun Belt Tournament game. We got what we wanted out of it, and we were able to come away with the win."
On Jalen Langsy's performance
"He and [Aaron] Goldstein were electric. Langsy down the stretch was huge. That last three was a huge shot that put the dagger in them. Getting catches against pressure was huge. AG had some series where he put us on his back. I thought those two guys in our backcourt were special."
On Lenni Kunzewitsch's contribution in the zone
"He's a specialist for us defensively. He was able to give us a lot of offense tonight, which was good. He got out in transition and dunked. We made a run when they punched us, and we punched back. He's getting better each day. It's a big transition for these international guys. The size and speed they're playing against are different, and they're getting used to it. I thought [Peyton] Law got us out to a great start. I was also really proud of [Roderick] 'Junior' Williams. We tried him at the wing in practice, and we didn't love it, but we were struggling. We talked about him playing the four, and he played that wing at a high level. He got some key rebounds and deflections and played at a really high level. I was super proud of him."
On Roderick "Junior" Williams' motor
"He's a winning kid. He's a Swiss Army knife who can play everywhere. If we had to have him bring the ball up the court and initiate offense, he could. He came in and settled us on the wing, and we cleaned up the rebounding. We've got a long way to go, but our guys are good people who care, and those teams continue to get better. They work in practice, care about each other and get better. I'm pleased with how we're progressing."
Guard Jalen Langsy
On starting out hot
"It was amazing. It showed us what our zone can do to teams. It showed us what it looks like when we play our zone with our full effort and to our full potential."
On finishing the game
"Absolutely. So many guys stepped up. [Roderick] 'Junior' Williams stepped up and played the wing really well in the zone after not playing it this year. Lenni [Kunzewitsch] stepped up big time. Diego [Roman] played some great minutes. When AG went down, 'Shop' [Samuel Shoptaw] and 'Dezo' [Desmond Williams] came in and played really well."
UP NEXT
South Alabama closes its three-game road trip at North Texas on Saturday, Nov.14 at 5 p.m. CT.
FOLLOW THE JAGS
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