12/10/05–
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEN'S
BASKETBALL POSTS CONVINCING 75-51 VICTORY AT SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
JAGUARS SNAP EIGHT-GAME LOSING STREAK TO GOLDEN EAGLES
CONTACT:
Kit Strief
Box
Score
HATTIESBURG,
Miss. –
The University of South Alabama men's basketball team posted a 75-51
victory at Southern Mississippi on Saturday afternoon to snap an
eight-game losing streak to the Golden Eagles. Jaguar junior Jason
McGriff and sophomore Demetric Bennett each scored a game-high 13
points as four Jags scored in double figures. USM's Mildon Ambres
came off the bench to score a team-high 12 points.
" I am
very happy that we got the win," Jaguar head coach John Pelphrey
said. "We didn't shoot the ball very well in the first half,
but as the game went on, we got people involved and we began to
play better."
With the victory, USA improves to 5-1 on the season and is off to
its best start since the 1996-97 squad alson began 5-1 and finished
23-7 with a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The game opened with the Jaguars on fire right out of the gates.
USA opened the game with a 13-4 run, fueled by a pair of 3-pointers
by Bennett and a couple of easy buckets down low by McGriff.
A jumper by senior Mario Jointer at the 8:51 mark gave the Jaguars
their biggest lead of the half at 12 points, 20-8. USM went cold
for the next 3:48 as the Golden Eagles cut the deficit with a 6-0
run to make the score 20-14 with 5:03 remaining. The Jaguars pushed
the lead back to double digits twice in the final five minutes and
held a 31-20 lead before Jason Forte knocked down the only trey
of the half for the Golden Eagles with 53 seconds remaining in the
half at 31-23.
For the half, the Jaguars shot 33.3 percent on 9-of-27, while Southern
Miss was 8-of-21 for 38.1 percent. USA was 5-of-12 from beyond the
arc and 8-of-12 from the line. USM was just 1-of-7 from 3-point
land and 6-of-10 from the line. Bennett led the Jaguars with eight
points on two-of-four from the floor and two-of-three from 3-point
distance. Forte led USM with seven points.
Jointer opened the second half with a trey to put the Jaguars back
up 11 and a pair of senior Chey Christie free throws put USA up
13 with 18:14 to play. USM cut the deficit back to single digits
with 15:08 remaining on a layup by Courtney Beasley. A layup by
McGriff put the Jags back up 10 with 14:37 remaining and the Golden
Eagles would get no closer the rest of the way.
Over the next 4.25, USA blew the game wide open as it went on a
17-6 run that put the Jaguars up 68-44 with 7:07 remaining. USA
and USM each scored seven points the rest of the way for a 75-51
final.
USA increased its field goal shooting in the second half, going
14-of-28 for the half and 23-of-55 for the game (41.8%). USM was
17-of-44 for the game for 38.6%. Along with Bennett and McGriff,
Jointer added 12 points and senior Richard Law added 10 all in the
second half. Jointer pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. McGriff
was 5-of-8 from the floor and junior Leandro Buboltz came off the
bench for eight points, included a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity
stripe.
With the victory, USA improves to 2-1 on the road this season. This
was the first win in Hattiesburg for the Jaguars since a 67-58 victory
on Dec. 21, 1984.
USA continues on the road at Louisiana-Monroe on Wed., Dec. 14 at
7 p.m. The Jaguars return home to host the seventh annual Coors
Classic on Sat., Dec. 17. USA tips with Houston at 5 p.m. and Florida
State battles Bowling Green at 7:30 p.m. The games can be seen on
Comcast Sports Southeast.
|
