12/03/05–
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHRISTIE’S
16 SECOND HALF POINTS SPARK USA TO 55-52 VICTORY OVER SAMFORD
JAGUARS POST THIRD WIN IN A ROW; IMPROVE TO 4-1 ON THE YEAR
CONTACT:
Kit Strief
Box
Score
MOBILE,
Ala. –
16 second half points by senior Chey Christie helped the University
of South Alabama men’s basketball team overcome a first half
deficit to defeat Samford 55-52 on Saturday night in front of a
season-high announced crowd of 2178 at the Mitchell Center. With
the victory, USA improves to 4-1, its best start since the 1996-97
team began 5-1. Samford falls to 3-3 on the year.
“We are
very fortunate to come away with the win,” Jaguar head coach
John Pelphrey said. “Samford began the game scoring points
and we weren’t. We felt very lucky that they only scored 22
points in the half and we were down one. Toward the end of the half
we were able to get inside their zone and draw some fouls that helped
get us back in the game. We had some good looks from the 3-point
line but just didn’t make them.”
The game began
with Samford jumping out to an early 5-0 lead through the first
three minutes of the game. The Jaguars started the game 1-of-9 from
the floor. USA got on the board as junior Jason McGriff made one-of-two
from the line at the 16:04 mark. USA hit a pair of 3’s by
senior Mario Jointer to give USA a 7-5 lead, but it was short lived
as the Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run to build a 15-7 lead with nine
minutes to play in the half.
USA kept the
deficit between six and eight points for the next five minutes,
before going on a 9-2 run to close out the half over the last 4:22.
Despite shooting
1-of-9 to open the game, USA improved the shooting percentage to
29.2 (7-of-24), while Samford was 8-of-19 for 42.1 percent. Jerry
Smith led the Bulldogs with nine point and six rebounds in the half
on 4-of-7 from the field and 1-of-2 from beyond the arc. Jointer
led the Jaguars with eight points and five rebounds.
“At the
beginning of the game were kind of off balance because Samford has
a distinct style,” Christie said. “We had a little run
at the end of the first half and got comfortable with their style.
We let it all out in the second half and jumped on them early. Coach
told us to let loose at half because we were playing tight and once
we started we began to play Jaguar basketball.”
It was a reversal
of fortunes as the second half began with the Jaguars opening the
half on a 11-0 run through the first three minutes of the half.
The run was fueled three consecutive 3-pointers by Christie, Jointer
and senior Richard Law. USA scored 16 of the first 18 points of
the half to take a 37-24 lead with 13:57 remaining in the game.
The Jaguars
increased the lead to a game-high 15 points on a jumper by Christie
at the 7:21 mark to give USA a 45-30 lead.
Samford went
on a mini-run to cut the deficit to 48-40 with 4:02 remaining using
a 10-3 spurt. A layup by Christie stopped a two minute scoring drought
for the Jaguars at the 2:36 mark to give them a 50-40 lead. A 6-0
run by Samford over the next minute cut the deficit to four points
with 58 seconds remaining at 50-46.
Junior Carlos
Smith pushed the lead back to six points with 45 seconds left as
Samford had to foul three times before Smith went to the line. Another
free throw by Christie with 24 seconds left pushed the lead to seven,
but a 3-pointer by Joe Ross Merritt kept the Bulldogs breathing.
Smith went 1-for-2 again at the line with 13.7 seconds remaining
pushing the lead to five. Christie went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe
with eight seconds left, increasing the Jaguar advantage to six
points. A buzzer-beater trey by Jerry Smith cut the deficit to 55-52
as time expired.
For the game, Christie finished with the Jaguars' first double double
of the season, scoring a season-best 16 points and pulling down
12 rebounds. He was 6-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-4 from
beyond the arc. Jointer chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds.
Samford was led by a double double from Jerry Smith with 16 points
and 10 rebounds and 15 points from J. Robert Merritt. As a team,
USA shot 41.3 percent (19-of-46), while Samford was 20-of-51 for
39.2 percent.
USA returns
to the road on Dec. 10 at Southern Mississippi at 4 p.m. The game
can be heard live on WNSP Radio 105.5 FM and can be heard at www.wnsp.com
USA will continue on the road at Louisiana-Monroe on Wed., Dec.
14, before returning home to host the seventh annual Coors Classic
on Sat., Dec. 17. USA will face Houston at 5 p.m. followed by Florida
State vs. Bowling Green at 7:30 at the Mitchell Center.
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