01/21/06–
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JAGUARS DROP HEARTBREAKER AT HOME TO WESTERN
KENTUCKY, 74-73
CONTACT:
Kit Strief
Box
Score
MOBILE,
Ala. - The University of South Alabama men’s basketball
team dropped a heartbreaking, hard fought 74-73 decision at home
to Western Kentucky on Saturday night. The Jaguars fall to 13-4
overall and 4-1 in conference play, while Western Kentucky improves
to 13-5 and 5-1 in conference play. Jaguar junior Carlos Smith had
a game-high 19 points in the losing effort, while Anthony Winchester
had 18 for the Hilltoppers.
"This was
a great college basketball game tonight," Jaguar head coach
John Pelphrey said. "Western Kentucky is one of the best teams
in the Sun Belt and they made the last play to get the win."
In a game that
had 10 lead changes and eight ties, WKU and USA were tied with 1:55
to play at 70, after a dunk by Hilltopper Elgrace Wilborn. With
1:01 left, Courtney Lee scored his final bucket of his team-high
16 points to put the Hilltoppers up 72-70. A pair of free throws
by Winchester gave WKU a 74-70 lead with 26 seconds left. USA scored
three points as Jointer was fouled on a 3-point shot with 13 seconds
left. He calmly knocked down all three shots.
The Jaguars
immediately fouled Winchester who missed the front end of the one-and-one,
but Wilborn got the offensive rebound and Winchester was fouled
again with six seconds left. Again he missed the free throw and
senior Chey Christie came away with the board.
After a pair
of timeouts, USA in-bounded the ball with 4.2 seconds left, however
Western Kentucky had the right defense called as Smith and the Jaguars
were unable to get a shot off.
"We weren't
looking for Carlos (Smith) to take that shot," Pelphrey said.
"We had a play for Mario (Jointer) and they defended it very
well. Our guys went out there and fought hard and battled. We had
a chance at the end, which is all you can ask."
The game opened
with the Jaguars jumping out to a 14-8 lead through the first four
minutes of the game. WKU came storming back with a 9-0 run over
the next four minutes to take its first lead of the game, 15-14
on a Winchester layup with 12:14 to play in the half.
The Hilltoppers
built the lead to seven twice, before USA closed the half on a 11-4
run to tie the game at 33.
USA was 10-of-29
from the floor in the opening half for 34.5 percent and were just
3-of-15 from beyond the arc. WKU shot an even 50 percent on 13-of-26
and were 3-of-8 from the 3-point line. Despite the difference in
shooting, USA made up the difference at the foul line, converting
10-of-12 compared to WKU's 4-of-8. Smith paced the Jaguars with
nine points.
The second half started with WKU taking the early lead, building
a nine-point advantage on a 15-6 run to begin the half.
Three consecutive
3-pointers by sophomore Demetric Bennett closed the Hilltopper lead
to 50-48 and got the crowd of 5,291 back into the game. WKU had
the answer again as it went back up nine, but the Jaguars wouldn't
go away.
A pair of free
throws by junior Jason McGriff gave USA its first lead of the half
at 61-60 with 5:16 to play. A layup by senior Michael Phillips gave
the Jaguars their final lead at the 2:32 mark.
USA heads back
on the road for three games as it travels to Denver and North Texas
next week. USA will be back home on Feb. 4, as it battles Arkansas
State in the second game of a doubleheader on Homecoming. Tip is
scheduled for 7:35 p.m.
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