South Alabama men’s basketball split the first two games of its Canadian exhibition tour this week, dropping an 82-80 overtime decision at Windsor before routing Western 68-47. The Jaguars close the trip Thursday night at 6 p.m. CDT.
Windsor 82, South Alabama 80 (OT)
The tour opened Monday night in Windsor, Ontario. Windsor outscored South Alabama 26-17 in the third quarter and led 60-46 entering the fourth.
The Jaguars rallied in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but Windsor outscored them 8-6 in the extra period.
Junior Augustine Rubit led all players with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Mychal Ammons added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and seniors Javier Carter (17 points) and Freddie Goldstein (11 points) also scored in double figures.
- Augustine Rubit: 27 points, 11 rebounds
- Javier Carter: 17 points
- Mychal Ammons: 11 points, 10 rebounds
- Freddie Goldstein: 11 points
Head coach Ronnie Arrow said his team started well but fell too far behind.
“I thought we came out and played good early in the first four or five minutes but we let them get too far ahead,” Arrow said. “We had a great comeback but we just couldn’t finish it out. Hopefully we learned from it, which is what this is all about. Naturally we want to win, but I think this did us some good. We saw some things that we need to work on.”
“We shot 38 percent (from the floor) in the first half, that was the start of it, and then we didn’t guard on top of it and that’s how we got down so much,” Arrow said.
Arrow said after the game that he planned to use an entirely different lineup the next night, with more minutes for the two new post players.
South Alabama 68, Western 47
On Tuesday night in London, Ontario, Arrow started a completely different lineup against Western, and the Jaguars pulled away with a 21-2 run in the third quarter.
The new starters opened with a 5-1 run, and a 16-3 run gave South Alabama a 21-11 lead after the first quarter. Western cut the deficit to five points in the second quarter before the Jaguars tightened their defense.
Western missed its first five shots of the second half and went 1-for-14 from the field with six turnovers in the third quarter.
Senior Xavier Roberson led the Jaguars with a game-high 15 points off the bench, shooting 6-for-9 from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range with three assists. Rubit, also coming off the bench, added 11 points and two steals.
- Xavier Roberson: 15 points, 6-for-9 FG, 2-for-4 3PT, 3 assists
- Augustine Rubit: 11 points, 2 steals
Arrow Credits Defense
“I thought tonight we really got out and played hard,” Arrow said. “We had some guys that were hurt last night and didn’t play and they really helped us tonight. I thought our defense really helped us score.”
“Our effort defensively tonight was good,” Arrow said. “We practice that good defense leads to offense.”
Arrow said Western had good shooters and quickness, and that the Jaguars’ defense kept those shooters out of their range.
Tour Finale Thursday
South Alabama plays the final game of the tour Thursday night, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. CDT.
