MOBILE, Ala. — Augustine Rubit scored 21 points and tied a career high with five blocked shots Thursday night as South Alabama held off a late Louisiana-Lafayette rally for an 81-73 win, its first Sun Belt Conference victory of the season.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak and improved the Jaguars to 7-11 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
Jaguars Answer Late Cajun Surge
South Alabama scored the final six points of the first half to take a 13-point lead into the break, then scored five of the first six points of the second half.
Louisiana-Lafayette responded with a 13-5 run midway through the half to cut a 15-point deficit to seven. An 11-3 run later pulled the Ragin’ Cajuns within 69-67 with 2:23 remaining.
The Jaguars then scored eight unanswered points in a 43-second span to go up 77-67 and held on from there.
Rubit Leads Balanced Attack
Rubit, a senior, shot 7-of-10 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. His five blocks were part of a 12-block night for South Alabama, which tied for third in school history and set a Mitchell Center record.
Rubit also moved into fourth place on the school’s career blocked shots list with 112 while making his 100th start for the Jaguars.
Four of South Alabama’s five starters scored in double figures. Freshman Ken Williams scored 18 points, Aakim Saintil set a career high with 15, and senior Antoine Allen added 12. Mychal Ammons grabbed eight rebounds and set a career high with five assists.
Louisiana-Lafayette Leaders
Elfrid Payton led the Ragin’ Cajuns with 18 points and a game-high six assists. Shawn Long recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Kevin Brown scored 14 points off the bench, going 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
Quick Turnaround
South Alabama, in its first season under head coach Matthew Graves, faces Louisiana-Monroe at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on the Sun Belt Network on CSS and Cox Sports.
