MOBILE, Ala. — Middle Tennessee shot nearly 70 percent from the field in the second half and pulled away from South Alabama for an 82-67 men’s basketball victory at the Mitchell Center, keeping the Blue Raiders unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference play.
The South Alabama Middle Tennessee game was close through the first half. Middle Tennessee, the preseason pick to win the Sun Belt’s East Division, broke it open early in the second half.
Tabet Sparks First-Half Comeback
South Alabama scored first, but Middle Tennessee quickly took the lead and never gave it back. The Blue Raiders built an eight-point margin before the Jaguars answered with an 11-3 run to tie the game.
Phillip Tabet keyed the run off the bench with an assist, a tip-in, two free throws and a blocked shot. Tabet finished with four points, five rebounds and three blocks in 13 minutes.
The score was tied 26-26 with 4:30 left in the half, and the teams were tied three more times before Middle Tennessee took a 36-32 lead into halftime.
Blue Raiders Break It Open
South Alabama trailed 41-35 with 17:41 remaining when Middle Tennessee went on an 11-2 run over roughly two and a half minutes to lead 52-37.
The Jaguars used a seven-point run with about eight minutes left to get within 14 points with less than five minutes to play, and they trimmed the deficit to 78-65 with under two minutes remaining. That 13-point margin was as close as South Alabama got the rest of the way.
By the Numbers
- Middle Tennessee shot 49 percent from the field to South Alabama’s 44 percent.
- The Blue Raiders made 44 percent of their 3-point attempts; the Jaguars made 39 percent.
- Middle Tennessee shot 90 percent at the free-throw line, South Alabama 70 percent.
- Domonic Tilford led South Alabama with 18 points, his fifth straight game as the team’s leading scorer.
- DeAndre Coleman scored 13 points, and Brandon Davis added 11 before fouling out in the final minutes.
- Ronald Douglas blocked five shots.
Demetrius Green led Middle Tennessee with 18 points. Desmond Yates scored 17, Kevin Kanaskie had 16 and Montarrio Haddock added 13.
South Alabama is coached by Ronnie Arrow and plays its home games at the Mitchell Center on the university’s Mobile campus.
