MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama erased an eight-point second-half deficit and made its final 20 free throws to defeat Troy 65-62 in Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.
The win improved the Jaguars to 13-9 overall and 10-4 in league play. It was South Alabama’s first win this season after trailing at halftime. Troy fell to 10-14 overall and 5-8 in the Sun Belt.
Rubit Posts 13th Double-Double
Augustine Rubit recorded his 13th double-double of the season with a team-high 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Dre Conner added 11 points and went 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
Javier Carter shot 3-of-3 from the floor, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked five of the Jaguars’ nine shots.
From Cold Start to Perfect Finish at the Line
South Alabama made just 4 of its first 13 free throw attempts. Trey Anderson started the closing streak with two makes with 10:25 remaining, and Rubit and Conner combined for the next 18 consecutive free throws, accounting for the Jaguars’ final 16 points.
How It Unfolded
The teams traded the lead throughout the first half before Troy took a five-point advantage into halftime. The Trojans opened the second half with a 10-3 run to build their largest lead, 43-35, with 12:40 left.
Rubit and Carter combined for eight points as South Alabama answered with a 10-3 run of its own. After two Troy free throws, the Jaguars went on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good.
Troy pulled within two points three times and got within 61-60 on a Hunter Williams 3-pointer with 18.1 seconds left. Rubit drew a foul and made both free throws for a 63-60 lead.
Carter then blocked a Troy 3-point attempt with eight seconds remaining. Barrington Stevens III fouled Emil Jones with 3.6 seconds left, and Jones made both ends of the one-and-one to cut the lead to 63-62. Rubit sealed the win with two more free throws, and Troy’s half-court heave at the buzzer missed.
Price on the Win
“That was a really hard-fought game,” interim head coach Jeff Price said. “I don’t think anything is going to be easy for us at this point and it’s just a really hard-fought game. To their credit, I thought that they did a great job of making things difficult for us on the offensive end. They play a zone, they play a switching soft man to man and it really had us back on our heels in the first half, really the first thirty minutes of the game.”
“We have to do a better job of attacking,” Price said. “Finally, towards the end of the game, I thought we took over the game. In the last seven or eight minutes I thought we got really aggressive. We got the ball inside and we got to the free throw line.”
“Our free throw shooting was tremendous down the stretch,” Price said. “We had 20 consecutive free throws which is outstanding. That won the game for us.”
Price also credited Carter’s defense. “I thought Javier, defensively, was really great,” he said. “That’s why I always put him in late. He got a block on a three late in the game because of his length. And we were switching everyone one through five.”
Up Next
South Alabama continues a three-game homestand Saturday against Florida Atlantic as part of a women’s and men’s doubleheader at the Mitchell Center. The Lady Jaguars tip off at 5 p.m., with the men scheduled for 7:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after the women’s game ends. The men’s game will be televised on the Sun Belt Network (CSS/Cox).
